Whose words?
We know God’s words are powerful. When He speaks, things happen (Psalm 33:9).
So what happens when we speak His words? Are things more likely to change if we pray His exact words?
Well, they’re not meant to be a magical “Abracadabra!” It’s only God’s power behind the words that make them work anyway. But when we reflect His words back to Him through our prayer conversations, we are ensuring we’re in agreement with His will.
Jesus said if we abide in Him, and His words abide in us, we can ask whatever we wish, and it will be done for us (John 15:7). Whose words? His words.
I’m not suggesting we forgo original prayers. God forbid. We need to talk things out using our own words with our heavenly Father just like we do in earthly relationships.
But we can effectively supplement those times by occasionally praying scripture.
How?
1. Pick out a scripture.
Find scriptures that speak to you. (Can you stop reading and go find one right now?)
2. Make it personal.
Personalize it by substituting “I” and by addressing God directly, instead of as “He.” For example, Isaiah 55:6 says, “Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near.” You can pray that back to God by saying, “I will seek You, Lord, while You may be found; I will call upon You while You are near.”
3. Write it down.
Put a few in writing so you can pray more directly instead of converting in your head on the fly. Keep a notebook or a document on your computer with several scripture prayers you can automatically turn to.
4. Say it aloud.
You may find it helpful to say these prayers aloud. There’s something about hearing your own voice repeating God’s truths to Him that makes them even more real.
Where to find texts
1. Psalms
It’s easy to begin with Psalms. Many are already in the form of prayers. As you read them, address them to God. My personal favorites include Psalm 16, Psalm 27, Psalm 139, and Psalm 145.
2. Jesus’ example
Jesus was the master prayer. The example He gave His disciples to pray—including us—is in Matthew 6:9-13.
3. Other Bible prayers
By substituting their specific circumstances with yours, you can adapt the principles in prayers found throughout the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16-17), including King Solomon’s prayer at the temple dedication (1 Kings 8:22-30), King Hezekiah’s prayer of deliverance from enemies (2 Kings 19:15-19), Elijah’s prayer for God to reveal Himself at Mt. Carmel (1 Kings 18:36-37), as well as the apostle Paul’s prayers in the epistles, including Ephesians 1:15-23, Ephesians 3:14-21, and Colossians 1:9-12.
4. Favorite scriptures
But don’t limit yourself to scriptures already clearly articulated as prayers. Do you have a favorite Bible verse that proclaims truths or promises? Be careful not to take it out of context, but if it does apply, let God know you believe His words by exclaiming them back to Him.
5. Prayer books
You may already have a favorite book (please share below!); many are available straight from scripture. My favorites are compiled by Kenneth Boa in his Face to Face books: Vol 1: Praying the Scriptures for Intimate Worship, and Vol. 2: Praying the Scriptures for Spiritual Growth.
Benefits
By grounding your prayers in God’s living and active words (Hebrews 4:12), you will honor the Father, you will pray effectively (James 5:16), and you will strengthen your faith, drawing closer to God through His truths, being transformed into the woman of God you are designed to be.
Use Spirit-inspired words for Spirit-filled prayers.
Lord,
Your word that goes out from Your mouth does not return to You empty. May it accomplish that which You purpose, and succeed in the thing for which You sent it.
~ Isaiah 55:11
Do you do pray with scripture? Have a favorite verse? A useful prayer book? Let’s share our experiences.
When I use a book of prayers, I turn to “The Valley of Vision.” It is a book of Puritan prayers. I had never used a prayer book until a few years ago, and I would challenge people to at least read through it. (There maybe a free online version somewhere.) The faith of these spiritual ancestors is quite an encouragment and a challenge! Normally I just pray my own “original” prayers though. But when I feel like I’m going through the motions, I’ll reach for this book.
I do pray through Scripture, but not very often. Sometimes as I’m reading Scripture will just be begging to be prayed back to our Father. At those times I will stop to pray. Other times when I feel like my Bible reading is getting to that point of merely going through the motions or if I’m having a difficult time concentration, I’ll turn the chapter(s) into a prayer. It definitely makes me think about what I’m reading.
Excellent, Melissa. I have a friend who uses “The Valley of Vision” and has benefited greatly from it. I need to look into it myself.
