Talk to Your Soul in Prayer, Part 2

Eleven times in his prayers the Psalmist talks to himself with the cry, "O My Soul."

Interestingly, the eleven prayers appear in the Psalter in a meaningful order that group into three types of "O My Soul" prayers, each representing a step in an intimate prayer life. The three A's of connecting deeply with God are: Awareness, Attunement, and Appreciativeness:

1. Open up to God (Awareness): "Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God" (Psalm 42:5, 11; 43:5)
2. Find Rest in God (Attunement): "Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him" (Psalm 62:5; Psalm 116:7)
3. Give Praise to God (Appreciativeness): "Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name" (Psalm 103:1; also Psalm 103:2, 22; 104:1, 35; 146:1)

Do you pray to God in these ways?

Talk to Your Soul in Prayer, Part 1

In the Psalms, the Bible's great "soul book," the psalmist talks to his soul (as if it were another person) as he prays to God. He recruits his soul to be alert before God:
“Awake, my soul! Awake harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn” (Psalm 57:8)

Praying the Psalms I discovered that eleven times the Psalmist awakens his soul to God by crying out, "O my soul!"

I have found it helpful to talk to my soul in prayer, to get myself to be alert before God so that I can connect with him and follow Christ. Praying the Psalms really helps me to awaken to God's presence.

What helps to awaken your soul to God?