Tomorrow I start back on an exercise regimen that I have neglected for some time. Since I have a perpetual love/hate relationship with working out, I will once again have to endure a few weeks of soreness. Anytime I take a week or two off from my routine, it feels as though I have started running/lifting/stretching for the first time. Beyond sore muscles, there is also an awkwardness that comes with my lapse in regularity. My running motion or lifting form feels odd, like I am doing something wrong. Between the soreness and the awkwardness, its almost enough to quit…again!

The same can be true with our prayer life and spiritual practices. As we start to integrate the Psalms into our spiritual lives, it can seem a little awkward at first. We begin to pray for things that we haven’t prayed for before. We pray for people we normally wouldn’t consider when praying. We sing songs we may not have sung before. We lament, we celebrate, we express a response to God in a way we’ve never expressed before. We lose familiar words and phrases. We find ourselves in awkward silence. The newness pressures us to revert back to the old ways.

All of these things can be weird or feel different. But, just as it takes time and practice to rid our bodies of soreness and awkward motions, so to it takes time to make new spiritual practices a part of our response to God. I pray that you will push through these next several weeks and allow God to develop some new habits in your pursuit of him.