Psalm 33: Prayer for Your Local Church-Supplication through the Scriptures


Psalm 33

Prayer for the Local Church 

One of our first priorities in corporate prayer ought to be praying for the local church as a whole: for her holiness, unity, boldness, protection, and growth.

Megan Hill, Praying Together


God has redeemed for Himself a people for His own possession. While we rejoice in our personal salvation, the Lord did not save us to be on our own apart from the community of believers. We are one body sharing one Spirit, called in one hope of our calling, having one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all (Ephesians 4:4-6). We are a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a special people, who together edify and build one another up, growing up in all aspects into Him, who is our head, Christ (Ephesians 4:15). How sweet and pleasant it is when we dwell together in unity! Let’s pray for our local body of believers to whom we have been united in our Lord Jesus Christ.

A People Who Praise Him

33:1-5 Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous! Praise befits the upright. Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre; make melody to him with the harp of ten strings! Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts. For the word of the Lord is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness. He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord. 

Let’s pray:

▫️The leadership in our local church, whether pastors, deacons, musicians, staff members, nursery workers, Sunday school teachers, or program directors, would lead and serve our church faithfully and joyfully and set a good example for the people in our local church to follow.

▫️The Lord would fill our church with believers who walk righteously and uprightly, honoring the Lord.

▫️Joy, praise, gratefulness, and rejoicing would fill the hearts of those in our church, knowing what great things God has done for us.

▫️In our time of worship, we would shout for joy, give thanks, make melody, and sing to Him.

▫️In all areas of service, our church would have those who are skilled and gifted in those areas being faithful stewards of the gifts God has given them for the edifying of the body of Christ.

▫️The Lord Himself would faithfully build His church.

▫️His Word would be preeminent in the lives of our people.

A People Who Fear Him

33:6-12 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host. He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap; he puts the deeps in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him! For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm. The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage! 

Let’s pray:

▫️The preaching of the Word would be held in high regard, and the church would actively listen to learn and grow as the Lord works in their hearts.

▫️Our pastor would be diligent in the study and preaching of the whole counsel of God so as to feed the flock of God in his care.

▫️Our people would be filled with the fear of God and be in awe of Him so as to obey Him in our own personal lives but also in how we are all to conduct ourselves in the church of God (1Timothy 2:15).

▫️The Lord would guide and counsel us through His living and abiding Word. We would seek His wisdom and His counsel in all matters concerning our church.

▫️When we gather together, we would encourage one another to love and trust the Lord, and we would stir one another up to love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24).

▫️Our local church would impact our community and the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

A People Who Trust Him 

33:13-17 The Lord looks down from heaven; he sees all the children of man; from where he sits enthroned he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth, he who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds. The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength. The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue. 

Let’s pray:

▫️Our church would not trust in human means to build our church but solely in the Lord.

▫️The Lord would fashion our hearts into the likeness of His Son.

▫️His eye would be on each of us to deliver us from sin and from our enemies and guide us in His truth.

▫️The Lord would protect His church from lies, deception, heresy, lukewarmness, distractions, and the leaven of sin that would leaven the whole church.

A People Who Wait in Hope on Him

33:18-22 Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you.

Let’s pray:

▫️The eye of the Lord, His loving care, would be upon those who fear Him.

▫️Our church would hope in His steadfast love, and though we may face many trials, He would deliver us out of them all.

▫️As a church body, we would wait on Him and He would be our help and our shield.

▫️Our hearts would be glad in Him because we trust His holy name.

▫️We would with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 15:5-6), and His steadfast love would be upon us, even as we wait in hope on Him.

May the Lord do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, for His glory and our good. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Saints by profession are bound to maintain an holy fellowship and communion in the worship of God and in performing such other spiritual services as tend to their mutual edification.

Westminster Confession of Faith, Article 26.2


Psalm 33 quoted from the ESV. 

Photo credit to ChristinLola

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