6 Ways Praying the Psalms Will Bless You
Welcome to Session 1 of the Discovering Hope in the Psalms online Bible study: 6 Ways Praying the Psalms Will Bless You. We’re excited to study this with you!
Here’s how this will work:
- Watch this week’s video session above.
- After you watch the video, answer the questions in the discussion section of this page so you can get to know others in the study.
- After the video, we will let you know the personal study assignment for the next week in your Discovering Hope in the Psalms devotional book. That’s it!
Before next week, complete Chapter 1—Psalm 1: The Hope of God’s Blessing in your creative devotional study book. See you next week!
Subscriber Handouts
Jump to Subscriber Specials to download handouts to go with chapter 1, including a meditative prayer based on Psalm 1 and a sharable meme for Psalm 1:3. You’ll need the password from my last newsletter.
Related Posts
- 5 Reasons to Write a Wisdom Psalm (and How to Do It!)
- Worship music to enhance your journey through the Psalms (click the link, then scroll down to “Psalms in Music”)
Discussion Questions
After watching “6 Ways Praying the Psalms Will Bless You,” answer the following questions below in the comments to get to know your fellow Bible study friends!
- What one thought stuck out to you in this week’s video? Why did it stand out?
- From where are you joining us? What city and state or province?
- How have you used creativity as either a conversation starter, a means to share the gospel, a way to encourage someone, a way to easily memorize a verse, or a way to worship? Explain.
- What’s your favorite psalm? Why is it your favorite?
What stuck out? That you are going to walk us through writing our own psalms! This intimidates me to no end!!!
I am joining you from Easley, SC.
My favorite Psalm is hard to pick! Psalm 23, 100, 51 are all great and meaningful to me for different reasons.
Hi, Marie! I love SC! I hope we can visit there again when all calms down. Let me reword this: I’m going to walk you through writing prayers based on various psalms. Does that sound better? BTW, I posted one of mine on this page. Did you see it?
This week’s writing was so easy! Thank you for the specific instructions!!
I’m so glad to hear that! You’re welcome. 🙂
I’m Jean E. Jones from Laguna Niguel, California.
I colored bookmarks from the book and gave them to my brother-in-law bookmarks to encourage him. He has an inoperable brain tumor and can’t read his Bible now.
Psalm 30 is my favorite. It reminds me of how God saved me and lifts my heart.
What struck me was that we, that included me, are to pray the psalms.
Porirua, New Zealand.
During lockdown when my 3 children were home, we memorized psalm 46 and created actions to go along with it. More recently, my eldest daughter and I have memorized Ps 15 this way too. I am a nurse and have started wearing an Ithacus fish pin on my uniform in the hopes that it may start some gospel-centred conversations at work.
So SO many favorite psalms. But I have been camping out with Ps 63 most recently. It so accurately describes the longing I have for God and the excitement that He is what truly satisfies.
You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
Psalms 63:1-5 NIV
Welcome, Rachel. New Zealand–we hope to get out there one day. What a wonderful activity during lockdowns. May I share that on Facebook? If so, do you want me to use your full name, your first name, or “viewer”?
I memorized Psalm 15 a few years ago, but am rusty on it now. One of my current goals is to go back over all the psalms I’ve previously memorized. I think I’ll add Psalm 63 to the group. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Jean,
We would so love to have you visit NZ one day! Yes, you are welcome to add my comments with my first name. I am getting rusty with my Bible memory too! I need to refresh. It gets tricky when you have memorized a lot and takes a long time to recite through!!
Thanks! Yes, the longer, the trickier!
Sorry I am joining a little late! I was in another study that just finished! I found the fact that many of the Psalms are really more like prayers, to be very interesting and helpful. I had always viewed the Psalms as a book of poems where our songs are derived from, I had not really recognized many of them are actually prayers, which opens up great avenues for learning more about prayer as we study them! It was really fascinating and encouraging to learn how they have affected your prayer life!
I am in the suburbs of Chicago, IL,
Its hard to pick a favorite, probably Psalm 1 and Psalm 139.
Hi, Sarah! No worries–you can join any time and go at your own pace. (Plus, last week comments we had trouble with most comments not posting!) You’re right–it does open up great avenues. We’ve been to Illinois a couple times, but only when it was very cold with snow everywhere. It was fun to walk the streets. Psalm 139 is amazing!
