Praying the psalms

"What matters is not what we feel like praying about, but what God wants us to ask him for. Not the poverty of our own heart, but the riches of the Word of God must decide how we are to pray." ( Dietrich Bonhoeffer in The Psalms - Prayer Book of the Bible). The psalms are unique within the Bible. Within them we find the complete range of human emotion and need, and they offer a rich source of conversation with God. As we find within them verses and phrases which tie into our own thoughts, so too, we can find other verses which speak to us powerfully of the truth of God's promises to us. The Psalms have been an invaluable resource to prayer in every generation and tradition. (More about prayer and the bible)

• When you want to praise God : Psalm 92:1,2,  Psalm 100,  Psalm 150  ()
• When times are hard : Psalm 138:7,8,  Psalm 94:17-19, Psalm 18:1,2,  ()
• When your integrity is tested : Ps.1:1-3, Ps.119:9,11,104,105, Ps.25:10,21 ()
• When you want God's protection : Psalm 27:4-8, Psalm 91:1-16  ()
• When you are tempted to hit back : Psalm 37:7-9  ()
• When you want God's guidance : Psalm 32:8, Psalm 27:1,14 ()
• When you need to be reminded of your dependence on God : Psalm 105:3,4 ()