Psalm 91:Access the Power in Prayer

When faced with violence, danger and uncertainty, people of faith and prayer have turned to Psalm 91 for strength and encouragement. With great stress, the mind can go a bit wacky with fretting, fear, negative self-talk. You've probably noticed! 

Having a ready-made guide for reflection and prayer is essential at times like this. Without a guide, you usually end up endlessly going around the same mountain of anxiety. Psalm 91 makes a perfect map to get you on through. 

So if life is a struggle for you right now, do yourself a favor. Print off a copy of Psalm 91. In fact, print off several copies, each one from a different translation. Go the full spectrum. Start with the antiquated poetry of the King James and move to the more contextual interpretation of the Amplified Bible to the conversational tone of The Message or The Living Bible. 

Once you have your copies, you will use them to power up your prayer life and renew your mind according to the truth and promises of God. Sound good? It's better than good. What you are about to embark on is powerful, life-changing, faith building. 

Follow any one or all of the following suggestions for putting Psalm 91 to work in your life. All is the better course. But, the best course is to simply get started, like now! Isn't that always the hardest part? So here it is: 

Strategy One: 

At least three times a day slowly read over the Psalm from more than one translation. Focus. This is not mindless busy work. This is spiritual nourishment for your soul. Continue with this practice indefinitely, just like you continue to eat food on a daily basis to nourish your physical body. 

Over time you will have the verses memorized. Naturally some translations will resonate more fully with you than do others. These are the translations you memorize quickly and without breaking a sweat. 

A new day will dawn when you hear Psalm 91 coming up in your self talk. Rejoice! You now have a potent weapon for keeping your thinking under control, staying faith-filled, positive, forward moving. Victory is at hand. 

Strategy Two: 

Record your translations of Psalm 91 onto your computer or some recording device, then upload the recording to your ipod, mobile phone, CD or the like. Play the recording at least twice a day where you can give focused attention to the lines of the Psalm. In addition, play Psalm 91 as white noise where your subconscious can work with it. 

White noise is especially effective at overcoming the negative thinking. So, consider your white noise playing through the night as you sleep. This is especially effective if you have trouble going to sleep or a tendency to wake through the night. 

Many people have found this technique useful when suffering the grief of a death or divorce, or suffering any type of physical pain. The encouraging words of Scripture overwrite the pain messages from the current circumstances, at least to a degree. 

Strategy Three: 

Keep a Psalm 91 journal. Twice a day write out one of the translations into your journal. It's important that the Psalm be written out by hand. Doing this activity on the computer will not render the same fine results. There is something about the way your hand and your brain are connected in this activity that affects your sub-conscious mind. 

Over a period of time you will find that you have memorized Psalm 91 from more than one translation. Probably you will begin stringing verses together from various translations as you pray. 

You will also begin having insights into the meaning of the verses. This is gold! Record it in your journal. Eventually you will have a journal full of encouragement that will stagger your mind. You will realize the energizing work of the Holy Spirit in these insights. This is treasure! Hold it dearly. 

Strategy Four: 

This Psalm is filled with spiritual nuggets not obvious without a bit of study. So don't miss out. That would be like sitting on a diamond field and not picking up a shovel. An extensive study is available especially to assist you in accessing the power of Psalm 91 in prayer. Find the link for this study below. 

In conclusion I say remain faithful to any one or more of these practices and the sink-hole of fretful thinking will be history, past history. These change-creating tools are available. And, believe it or not, they are free. Use them liberally for this life-changing experience. Start today!