[A note to my readers. During this time of “shelter-in-place” I thought I would write a series of devotionals aimed for those in vocational ministry. I recently re-read Eugene Peterson’s book “Working the Angles” and thought that this would be a great time to refocus on my ministry priorities. There is some good stuff in there for those who are not in vocational ministry, but it is geared particularly to those who are. –jd–]
- Read
Mark 6:46 “And after he had taken leave of them, he went up to the mountain to pray.”
- Meditate
How did you learn to pray? Well, if you are like me, you learned to pray by listening to others pray.
But, what if there were a manual on how to pray that came directly from God? What if there were a model for prayer no matter what season we find ourselves in? What if there were an instruction manual on how to respond to what God is doing?
There is! We call it Psalms.
Reading and studying Psalms is how we can learn the way to pray. It is interesting that Psalms is broken down into five parts. It is even more interesting that as you study both Psalms and the first five books of the law (Genesis through Deuteronomy), there is a correlation.
The first five books are God’s divine utterance on who we are, how and why we came to be, how he works, and how he expects us to live in relationship with him and others. The five sections of Psalms are the human answer, in prayer, to God’s divine utterance.
So in the Psalms we have the textbook for our first angle – prayer. This is where we learned how God is to be praised. There are happy times and dark times, times of blessing and times of tribulation. And in Psalms, there are prayers for every occasion.
- Pray
“Father, teach us to pray. If prayer is one of the foundational parts of who I am, then I want to know how to do it well. You know the way of the righteous and have set your glory above the heavens. As I learn to pray, give me ears to hear, eyes to see, and a heart to receive. Amen.”
- Contemplate
1. Take one of the Psalms that speak to you. Re-write it in your words as your prayer to God. After you pray, listen for his response.
2. The Psalms are broken down so that you can read it easily in one to three months. Find a plan and commit to reading through Psalms multiple times this year. I read through Psalms every three months (and Proverbs monthly). Commit to reading the Psalms as a prayer during this period and see how you can develop your prayer life.
(This devotional series is based on my notes from “Working the Angles” by Eugene Peterson)
