How Do I Pray the Psalms of the Day?

First, find out what the day of the month is. Each day of the month has five Psalms of the day (with the exception of Day 31). Next, pick one of the five Psalms of the Day and read it. Familiarize yourself with its themes and emphases, its words, and its phrases. Then, allow those words and phrases to inform your prayer.

Example: If the Psalm of the Day is Psalm 145, and you read, “One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts,” then you might pray something like, “Lord, I know that you desire for me to declare your works to the next generation, but I struggle with sharing my faith. Help me to become bold in sharing my faith. Help me want to tell others about you and your wonderful works. You desire for people to know you, so enable to me to do that which you desire in order that the coming generation will praise your name.”

Simply let the Psalm inform your prayer. Read the words of the Psalm and stop whenever a word or phrase prompts you to pray. Finally, continue praying through the other four Psalms of the Day, repeating the same process. This is supposed to be a spiritually-fulfilling practice, so don’t view it as a chore or something to check off your list of things to do. Instead, spread out the five Psalms throughout the day, and stay in constant communion with the Lord, drawing closer to Him in prayer.

When the day of the month is . . .	The Psalms of the Day are . . .
1	1; 31; 61; 91; 121
2	2; 32; 62; 92; 122
3	3; 33; 63; 93; 123
4	4; 34; 64; 94; 124
5	5; 35; 65; 95; 125
6	6; 36; 66; 96; 126
7	7; 37; 67; 97; 127
8	8; 38; 68; 98; 128
9	9; 39; 69; 99; 129
10	10; 40; 70; 100; 130
11	11; 41; 71; 101; 131
12	12; 42; 72; 102; 132
13	13; 43; 73; 103; 133
14	14; 44; 74; 104; 134
15	15; 45; 75; 105; 135
16	16; 46; 76; 106; 136
17	17; 47; 77; 107; 137
18	18; 48; 78; 108; 138
19	19; 49; 79; 109; 139
20	20; 50; 80; 110; 140
21	21; 51; 81; 111; 141
22	22; 52; 82; 112; 142
23	23; 53; 83; 113; 143
24	24; 54; 84; 114; 144
25	25; 55; 85; 115; 145
26	26; 56; 86; 116; 146
27	27; 57; 87; 117; 147
28	28; 58; 88; 118; 148
29	29; 59; 89; 119; 149
30	30; 60; 90; 120; 150
31	119

This chart and its content come from Appendix 1 of Don Whitney’s Praying the Bible.

Whitney, Donald S. Praying the Bible. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2015.