PRAYING WITH SCRIPTURE

Use the questions below the Scripture passage to help you “pray”  verses 1-5  from Psalm 42.  For example, picturing a thirsty deer approaching a river may prompt realizations about your need for being close to God. Share those things with God.

          As a deer longs for flowing streams,
so my soul longs for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.
When shall I come and behold
the face of God?

• Am I longing for God?
• If so, what am I looking for?
• If I am not longing and thirsty for God, what has happened? Why am I not seeking God out?
• What do I want to confess to God about my relationship with him?

My tears have been my food
    day and night,
while people say to me continually,
    “Where is your God?

•    What am I anxious and stressed about?
•    Why am I still carrying these burdens?
•     Why am I not trust God with them?

These things I remember,as I pour out my soul:
how I went with the throng,
   and led them in procession to the house of God,
with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving,
   a multitude keeping festival.

• What joyful things do I remember about worshiping God?
• What relationships give me comfort and support?
• What do I have to celebrate?

                      Why are you cast down, O my soul,
why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
         my help and my God.

• How can I express my weariness and fear to God?
• How can I praise him for the hope that is still within me?