Praying Psalm 139
Autumn can be a difficult season for many of us. These months often represent change or a new season in our lives. For some of us, it can be difficult to move from the freedom of the summer break back to the routine and structure of work. It may be because our children are starting school for the first time, or going into a new academic year, moving on to a new school, studying at college or going off to university. As hard as it is for our children to cope with, it is also hard for us as their parents or grandparents. Or perhaps you yourself are in a new season, having moved home or changed your place of work or something else has changed with your circumstances.
At each stage of my children’s lives, and as they grow up, I have been learning to let them go, little by little. But it’s not easy, is it? Whilst our children are young and at home, we can train them, care for them, protect them, watch over them. But there comes a time when they leave home, either to attend school for the day or leave for weeks on end to continue their education at university and then, of course, the time comes when they make the permanent move out of our home to start life in a home of their own. I have to learn and re-learn to entrust them to God, confident that He is with them and He loves them even more than I do.
I asked the members of a Facebook group I belong to which Bible verses help them when faced with these situations. One of them mentioned Psalm 139. It is one of my favourite psalms and so I spent time reading it, meditating on it and looking at various Bible translations. I was so blessed as I did this. Can I encourage you to do the same? It’s such a great psalm to meditate on.
I wrote the following prayer for my children after reading the psalm. You may want to take it and use it to pray over your children, grandchildren, nieces, or nephews. It works just as well as a prayer for anyone you love, for example, a boyfriend, a husband, a sibling etc. Of course, you can pray it for yourself too.
When I personalise the words of the Bible, applying it to myself or someone else, I find it becomes so much more meaningful and powerful. There is such power in the Word of God.
Below is the prayer as I have prayed it for my daughter, but you can just change it by putting your name or someone else’s in its place.
Lord, you know everything there is to know about my daughter. You know even the small details, such as when she sits and when she stands. You know her thoughts whether she’s far away or at home. You know everything she does and you know the words she will speak even before they are on her lips.
Lord, you have gone before her to prepare the way and You follow after her too. You have placed Your hand of love upon her life and have blessed her. There is nowhere she can go where Your presence will not be with her. Wherever she is, Your hand of protection will be on her, and You will guide and strengthen her.
Lord, you knew her before she was even born because You created her and made her Your masterpiece. You recorded every day of her life, mapping out every moment before she took her first breath.
Lord, Your face is always turned towards her, You are thinking about her every moment of every day. You are with her always. When she wakes up each morning You are still there, her constant friend and companion.
The heart is deceitful, but You know her heart better than any other. May the desires of her heart be Your desires and would You reveal to her anything hidden within which offends You so she can remove it. Keep her heart soft, always ready to hear Your voice guiding her step by step on the path You have set before her. Amen.
To Think About:
Make time this week to meditate on Psalm 139. Perhaps read it in various Bible translations. (Bible Gateway is a great resource for this.) Meditate on it, allow the words to reach deep within and let God speak to you through them.
For whom would you like to pray this prayer? It might be for your own child/children, grandchildren, for a child/young person in your church, a family member, a friend. Don’t forget, you can pray this for yourself too.
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