Hi Jean I confess to being one of those who watched without leaving a comment! Sorry! I’ve just finished week 3 and Catching up on comments.
The thing that struck me most is that the psalms teach us how to pray. Enjoying writing my own and cant believe how easy it is!
I live in Bournemouth Dorset in the UK
Creativity – I have been doing the other books in this series and have enjoyed doing artwork in my Bible. I made praise flags to wave in church while we have not been allowed to sing due to COVID
My favourite Psalm is psalm 139. Reassuring to know that God knows everything thats going on and He is in control.
Hi, Jane! No problem at all. Apparently, most people couldn’t comment the first week of this (or the last third or so of the OT study!). I’m glad you’re finding it easy to write prayers based on psalms! Praise flags are a wonderful idea! Psalm 139 is amazing in all that it teaches us about God’s omniscience. Thanks for sharing!
Hi, I’m Chris in Fallbrook, CA (north San Diego county). I discovered this study and plan to do it with my 2 granddaughters, age 21 and 13. We are very restricted in how much we can see one another right now because of the Covid lockdowns in our area. I wanted to do something with them that will bring God’s life and hope during this dark and scary time.
My favorite psalm is Psalm 37:1-7.
Hi, Chris! Welcome. Studying with your granddaughters is such a wonderful idea during lockdowns. My husband’s uncle had an avocado farm in Fallbrook, so we’ve been down there many times. Psalm 37 is one of my favorites too. The first line calms me after reading the newspaper: “Fret not yourself because of evildoers,”
I’m from just outside Washington, DC, leading this as a virtual study for my church. I found right now in times of COVID that the coloring aspect helped me block out distractions and really focus. Psalm 46 — especially vs. 10 — although after a year of “being still” I’m more than ready to get moving again.
Hi, Deb–welcome! Yes, we have been still more this year! That’s a beautiful psalm. Thank you for sharing!
What stuck out to me is how I can pray the psalms! What a great practical way to meditate on the ones I can’t pray verbatim because they don’t make sense that way.
I’m joining from the Netherlands thanks for having me! I can’t even explain what an answer to prayer this book is and what a joy the resources are giving me already.
My favorite psalm, psalm 73. I’ve felt this way at times, struck by despair and sorrow personally or about the vulnerable of this world namely children and animals. This psalm ends though with the conclusion I always end up drawing and that gives peace: God still reigns, He knows best, He will make right what is wrong.
Also psalm 91, a wonderful reminder of His protection. I chose this psalm for my baby boy before he was born and pray it over his life at intervals.
The Netherlands–wow! Welcome. I love those 2 psalms too! We’ve got a chapter on Psalm 73. I’m so happy to hear the book is helping you find joy in the Psalms. I look forward to hearing from you on future videos.
I live in South Korea. I want to meditate on some psalms. My favorite psalms are 23,1, and 30etc I am so glad to meet you. I want psalms expressions to become my confession for Yahweh.
Welcome! Those are three of my favorite psalms too.
I read 5 chapters of Psalms each day and a chapter from Proverbs, those books are truly a blessing to read, ‘gives us wisdom in our daily life. It reminds me always that God is Emmanuel, God with us. He leads us in every step if we just allow Him.
Wonderful! I read a chapter of Proverbs each day my senior year of high school and learned so much.
I love the psalms actually seems to be one of my favorite if the Old Testament books. I share encouraging memes every morning with ladies on messenger. When with people, i listen to them as they share and wait on the Lord to urge me how to respind. My favorite Psalm is 139 and verse 14. I share ot often with women who are discouraged and think ill of themselves.
That’s awesome, Jamie. Thanks for sharing!
I just discovered Discovering Hope in the Pslams. I’ve been listening to Alisa Childers and heard an old interview. I’ve ordered the book and a friend and I are beginning the study. Thank you.
I was struck by the many different kinds of Psalms you mentioned and want to learn more about that.
I’m from Cambridge, Ontario Canada, close to Toronto.
My favourite Psalm 31:1-5. During Covid I decided it was time to memorize Scripture and I memorized those verses and have been comforted and encouraged by them countless times over the last 4 years.
My mother-in-law was born in Canada. Those verses you mention are wonderful. Thanks for sharing.