Of Psalms and Prayers

(Editor's Note: Today's guest writer is Addie Grace Putnam. Addie is currently attending college and interning for The Stand)

One of the most popular books of the Bible is Psalms. This collection of 150 Hebrew poems covers a wide range of human emotions, from intense joy to the deepest grief. Several psalms have claimed their place among the most well-known passages of the Bible, such as Psalm 23 and Psalm 51. But while a few psalms are well-loved and often studied, the majority of the book can get short shrift.

The Psalms are all part of the Bible, and that means we need to give them the same respect and attention we give to other portions of Scripture. A careful study of Psalms reveals that it’s much more than a collection of poems. At its heart, it’s a book filled with examples that show us how to pray. Let’s look at three different things the psalms can teach us about prayer.

1. Pray frequently 

When we start to look at Psalms as a book of prayers, one of the first things that will stick out is just how many psalms there are. There are 150 altogether—150 different prayers that multiple people took the time to craft, set to music, and teach to others. King David wrote about 75 of them. In many ways, the book is David’s “spiritual growth journal,” allowing us to see into his life and experience the same emotions he did during various moments in his life.

People wrote psalms for a variety of reasons. There are psalms relating specifically to one occasion, such as the well-known Psalm 51, written after David’s affair with Bathsheba. Then there are psalms written for a holiday, such as the series known as the Psalms of Ascents (Psalms 120-134). And then some psalms don’t have an occasion but were written simply because the psalmist felt the need to voice his thoughts about God.

The psalmists didn’t wait for a specific time to pray. They wrote their psalms whenever they wanted to, whatever the occasion. And they did it often.

2. Pray earnestly

The psalmists never really danced around the issue they were dealing with. They were open with God about what was going on. And more importantly, they expected Him to do something about it. Many of the psalms get intense. In Psalm 42, for example, David writes about a time of spiritual drought. He begs God to do something about his situation, to restore joy to his life again. David uses vivid imagery to convey his desperation, comparing his desire for God to a deer panting for water (v. 1). He doesn’t stop praying until he feels that he has received an answer and is comforted by being once again in the presence of God.

Our prayers tend to be somewhat subdued. We either feel as if we’re bothering God with our requests, or we worry we’re being disrespectful by asking for something consistently. The psalmists would say otherwise. David didn’t stop praying until he’d received an answer. He sought God earnestly. “My soul longs for you,” he wrote in Psalm 63:1; “my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” He chased after God with everything he had, knowing that in Him was the comfort his soul longed for.

3. Pray honestly

The psalmists were expressive people. Seriously, these guys could get real. When they were struggling with something, they didn’t even try to hide it. They poured it all out, in all its hideousness. Tired of running from enemies? They told God about it. Grieving the consequences of sin? They confessed it all to God. Doubting God’s goodness and presence in their lives? They weren’t afraid to tell Him exactly how they felt.

Take Psalm 22 for example. The opening lines are rather shocking in their blatant honesty: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?” (v. 1). 

We just don’t pray like that anymore. When we go through something hard, our instinct is usually to try to sugarcoat it when we bring it to God. We’ll admit we’re struggling, we’ll acknowledge that this thing is hard; but we’ll never come straight out and say what we’re thinking: “God, I hate this, and I don’t understand why You’re not doing anything about it.”

This kind of prayer, though, is the hallmark of the psalms. The psalmists understood an integral truth: God already knows what we’re thinking, so we might as well be honest about it with Him. Nothing we say can surprise Him in any way. It’s amazing to see how He brings understanding and peace to those who are honest enough to tell Him they don’t like what He’s doing. At the end of nearly every tumultuous psalm, the writer is once again rejoicing in God. He asked God for an explanation, and God gave him peace.

These are just a few of the things Psalms can teach us about prayer. It’s much more than an ancient collection of poetry. It’s a journey through the human heart, in which God teaches us that we need to pray all the time, that we need to be bold and persistent in our prayers, and that we most of all need to be honest with Him.