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Still Learning to Pray
Psalm 61 - July 27, 2025 - Josh Wredburg (Pastor Redeemer Community Church)
Big Idea: This psalm helps us grow more fluent in the language of prayer.
When I was entering 7th grade in a new school in a new town, my parents asked me if I was interested in playing in the school band. Being a small Christian school, it was possible to play in the band and still play sports. That was key. After thinking about it, I told them I would like to play, and they asked me what instrument I wanted to play.
My oldest brother played the trombone. My next brother played the trumpet, so both of those were out. I decided I wanted to learn how to play the saxophone and play it in the school band. (Kenny G was big back then.) A week or two later, I showed up for my first lesson, and the instructor opened a case and handed me, not a saxophone, but a clarinet. I didn’t want to play the clarinet. I had zero interest in the clarinet. Because our school was so small, the clarinets sat with the flutes, and there were no guys in that section. Well, except me. When I saw the clarinet, I told the instructor that she had the wrong instrument, and she told me that they didn’t have any saxophones available right now, so I would learn the clarinet and then transition to the saxophone the next year. That was not my favorite year.
Learning a musical instrument for the first time is like learning a new language, and the only way to get better is to practice. The average person can’t pick up a musical instrument for the very first time and play it skillfully. You have to commit to regular lessons and hours of practice.
Prayer is like playing a musical instrument. It’s not natural. It takes instruction and practice. You have to commit yourself to spending hours just learning the basics. Because prayer is hard, God provides plenty of instruction. The psalms are full of examples that teach us how to pray.
This morning, we’ll study Psalm 61, another psalm about prayer. This psalm doesn’t focus on a particular circumstances, but brings us back to the basics on prayer. It’s like showing up for band practice and the director makes you play scales for the first 10 minutes. You’re rehearsing skills you’ve already been taught but may have forgot.
Here in Psalm 61, we find answers to four common questions about prayer. I love this psalm because it reminds us of God’s patience with us. Throughout the Bible, He both invites us and commands us to pray. And we fail to listen. We struggle. We grow discouraged. We give up. And so He reminds us again. Sometimes He goes back to the beginning to help us remember what He’s said before.
Our Father wants us to keep learning how to pray, and so He gives us these words of King David to help us.
Maybe the answer to this seems obvious to you, but it might not be that obvious to everyone. For many religions, there are certain places you can pray. If you want your prayer to be heard, you need to go to a temple or holy site to offer your prayer to the god you worship. But that’s not true when you’re worshipping the God of the universe. You can pray to Him from anywhere.
Psalm 61:1–2 (ESV) Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; 2 from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint.
Why is David praying “from the end of the earth”? As far as we know in Scripture, he never ventured far outside the borders of Israel, certainly not outside of the Middle East. Why then does he use this description? It’s possible he wrote this during his time of hiding from King Saul or from his own son’s rebellion. A large chunk of his life was spent on the run from enemies who wanted to kill him. Maybe his distance from the tabernacle—the center of Israel’s religious worship—made him feel like he was at the ends of the earth.
It’s also possible that he’s thinking about God in heaven, and the “end of the earth” is in contrast to the throne room of heaven. There are times when it seems like God is a long way away from us.
Whatever his specific meaning, this language reminds us that God can hear us praying from anywhere. No matter where we find ourselves, God can hear us. Think about some of the places where people pray in the Bible.
There’s no spot on earth where God is unable to hear our prayer. He hears the prayer of the man crying out in repentance and sorrow as he stumbles out of the strip club just as clearly as he hears the prayer offered by a pastor in a beautiful sanctuary. Physical proximity is irrelevant. You will never find yourself in a location where God is unable to hear your prayer.
Before re-entering earth’s atmosphere, Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, read Psalm 8 as a prayer. The psalm asks God the question: “When I consider the heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have ordained; What is man that you are mindful of him?” God not only hears prayers from the end of the earth, but He also hears prayers from space.
In the Bible, we find prayers recorded in three different languages: Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic. We also hear about Hannah, a woman battling infertility, who was so overcome by grief, she couldn’t make a sound as she prayed. We’re assured that when we don’t know what to say, the Holy Spirit of God prays for us. No matter the location, no matter the circumstances, no matter the language, God hears and understands the prayers of His people. So where can we pray? Anywhere.
