Praying Through God's Word: Romans

Romans 1:1-32

"I am not ashamed of the Gospel: it is the power of God for salvation to every one who has faith" (Romans 1:16). Lord, we thank You for Your Gospel. It is Good News. It comes to us with power. It brings to us salvation. Help us to believe Your Gospel, to release its power and to receive Your salvation.

Romans 2:1-29

Help us, Lord, not to come to You with the Pharisee's pride: "God, I thank You that I am not like other men." Help us to come with the sinner's prayer: "God, be merciful to me, a sinner" (Luke 18: 11-13). Help us, Lord, to confess our sin and rejoice in Your salvation: "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" (1 Timothy 1:15).

Romans 3:1-31

"All have sinned" (Romans 3:23). Lord, this is more than the Bible's teaching about sin. It's our own personal story. It's the story of our life. Sin - This is not the only story. There's another story, a better story - the Story of Your salvation. You have sent Jesus to our world. He is our Saviour. He comes to us with His pardon, His peace and His power. He saves us. He changes us. "Sin shall not have dominion over us" (Romans 6:14) - Thank You, Lord.

Romans 4:1-25

Lord, Your salvation is always Your gift. It's never a reward that we earn. Salvation never begins with "I" - "This is what I have done." It always begins with You, Lord. It begins with Your love: "God so loved the world" (John 3:16). We can never save ourselves. We can only be saved by You, Lord. Thank You, Lord, for giving to me Your salvation, so full and free."

Romans 5:1-21

Lord, You are the great God. Your love is great. Your Son is great. Your salvation is great. You give us a great future - glory with You forevermore. Thank You, Lord.

Romans 6:1-21

Lord, we want to walk with you in the centre of Your will. Where does this desire to please You come from? - It comes from You, Lord. You put it into our hearts. Without Your Word, speaking to us, we would never think of walking with You. We would be too busy thinking about ourselves and what we want. Draw near to us, Lord. Keep us close to Yourself.

Romans 7:1-25

Lord, our life's a battlefield. It's a minefield. We never know when something's going to blow up in our face. When the heat is on, help us to cool down with Your calm: "Do not be anxious about anything ... with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7).

Romans 8:1-39

Life is all about choices. Sometimes, Lord, we make bad decisions - and we have to live with them. We thank You, Lord, that You made the best decision. You decided to love us. You decided to send Your Son to us. We thank You, Lord, that You've never gone back on Your decision. Our love for You is often weak. Your love for us is as strong as it ever was. It's absolute love. It's "love that will not let us go" (George Matheson).

Romans 9:1-33

Often, Lord, we have too much self-confidence and not enough confidence in You. May there be less 'I can' - that's the pride we can do without - and more 'God can' - this is the faith we need so much. Are there times when we can forget about 'God can', times when 'I can' is all that we need? When we start thinking like this, help us to remember Jesus' words: "Without Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). Lord, we are not without You. You are with us. Help us to say, I can - because God can."

Romans 10:1-21

Sometimes, Lord, we feel left out in the cold. Other people are being blessed - but we're not! Where does this kind of thinking come from? - It comes from Satan. He tells us that we don't matter to You. You love everybody else - but us! How can we get out of this rut? We need to be lifted out of it, lifted out by You. Lift us up, Lord. Lift us up with Your love. Lift us up to a new level. Give to us a new awareness of how much You love us.

Romans 11:1-36

Teach us, Lord, to "stand in awe" of You and to "stand fast" for You. May we have no place in our hearts for the way of "pride." May we always seek to walk with You in the way of "faith" (Romans 11:20).

Romans 12:1-13:10

Lord, we want to know what love is. We want You to show us. We want to feel what love is. We know You can show us. There is no love like Your love. It's "love so amazing, so divine." May Your love reach us - and change us.

Romans 13:1-14:23

Give to us, Lord, real love, real faith, real peace and real joy. We don't want just talk about these things. We want the real thing - a life that is being changed by Your power, a life that is bringing glory to You.

Romans 15:1-33

We thank You, Lord, for Christ's example, calling us to walk more closely with You. We thank You for the encouragement of the Scriptures, urging us on to a closer walk with You. We thank You for Your enabling power that keeps us walking with You day-by-day - "Day-by-day, O dear Lord, three things I pray: To see Thee more clearly, to love Thee more dearly, to follow Thee more nearly, day-by-day."

Romans 16:1-27

We have many problems, Lord, but Your power is greater than all of them. Help us to look beyond our problems. Help us to receive Your power. Help us to release Your power. Renew us, Lord. Put a right spirit within us (Psalm 51:10) - a spirit of praise, a spirit of obedience, a spirit of joy, your Holy Spirit.