I am like you–I find certain scriptures are just begging to be prayed back (that’s a great way to put it!). I have a list of memory verses I go through periodically and some of them are so intimate that they simply must be said TO God directly.
Im looking forward to seeing what others are reading. I have a few of Stormie O’Martin’s books. I can’t remember the proper titles. Power of a praying wife, I think. Praying parent, and Praying the scriptures.
I’m looking forward hearing from others too. I figure Stormie Omartian’s books will pop up…I read one awhile back and while all of it didn’t apply to my circumstances (I think it was the parenting one), it did have lots of great verses to pray through.
When I pray God’s word (i don’t know why I don’t continually do so) I love to use “Praying God’s Word” by Beth Moore, I also use some of the prayers in the faith dare by debbie alsdorf, warrior prayers is a great way to pray for our sons, and Kat at Inspired to Action has great prayers for our children and our husbands.
I appreciate you listing such good resource recommendations, Julie. I don’t pray through scripture nearly enough either; I’ve been convicted to do it more through this study though.
And now I’ll have more resources to check out. Thanks!
I so appreciate the perfect balance you’ve struck here. I have known people who seemed to pray Scripture with almost a “magic formula” feel or who almost seem to subtly judge those whose prayers aren’t based on a Bible verse. It’s good to just say what’s on our hearts to God, but when we pray along Scriptural lines, we know we’re praying according to His will. Love the other benefits you listed as well.
I’ve probably most often prayed “the Lord’s prayer,” Ephesians 1:15-23, Ephesians 3:14-21, Colossians 1:9-12, and Philippians 1:9-11, sometimes word for word, sometimes as a springboard. Sometimes I’ve quoted a promise from the Word as I pray, like the James 1:5-6 passage about asking for wisdom, or II Peter 3:9 (God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance) or John 6:44 (No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him) when praying for unsaved loved ones.
In Changed Into His Image by Jim Berg, he advocates praying alongside our reading. We tend to have separate Bible reading and prayer times in our devotions, but he recommends praying as we read the Scripture — in a verse that talks about an attribute of God, thanking Him and worshiping Him for that before we go on to the next verse, etc.
“Praying alongside our reading” – yes. It becomes more of a two-way conversation when we do that. God speaks to us; we speak back to Him. Beautiful.
Your examples here are very helpful, Barbara. Thank you for taking the extra step of listing the verses. We can refer to them.
Psalm 23 is another passage I like praying, especially in the middle of the night when I can’t always accurately remember others. I feel such assurance from using inspired words, knowing that God means what He says.
This is a very useful post, as well as follow-up comments. I like looking up topics in books of promises or books like “Where to Find it in the Bible.” Then I read scripture that has to do with the circumstance I’m praying about. Some of my favorite verses to turn into prayer are 2 Timothy 1:8 and Romans 12:21. Psalms 139:23-24. And one of my favorites to quote in praise of Him is Isaiah 55:8-9.
Those are great verses for prayer, Jeanette. I love how the comments have turned into a resource itself.
I’m glad you mentioned books of promises. I pulled out two books just this morning for a class I’m going to be teaching, but they’re very applicable to this too. One is Joyce Meyer’s little purple book, “The Secret Power of Speaking God’s Word.” It’s a collection of verses by topic. And the other is “Always True: God’s 5 promises when life is hard”. I don’t agree with everything in it, but I definitely agree we need to rely on those promises.
Love this! One of my favorites is Psalm 139. When I’m feeling unsure of the “why’s” of my circumstances, this is my comfort.
“Lord You know my coming and going…”
Thanks for posting Lisa!
Such precious scriptures when we’re doubting there is a plan behind the scenes. Isn’t that one of the greatest psalms ever? It speaks to me too. As a matter of fact, I think I need to go pray through it right now. ha. Thanks, Michelle!
Thanks for this reminder. I love praying with Scripture.
You’re welcome, Joyce. I hope to begin doing it more again this year. I didn’t do so much with it last year.
Lisa, thank you for this helpful post! You’ve encouraged me to use Scripture more in my prayer time!
I’m glad, Kathy. God knew I needed this lesson for ME, too. He is faithful to provide what we need.