Hello! Welcome to Week #7 of our Prayer Partner Adventure!

Dear Route 78 Friends and Prayer Partners….

We hope you are enjoying these discussions with your prayer partner.

Last week we finished up the Lord’s Prayer. Today we want to introduce you to praying the . The Psalms can be found in the part of scripture. There are psalms of lament, thanksgiving, rejoicing, etc. “The title is derived from the Greek translation, ψαλμοί, psalmoi, meaning "instrumental music" and, by extension, "the words accompanying the mu- sic” (Wikipedia). In traditional liturgy, even the liturgies in our ELW (hymnal), we sing the psalm, often responsively to a number of different tunes. We can also use them for our prayers. We have chosen 5 of them to help you consider this. After each one, there is a question or two for discussion.

Psalms 46 (NRSV)

1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present[a] help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; 3 though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult. 4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. 5 God is in the midst of the city;[b] it shall not be moved; God will help it when the morning dawns. 6 The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts. 7 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.[c]Selah 8 Come, behold the works of the Lord; see what desolations he has brought on the earth. 9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire. 10 “Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth.” 11 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah Questions for 1. What did you hear? What words caught your attention?

2. Verse 10 is often used as a prayer. It can be used this way: Be still and know that I am God. Be still and know that I am. Be still and know. Be still. Be.

What does that say to you? Might that prayer be helpful to you? Why or Why not?

Psalm 121 (The Message version)

1-2 I look up to the mountains; does my strength come from mountains? No, my strength comes from God, who made heaven, and earth, and mountains. 3-4 He won’t let you stumble, your Guardian God won’t fall asleep. Not on your life! Israel’s Guardian will never doze or sleep. 5-6 God’s your Guardian, right at your side to protect you— Shielding you from sunstroke, sheltering you from moonstroke. 7-8 God guards you from every evil, he guards your very life. He guards you when you leave and when you return, he guards you now, he guards you always. (V

Questions for Psalm 121: 1. What does this Psalm tell us about God?

2. When might you use this Psalm as a prayer?

Psalm 13 (NRSV)

1 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? 2 How long must I bear pain[a] in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all day long? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? 3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God! Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death, 4 and my enemy will say, “I have prevailed”; my foes will rejoice because I am shaken. 5 But I trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. 6 I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.

Questions for Psalm 13:

1. What did you hear in this Psalm that caught your attention?

2. In verse 6, think about whatever your favorite tune is right now…or one that easily gets stuck in your head. What is it? Could that be a song of prayer? Why or why not?

Psalm 139 (NRSV)

1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me. 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away. 3 You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before a word is on my tongue, O Lord, you know it completely. 5 You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain it. 7 Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, 10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light around me become night,” 12 even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you. 13 For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes beheld my unformed substance. In your book were written all the days that were formed for me, when none of them as yet existed. 17 How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 I try to count them—they are more than the sand; I come to the end—I am still with you.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. 24 See if there is any wicked[c] way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Questions for Psalm 139:

1. What do you hear in this Psalm?

2. How well does God know you according to this Psalm? Does that comfort you? Why or why not?

Psalm 100

1 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. 2 Worship the Lord with gladness; come into his presence with singing. 3 Know that the Lord is God. It is he that made us, and we are his;[a] we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name. 5 For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

Questions for :

1. What do you hear in this Psalm?

2. What kinds of joyful noises do you make? (sports, winning a game, dancing, etc.) Could this be a prayer?

Feel free to look for other Psalms. They are always good ways to help us pray whatever it is we are dealing with in our lives, and/or whatever it is we are feeling.

As you wrap up your discussion today, please name your prayer concerns, pray for each other and then maybe finish with a few verses from a Psalm….maybe even 46:10.