Praying Scripture

“Then Jesus told His disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.” —Luke 18:1

“I just don’t know how to pray!” Have you ever heard someone say that?

It’s interesting that a disciple came to Jesus and said, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” (Luke 11:1) And then Jesus gave them the words to what we call “The Lord’s Prayer.” Jesus was calling us to a relationship with His Father—One who reigns in heaven, is sovereign on earth, provides, forgives, protects, guides, delivers, and is powerful, holy, and eternal. And God wants to be known, so that we can grow in that relationship—and glorify Him. E. M. Bounds writes, “Bible-reading and praying are the distinguishing traits of those who strive to know and please God.” (1)

We pray the Lord’s Prayer as a model prayer, but the Apostle Paul also wrote some beautiful prayers which are recorded in his New Testament letters. Ephesians 3:16-21 is one of my favorites: “I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” What if you took that prayer and personalized it with the name of your deployed spouse or at-home spouse, or friend? Where you find the word “you” or “your”, substitute their name. Other great prayers from Paul are Colossians 1:9-14, Ephesians 1:17-19, and Philippians 1:9-11.

I learned to pray scripture several years ago when introduced to a book by Jodie Berndt called Praying the Scriptures for Your Children. I love to take the words of the Bible and personalize them in order to pray for myself or for others. In the introduction to this book, Fern Nichols says that when we pray the promises of God, we are “praying back the very words of God.” (2) This can be as simple and as powerful as using John 3:16 in a prayer for salvation that might look like this: “Thank you for loving Johnny so much that You gave Your one and only Son, that when Johnny believes in Him he will not perish but have eternal life.” And Psalm 121:7-8 are great verses to pray for safety of a loved one (or yourself): “The LORD will keep you from all harm—He will watch over your life; The LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” As you read scripture, look for verses that you can personalize in this way in prayer.

We have recently seen some episodes of a new special out on PBS called “The War.” Today the story was told of a WWII soldier who repeated the 23^rd Psalm as he was preparing for battle in the Pacific. “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. . . . . . Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me.” When I hear stories of people calling out to God with scripture, it reminds me of the verse from Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is living and active.”

Psalm 91 has been called “The Soldier’s Psalm”. Perhaps you have even seen it printed on a camouflaged bandana. “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’ Surely He will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. . . . . You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, . . . .For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. . .” Psalm 91:1-3, 5, 11. There are many stories of how this particular Psalm has inspired and comforted soldiers and their families in the recent conflicts in the desert as its promises have been proclaimed.

There is a classic book on prayer written by Andrew Murray in 1885 entitled With Christ in the School of Prayer. In it he reminds us, “Sometimes in our prayers we are so occupied with our fervent, urgent, petitions that we forget that the Father knows and hears. At those times just hold still and quietly say, ‘My Father sees, my Father hears, my Father knows.” (3) He knows, and He loves us. That is the basis of the relationship and the reason we pray.

Questions to share:

1. Do you know how much God loves you and desires to hear from you?

2. Is there a favorite scripture verse that you can pray for someone you love?

Resources:

(1) The Complete Works of E.M. Bounds on Prayer, compiled by Baker Books, 1990, p.72.

(2) Praying the Scriptures for Your Children by Jodie Berndt, Zondervan Publishing, 2001, p. 9.

(3) With Christ in the School of Prayer by Andrew Murray, Bridge-Logos Publishers, 1999, p. 14.