Praying Scripture
1. Praying the Scripture
Although the concept seems foreign to most believers, praying the Scriptures provides a meaningful avenue for revealing needs and finding biblical solutions. God is in the process of reshaping our thinking, values, and lives to become more Christ-like. Through the Scriptures God puts His finger on a need; and we can use these Scriptures as a pattern to pray so that our lives will be shaped according to His will. Praying the Scriptures, therefore, is a way of helping us pray directly according to God’s will. How is it that the Scripture can change the shape of our lives? A simple acrostic can help even the young believer pray more effectively as he uses God’s Word in prayer. When reading your Bible, ask yourself, “Is there a …”
Sin to confess?
Habit to correct?
Attitude to change?
Promise to claim?
Example to copy?
As we have already noted, time is the new commodity in the 1990s. People do not want to waste their time in praying for irrelevant things. They like to get right to the heart of the matter. Praying the Scriptures can help them pray directly according to God’s will: “This is the assurance we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we ask of him” (1 John 5:14–15). When we pray Scripture, we know that He not only hears us because this is His revealed will, but He also answers us.
When God tells you something in the Bible, or shows you something in the Bible, tell Him about it. Ask Him about it. Thank Him for it.
Pray Through the Text
This is the spirit of Psalm 119:18: “Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.” The Holy Spirit is the Great Guide into the truth (John 14:26). Meditation is more than just riveted human concentration or creative mental energy. Praying your way through a verse of Scripture submits the mind to the Holy Spirit’s illumination of the text and intensifies your spiritual perception. The Bible was written under the Holy Spirit’s inspiration; pray for His illumination in your meditation.
I recently meditated on Psalm 119:50: “This is my comfort in my affliction, that Thy word has revived me” (NASB). I prayed through the text along these lines:
Lord, You know the affliction I’m going through right now. Your Word promises to comfort me in my affliction. Your Word can revive me in my affliction. I really believe that is true. Your Word has revived me in affliction during the past, and I confess my faith to You that it will revive me in this experience. I pray that You will revive me now through the comfort of Your Word.
As I prayed through this text, the Holy Spirit began to bring to my mind truths from Scripture about the sovereignty of God over His Church, His providence over the circumstances in my life, His power, His constant presence and love, and so on. In this extended time of meditation and prayer, my soul was revived and I felt comforted by the Comforter.
Meditation must always involve two people—the Christian and the Holy Spirit. Praying over a text is the invitation for the Holy Spirit to hold His divine light over the words of Scripture to show you what you cannot see without Him.