The simple answer is anytime, but in verses 2—4, we find three specific examples. We can pray when we’re overwhelmed, when we’re threatened, and when we’re rejected.
I don’t know if you remember photos from Hurricane Katrina where people were waiting on the roofs of their houses for rescue, but that’s similar to the picture painted in verse 2. Water has come from nowhere, and it’s terrifying. It’s entered the first floor, and so you take a few belongings and head upstairs. You wait and worry while the water climbs even higher. Now it’s reached the upstairs. The only way to go higher is to climb out of an upstairs window and on the roof. Now you sit on the roof as the waters continue to climb. Looking around frantically, you realize there’s nowhere else for you to go. You’ve gone as high as you can. What now?
Psalms 61:2 (ESV) from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I,
You need to go somewhere above the waters, a place higher than you can reach on your own. Somewhere beyond the reach of the next wave of anxiety, anger, sorrow, or disappointment. You need someone to lead you to this place because you’re stranded on the roof and don’t see a way out. This, brothers and sisters, is when you need to pray. In prayer, God leads you to a rock safe from the floods of fear and frustration. He lifts you out of the waters and places you in a position of safety. When you’re overwhelmed, pray.
What if you’re not just overwhelmed by circumstances, but terrorized by enemies who want to hurt you. We know King David spent a large portion of his life running from real, physical enemies, and Christians have often been persecuted by those who hate Jesus. Around the world right now, our Christian brothers and sisters are threatened with prison time and death for following Jesus. Where can they go for help?
Psalms 61:3 (ESV) for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy.
When we’re threatened, we can run to God. When the enemy is bearing down, their hot breath on the back of our neck, we can run to God for protection. In the West, threats are generally less violent than in other parts of the world. But I know there are some in my church who’ve been threatened with a loss of their job for following Jesus. Some have had family members threaten to cut them off.
There is also a real enemy of our souls who is always threatening to do us harm, and our greatest enemy is not a political figure or a terrorist group, but sin and temptation. It’s likely that the greatest threat you and I will ever face is a temptation to turn from Jesus in pursuit of sinful pleasures that could destroy our lives. So when sin threatens, what should you do? Flee to God in prayer.
Let me remind you that it’s never to late to flee to God. He’s a strong tower “against the enemy” (3). You may be losing the battle to the enemy right now. Maybe late last night, the enemy was victorious over you. Maybe this week you were caught by one of the enemy’s schemes. Maybe it’s been so bad lately that all you see on every side are enemies. There is a strong tower beside you. It’s with you “against the enemy.” If you’re still breathing, if you’re heart is still beating, then there’s still time to flee to God for safety and refuge. He will receive you. He will be there for you. When you’re threatened, whether physically or spiritually, turn to God in prayer.
In 1936, Victor Hugo Green, a postman from Harlem, published a book that listed businesses who would serve black customers. The list of businesses, everything from restaurants to drug stores, provided a measure of safety and protection for families looking to travel long distances. It would prevent an African-American family from showing up at a business that refused to serve them. The fact that such a book was necessary is tragic. That anyone would face the type of widespread rejection that black men and women faced in our country is shameful. But this book told travelers where to go when rejected. Where do you go when you’re rejected, whether because of prejudice, conflict, or injustice?
Psalms 61:4 (ESV) Let me dwell in your tent forever! Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings! Selah
The word dwell refers to a refugee seeking asylum. Though we have no compelling reason that God should bring us into His tent to live with Him, we are still welcome. We’re welcome to move in with all our belongings and make His home our home. God says to us, “Mi casa, Su casa.” “My home is your home.”
The image of a tent also reminds us of the tent of worship, the tabernacle, the precursor to the temple. The tabernacle was carefully divided into sections, and only certain people were allowed in certain parts. Only Jewish people were allowed to enter a certain part. Only priests another, and only the high priest was able to enter the holiest of holy places at the center, the place that signified God’s presence. And he was only able to enter there once a year.
But through prayer, we’re invited to enter the holiest of holy places. We’re invited to walk into the presence of God with our needs and requests. The intimacy of this language is stunning, especially for people who were raised seeing the walls of separation in the temple and tabernacle.
