Our home group leader also leads a youth group at her church.

She was about to do an evening with them where they would look at the Psalms, then try to write their own. She decided to pick our brains for ideas, and use us as guinea pigs for some of the exercises she planned to do with the young people.

One of these was to take a familiar Psalm and, by reference perhaps to your own situation, personalise it to make it your own Psalm-prayer.

After the meeting, I had a go with Psalm 23:

A personal paraphrase of Psalm 23

The Lord is my rescuer;
I shall not stay lost for long.
Far from home,
I long for the safety and security of the familiar.
He will find me and take me back.
He will lead me back along the paths I missed
as if his reputation depended on it.

Even when the path is steep and slippery,
and threatens to plunge me into the abyss below,
I will not be afraid,
for you are leading me.
Your skill and encouragement will keep me going.

You remind me that there is a good meal and a
comfortable bed waiting for me,
confounding those who said I’d never make it back.
Anticipating a shower and a cold beer
makes my heart sing.
I will live to fight another day, and we will walk
together again.

I found this exercise really helpful…give it a try!