Learning to Pray the Psalms

Everyone’s talking about mindfulness… but what if we’ve missed the most important part?
What if the key isn’t your mind being focused—but God’s mind being focused on you?

In this teaching on Psalm 8, John Ortberg explores a deeper kind of mindfulness—one that begins not with your attention, but with God’s.

While we often struggle with distraction, anxiety, and rumination, Psalm 8 reveals something surprising: God is fully, constantly mindful of you. His attention never drifts. His care never wavers.
Through reflection, Scripture, and guided prayer, this teaching invites you to step into praise, re-center your mind, and experience what it means to live in the awareness of God’s presence.

You’ll also learn how to pray the Psalm—turning your attention from distraction to delight, and from anxiety to awe.

Music Credits:
Vikersund by RØRE - MB01V0UASAACPKE
Alta by RØRE - MB01IWZVJASGKHF

📚 Today's Resources:

Thomas Merton, Praying the Psalms (1956)
Mark Ralls, “Mindful: Psalm 8,” The Christian Century, 15 May 2007.
Eugene Peterson, Answering God: The Psalms as Tools for Prayer (1991)
C.S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms (1958)
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible (1940)
Timothy Keller and Kathy Keller, The Songs of Jesus: A Year of Daily Devotions In the Psalms (2015)
James W. Sire, Praying the Psalms of Jesus (2007)
Walter Bruggeman, Praying the Psalms: Engaging Scripture and the Life of the Spirit (1995)

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00:00 – Opening Prayer
 00:18 – Learning to Pray the Psalms
 00:42 – From Wisdom → Lament → Praise
 01:02 – Do You Struggle With Your Mind?
 01:27 – Resources on Praying the Psalms
 02:17 – “Lord, Our Lord…” (Starting With God)
 02:50 – What “God’s Name” Really Means
 03:22 – God’s Glory in All the Earth
 03:49 – The Power of Childlike Praise
 04:25 – “What Is Mankind?” (The Big Question)
 04:55 – Why Praise Feels So Empty Today
 05:46 – Why We Struggle to Praise God
 06:08 – Do You Actually Want God?
 06:54 – No Blueprint for Ecstasy
 07:23 – Practicing Attention and Reflection
 07:54 – What Is Mindfulness (Really)?
 08:20 – The Universe Exists in God’s Mind
 08:42 – God Is Mindful of You
 09:11 – The Acorn Illustration (Are You Paying Attention?)
 09:54 – God Is Never Distracted
 10:14 – Because God Is Mindful… We Can Be Too
 10:25 – Practicing Presence (Breath + Spirit)
 10:57 – “Present to the Presence in the Present”
 11:15 – Why Psalm 8 Ends Where It Begins
 11:32 – You Are Held in God’s Attention
 11:52 – Seeing Others as Image Bearers
 12:02 – Living With Joy, Gratitude, and Praise