But the intimacy is even more stunning in the next image, which pictures a mother hen gathering her chicks under her wings for protection. When people reject us, when we’re cast aside by those we consider friends, that’s when God wraps His wings around us and draws us to Himself.
I assume there are people in this room who have faced tremendous pressure from family members to turn away from Jesus and back to a false religion. Some have been cut-off. Some treated as pariahs and outsiders, mistreated and mocked. But they all have something in common. When rejected by parents and siblings, by friends and family members, they have been received by Jesus. He wraps them in His arms and shelters them. They have found a place of safety, security, and belonging in His home.
All three of the times listed here—when we’re overwhelmed, when we’re threatened, and when we’re rejected—lead us to pray, and prayer is an invitation to experience God’s presence. That’s the key point in these first four verses. No matter how far we feel from God, no matter how hard our circumstances are, we are brought into God’s presence in prayer. Prayer is the elevator that climbs all the way to heaven. It’s never too full of people, never closed for repairs. Whether God feels far away or whether danger surrounds us, we go to God in prayer.
This psalm opens us with a pretty bold statement. David addresses God and says, “Listen to me. Pay attention to what I’m saying.” Can you imagine walking into the office of a CEO and saying, “Listen to me”? Or entering the Pentagon and walking up to a 4-star general and telling him to pay attention to what you’re saying? But here is David, a mere man, looking at the creator of the universe, the CEO of the Cosmos, the Commander in Chief of a celestial army and speaking to him with the expectation that he will be heard. Why does he think God will listen to him?
Theologically we understand that God hears everything. There’s not a word we utter or even a thought we form that God is unaware of. But this is not referring simply to knowledge about what is being said. This is an expectation that God listens and cares what David has to say. What credentials does a person need to get face time with the Most High God, Creator of Heaven and Earth? We find the answer in verses 6—7.
Psalms 61:6–7 (ESV) Prolong the life of the king; may his years endure to all generations! 7 May he be enthroned forever before God; appoint steadfast love and faithfulness to watch over him!
In this psalm about prayer, the subject of the king comes up somewhat unexpectedly and many who study this passage aren’t sure what to do with it. They generally thing David is referring to himself and asking God to prolong his life. Almost like David is trying to sneak one by on God. “God, will you let the king live longer,” without ever mentioning that he’s the king. But David is not referring to himself. He’s referring to a future king, the Messiah, Jesus Christ. David does this in other places in the Psalms, and Jesus points out that David was speaking about Him (Matthew 22:41—46).
The reason David can pray with confidence is because his King, Jesus the Messiah, sits enthroned in the presence of God the Father. As part of His work of establishing a kingdom that will never end, characterized by love and truth, Jesus makes a way for us to enter the presence of God and present our requests. The King has opened the way for His people to enter the throne room of God and ask for His help.
The writer of Hebrews makes the connection when he writes this about Jesus:
Hebrews 4:14–16 (CSB)Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens — Jesus the Son of God — let us hold fast to our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin. 16 Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need.
Our king is also our priest, always ministering for us in God’s presence. Because He lives forever and cannot die and because He is enthroned before God, we also are given unlimited and unhindered access to God. We don’t have to go through anyone else. We don’t need a human priest to intercede on our behalf. Any religion that tells you to go through a priest should be rejected because that priest is usurping the role of Jesus. We go to God through Jesus and no one else.
The way to God was opened for us when Jesus offered His life as a sacrifice for our sins. When He died on the cross, the curtain that kept everyone out of the holiest place in the temple was torn from top to bottom. God reached down and ripped it apart. No man had that kind of power. Only God could do it, and He did it because of Jesus. When we’re united with Jesus by faith, what is true of Him becomes true of us. Listen to what Jesus says to us in the book of Revelation:
Revelation 3:21 (CSB) To the one who conquers I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.
In our psalm, David’s confidence that God will hear his prayer is based upon his king conquering sin and taking his rightful seat in God’s presence. The king then invites us all to come and join Him because we belong wherever He is.
I find it interesting that all of the descriptions of God in the first four verses are used for Jesus as well. Jesus is the true tent of worship (John 2). He longs to take Jerusalem under His care like a mother hen would take her chicks (Luke 13), and He is the rock that can be trusted, who brings salvation to His people (1 Corinthians 10). We know God will pay attention to our prayers because Jesus is at His right hand, where He ever lives to intercede for us.
