Welcome to the summer journey of prayer.

I know summer can be a hectic time, and for that very reason, let’s commit to digging into God’s Word and praying through it to plant and cultivate seeds of truth, praise, humility, and thankfulness.

As I serve around the country, I repeatedly hear women talk about their desire to get into God’s Word more, but it seems they “just don’t have time.” Well, if you wait until you feel as if you have “enough” time, you’ll probably die before you’re done waiting. Time isn’t something that just pops up out of nowhere. It’s something we have to steward well in order to fully experience it as God intends. I think some of us use the time excuse because we, quite frankly, don’t want to make the study of God’s Word a priority. Or we don’t know how. Or we have extreme expectations of ourselves, believing that if we can’t read a full book of the Bible and fully digest it every day, we might as well not even try reading and studying at all.

Just start…somewhere. And that’s how this summer’s Praying through the Psalms journey can help. You will digest small portions of Scripture and realize a feast can be many sizes.

Something else I hear as I serve is women’s dissatisfaction with their prayer lives. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever heard anyone say she’s satisfied with her prayer life. If I ever hear someone say it to me, I’ll be suspect. Even the most committed praying women I know–perhaps especially them–are not satisfied with their prayer lives. They long for more, because they know God longs for more. We can’t become experts in prayer. Prayer is about a relationship, which should always be growing, so we’ll be able to grow in prayer every step of the way.

Wherever you are with your prayer life, you can go deeper, starting today.

Here’s how Praying through the Psalms works.

• Every Monday (except today), I’ll post a Prayer Tip, which is an invitation for you to try a little something different with your prayers that week. Some ideas might stick and saturate your prayer life for years, and others might quickly fade away. Some might stretch your comfort levels; others might excite you. Whatever your response is, be sure to let the Holy Spirit guide.
• Every other day of the week (Tuesday through Sunday), I’ll post a psalm. When possible, read it aloud. Savor it. Listen to the words speak to your heart. Then, you can dig in and prepare to pray it. Again, let God guide. He will provide you with the direction and conviction you need to grow.

Ready?

Set…

Grow!