How to Pray Scripture When Your Heart is Heavy
I wasn’t prepared to read the Psalm drenched in tears and pleading prayers. In the Bible I held close this time last year, it’s barely legible through pen marks and smudges. But in The Voice, which I read for Mary Demuth’s 90-day Bible reading challenge, the page was untouched.
Psalm 139 has been a favorite of mine for many years, but the memory now laced through those lines is of inserting a name, praying it over someone I know. I remember the way the diagnosis sank like jagged teeth. The burn in my throat. The tears I could delay but not stop.
Remember writing details on a paper towel because it was closest by. Words that would crack me open to say out loud.
Remember how it felt hopeless and unfair, like tomorrow was stolen. Grief is an unwelcome intruder.
As I read this precious chapter, I couldn’t help but think of you. What’s disrupted the life you knew. Who’s heavy on your heart today.
I wonder if you need these promises. For you. For someone you desperately love.
Thought we could read the chapter together. I’ll use she/her instead of a name to show you where to personalize the verses. As you read aloud with me, say your name or the name of the person you’re praying for.
Maybe You Relate
Before we begin, I wanted to note something about the end of the chapter that struck me as I read in this new-to-me version. There are a few verses where the focus and tone shift. Usually I skip over them when praying the chapter because I’m not calling for revenge. I redirect my kids to a less intense word than “hate.” I’m not raging with hatred but overwhelmed with sadness.
Still, the way the words struck me in The Voice, I realized that I’m not so different from David. I may not wish for God to “destroy all the wicked,” but I’ve prayed He would remove the trial. Heal. Redeem. Right now.
I’ve wanted it fixed according to my best plan instead of trusting His. Wrestled with the wait. Named God’s way as second-rate.
Also, I’ve said it softer, tamer, safer when I pray, as if I shouldn’t be honest.
But I believe verses 19-22 are included in Psalm 139 for a reason. David’s not one to downplay his feelings in all their rawness. We hear his desperate wishes, and his nevertheless trust in God. There’s something to be commended about his honesty.
He knew God welcomes him even as he sorts through everything in his head. Knew he could tell God how he really felt. Knew his friendship with God could withstand his questions and intense emotions.
Maybe you and I need to know that today too.
Psalm 139 in The Voice
Normally I keep quotes to a few lines, but I want you to feel less alone as you pray, so I’m including Psalm 139, adapted from The Voice, in its entirety:
Join me?
1 O Eternal One, You have explored her heart and know exactly who she is;
2 You even know the small details like when she takes a seat and when she stands up again.
Even when she is far away, You know what she’s thinking.
3 You observe her wanderings and her sleeping, her waking and her dreaming,
and You know everything she does in more detail than even I know.
4 You know what she’s going to say long before she says it.
It is true, Eternal One, that You know everything and everyone.
5 You have surrounded her on every side, behind her and before her,
and You have placed Your hand gently on her shoulder.
6 It is the most amazing feeling to know how deeply You know her, inside and out;
the realization of it is so great that I cannot comprehend it.7 Can she go anywhere apart from Your Spirit?
Is there anywhere she can go to escape Your watchful presence?8 If she goes up into heaven, You are there.
If she makes her bed in the realm of the dead, You are there.
9 If she rides on the wings of morning,
if she makes her home in the most isolated part of the ocean,
10 Even then You will be there to guide her;
Your right hand will embrace her, for You are always there.
11 Even if she is afraid and thinks to herself, “There is no doubt that the darkness will swallow me,
the light around me will soon be turned to night,”
12 You can see in the dark, for it is not dark to Your eyes.
For You the night is just as bright as the day.
Darkness and light are the same to Your eyes.13 For You shaped her, inside and out.
You knitted her together in her mother’s womb long before she took my first breath.
14 I will offer You my grateful heart, for she is Your unique creation, filled with wonder and awe.
You have approached even the smallest details with excellence;
Your works are wonderful;
I carry this knowledge deep within my soul.
15 You see all things; nothing about her was hidden from You
As she took shape in secret,
carefully crafted in the heart of the earth before she was born from its womb.
16 You see all things;
You saw her growing, changing in her mother’s womb;
Every detail of her life was already written in Your book;
You established the length of her life before she ever tasted the sweetness of it.
17 Your thoughts and plans for her are treasures to me, O God! I cherish each and every one of them!
How grand in scope! How many in number!
18 If I could count each one of them, they would be more than all the grains of sand on earth. Their number is inconceivable!
Even when she wakes up, she is still near to You.19 I wish You would destroy all the wicked, O God.
So keep away from her, those who are thirsty for blood!
20 For they say such horrible things about You,
and those who are against You abuse Your good name.
21 Is it not true that I hate all who hate You, Eternal One?
Is it not true that I despise all who come against You?
22 Deep hatred boils within me toward them;
She is Your friend, and they are her enemies.
23 Explore me, O God, and know the real me. Dig deeply and discover who I am.
Put me to the test and watch how I handle the strain.
24 Examine me to see if there is an evil bone in me,
and guide me down Your path forever.
What Happens When We Pray Scripture
There’s something different about praying Scripture on someone else’s behalf than merely reading it. It gives us a peek inside God’s heart and language to articulate it. Lets us lean on what God’s already promised. I’ll leave you with one final promise to encourage you as you practice praying Bible verses. It’s found in 1 John 5:14.
We live in the bold confidence that God hears our voices when we ask for things that fit His plan.
The Voice
Jesus, You know the prayer burdens we’re carrying today. You care too. Thank you that you see, know, and cherish us and all the ones we’re lifting up in prayer today. Thank you for Your promises. Thank you for welcoming us in all our honesty. We praise You, and we trust You.
Just a friend over here in your corner,
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