This is why Jesus told His disciples to pray “in His name.” John 14:13–14 (CSB) “Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.” We don’t end our prayers “in Jesus’ name” because it’s a secret code that unlocks heaven’s vault. We pray in Jesus’ name like a messenger delivers a dispatch from headquarters to an officer. “In Jesus’ name” means it comes with His authority, stamped with His seal. When we bring requests to God stamped with the seal of Jesus, we know they will be answered.
But friend, this privilege only comes to those who have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus. Only those who have repented of their sin and received Jesus as Lord and Savior have a right to pray in His name. If you are not a Christian, the only prayer you can be confident God will hear from you is a prayer of repentance and faith. Apart from Jesus, you have no reason to think that God will hear and answer your prayer. But through Jesus, you can be certain God will pay attention to you.
Question #1: Where can we pray? Anywhere.
Question #2: When can we pray? Anytime, but especially when we’re overwhelmed, threatened, and rejected.
Question #3: Why can we pray? Because Jesus has opened the way for us and now sits in heaven interceding on our behalf.
Let me give you three C’s to help you remember how we can pray: we can pray with confidence, cheerfulness, and consistency.
Psalms 61:5 (ESV) For you, O God, have heard my vows; you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.
His confidence comes from knowing his standing before God. A heritage in this context means a future, an inheritance, something a father provides for his children. David knows that God is his Father, and so he prays with the confidence of a child who is secure in his father’s love and confident in his father’s strength.
I love what Tim Keller said about prayer: “The only person who dares wake up a king at 3 a.m. for a glass of water is a child. We have that kind of access.” No mere citizen will start banging on the gates of the castle in the middle of the night demanding the king bring them something to drink. But a son or daughter will go into the king’s room and shake him until he wakes up, gets out of bed, and gets them some water. Brothers and sisters, we have that kind of access to God. He never sleeps or slumbers, but is always ready to hear and help us in our time of need.
Psalms 61:8 (ESV) So will I ever sing praises to your name, as I perform my vows day after day.
Confident prayer is not a burden to carry, nor is it a duty to perform. It’s a joy. We have the ear of God, and He listens to us. It’s such a privilege that we can’t but help to pray full of cheer. “God listens to me! Can you believe it? I’m penpals with the king of creation. I have God’s cell phone number.”
David’s singing is not the type of sad singing heard at most funerals or the angry singing when Taylor Swift breaks up with another boyfriend. It’s like the singing of the national anthem after an unexpected gold medal. The joy and gratitude of what is happening swells the heart to such a degree that singing is the only option.
And that cheerful singing encourages us to come back again and again. Day by day to bring our prayers to God. The more we understand who God is, who we are, and how welcome we are to come to God through Jesus, the more we will enjoy prayer and the more consistent we will be in bringing our requests to our King, our Rock, our Fortress, our Father.
Psalm 61 is one of my favorite psalms. I find it to be such an encouragement to pray. I often read it when visiting with someone who is going through a time of suffering or difficulty. One Saturday night a year ago, I visited Rick and Louise. Rick was unresponsive and would be in the presence of Jesus the very next morning. As we sat with Louise in her living room, we read this psalm.
This psalm teaches us so much about prayer, a subject we should never stop learning about. It assures us that we can pray anywhere, anytime because King Jesus is seated in the presence of the Father, and allows us to come confidently and consistently into His presence to receive whatever help we need. But if we read this psalm as just an instruction on prayer, we’ve missed something. It’s more than instruction. (This is why I read it with someone suffering.) It’s an invitation from God to enter His presence. Psalm 61 is like a hand-written, personalized invitation that shows up in your mailbox inviting you to an audience with the King of the universe.
How are you responding to His invitation? When you’re overwhelmed by life, threatened by sin, rejected by friends and family, are you fleeing to God in prayer? He invites you to come Him anytime, even at 3am, and for any reason, even if you just need a drink of water.
When you feel overwhelmed by life, what is your first response? Who are you most likely to call?
Speaking of Jesus, the writer of Hebrew says, “Therefore, he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, since he always lives to intercede for them” (7:25). Praise God that Jesus has opened the way into His presence and constantly intercedes for you.
Take a few moments to bring your burdens to your Father in prayer right now.
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