Prayer with a Psalm

In my wellstreams program I am taking a course on prayer. Every two weeks we have a different form of prayer that is assigned for our daily prayer. The first was names of God, then it was praying with ritual, then praying with silence and now it is praying with scripture.

This morning I randomly picked Psalm 20 for my morning prayer. And it was exactly what I needed. Here it is:


Psalm 20
1The Lord answer you in the day of trouble! The name of the God of Jacob protect you!
2May he send you help from the sanctuary, and give you support from Zion.
3May he remember all your offerings, and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices. Selah
4May he grant you your heart’s desire, and fulfill all your plans.
5May we shout for joy over your victory, and in the name of our God set up our banners. May the Lord fulfill all your petitions.
6Now I know that the Lord will help his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with mighty victories by his right hand.
7Some take pride in chariots, and some in horses, but our pride is in the name of the Lord our God.
8They will collapse and fall, but we shall rise and stand upright.
9Give victory to the king, O Lord; answer us when we call.

At first I was stopped by the first verse - the Lord answer you in the day of trouble! My heart is with my sister Ellen and her family as they are living in the day of trouble. And I pray for them all the time.

But as I read through the Psalm I saw verse seven - "Some take pride in chariots, and some in horses, but our pride is in the name of the Lord our God."
And I know how easy it is to concentrate on our form of the "chariots and horses" - those things that seem tangible and that will represent getting places and having power.
The version of the Bible I was reading said - "I remember the name of the Lord our God" and that is really what prayer is - remembering that despite everything - Our God is with us to give us strength, peace and hope in the midst of the day of trouble. And it is so easy to forget that.

And so I pray for God's presence to be experienced by me and by all today. May we know that when we "call" we will be "answered". (vs. 9)

Amen.