In our Praying the Psalms blog series, we'll use the summer to model how to pray the Bible. Follow along each week as we post a devotional prayer based on the Psalm from Sunday's sermon. Additionally, we'll include a prayer to pray with your kids that will help teach them how to pray the Bible. We hope this will be an encouraging aid to your prayer life! For more information about praying the Bible, consider reading Don Whitney's book Praying the Bible.

Praying Psalm 48

LORD, You are great and deserve our greatest praise. Where You dwell is filled with beauty and joy beyond imagination. You are a fortress to those who abide in Your presence. Please make me aware of Your presence in my life today and fill me with Your grace and joy.

You are a city of refuge for Your people. When Your enemies behold Your protection, they are baffled, they lose their courage, and they flee. You have proven Your total protection over Your people throughout time. You have not failed even once. Show Yourself to be this kind of refuge to me today.

Remind me of Your steadfast love, that love which is part of Your very Name (Yahweh). That same name is boundless, having nowhere it can’t reach, and no place where it does not hold total authority. May I see, recognize, and praise the glimpses of Your Name today. Open my eyes to see Your mercy and grace. Show Your patience toward me today. Make me feel deep in my being Your steadfast love and Your faithfulness. Remind me that I am one of the thousands of generations You have been gracious to. Let me never forget that You have called me by Your Name and that steadfast love is something I have in ready supply.

In Your righteousness and justice let me rejoice. Show me how I can bring these to bear on my small part of the world today. And as I do, fill my heart with joy—deep, satisfying joy.

LORD, I pray that I would spend my life studying Your ways, seeing all the beauty of Your city, the place where You dwell. Help me to not just know about Your protection, grace, and joy, but to experience them. May my life be a testimony to future generations of Your faithfulness, and that You alone are worthy of all of humanity’s trust. You are the only God, You are the only place for us to dwell, and You are the only One who can guide us in truth.

I pray this in the name of Jesus, the only human in history to perfectly trust You and to perfectly prove Your character. Amen.

Praying Psalm 48 with Kids

Father in Heaven,

You are the greatest. You are a strong fortress for all who trust in You. Help me to run to You when I need protection. You are like a castle that no enemy can break into. Many enemies have tried to break down the wall of Your castle but have failed. The greatest enemy thought he succeeded once when he killed Your Son. But even then, You defeated the enemy by raising Jesus from the dead. Because of what Jesus did, Your name is praised all over the world. Make me someone who loves to tell others about Your love, Your mercy, Your protection, and Your justice in all the earth. LORD, be my God, my fortress, and my teacher forever and ever.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.