When You Pray: A Study on Prayer From Kelly Minter, Jackie Hill Perry, Jen Wilkin, Jennifer Rothschild, Jada Edwards, and Kristi McLellandExemplo

Your Works Are Wondrous

By Jen Wilkin

Psalm 139 is one of David’s best-known psalms, thanks in large part to verse 14: “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made (ESV).” Perhaps no other psalm has been as frequently referenced to demonstrate our value as image bearers. But if we aren’t careful, in our familiarity with one beautiful verse, we can hurry by the greater beauty of the psalm as a whole. David does celebrate that we are skillfully and miraculously made, but his overall focus is on God—adoration of God for who He is and petition that God would act.

This psalm is an example of a prayer of adoration, a term we tend to link to the idea of love. But in relation to prayer, to adore is “to worship, revere, and honor.” When we think about petitioning God, we may think in terms of making prayer requests for God to act in specific ways. But in Psalm 139, we will see modeled a form of petition we sometimes avoid. Adoration and petition are linked in the prayer in a way we can learn from. The psalmist first declares who God is and responds to that declaration with a specific request of what God must do.

When our prayers begin with adoring God, we make different requests than we otherwise might. Meditating on and proclaiming God’s excellencies causes us to see our weaknesses and failings in a different light. A better light. As you spend time in this psalm today, notice how its example shapes your own prayer, both in your adoration and your asking.

When You Pray Today

Review the attributes of God in Psalm 139 below. Then, say your own prayer of adoration and petition informed by David’s prayer.

ATTRIBUTES OF GOD in Psalm 139

Eternal: God is not limited by time; He exists outside of time.

Holy: God is perfect, pure, and without sin.

Infinite: God has no limits in His person or on His power.

Incomprehensible: God is beyond our understanding. We can comprehend Him in part but not in whole.

Omnipresent: God is fully present everywhere.

Omniscient: God knows everything, past, present, and future—all potential and real outcomes, all things micro and macro.

Self-existent: God depends on nothing and no one to give Him life or existence.