We all learn different methods to help us pray. And as believers we need to keep learning new methods to enhance our prayer lives. But in all my years of discipling people to pray, one method stands out as the most powerful one to use: praying Scripture.
In Isaiah 55:11, God declared that when His Word went out, it would not return void, or empty. In other words, it is powerful and has a strong effect on the situations over which it is spoken!
Because of that, I have learned that praying God’s Word is perhaps the most powerful method of prayer we can use. Every believer should learn to incorporate praying God’s Word into their prayer arsenal.
But why?
- We will be praying God’s will.
We all know that to see our prayers answered, what we asked for needs to be God’s will. But how can we know it is God’s will? We know that the Bible holds God’s will, so it stands to reason that if we pray the Bible over a situation, we are praying God’s will.
“This is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. So if we know that He hears whatever we ask, we know that we have whatever we asked of Him” (1 John 5:14-15).
For example, let’s say I am praying for a friend, Bill, who is out of work—I want to pray that he gets a job. But I do not know if the interview he has tomorrow holds the job God wants for Bill. So what can I pray that I know is God’s will?
I can pray out of 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12:
“Therefore we always pray for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling and with power fulfill all your good desires and works done by faith, so that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Chris.”
Prayer: Father, You know that Bill is in deep need of a job. I don’t know what job You have for him, but I pray that You will fulfill every purpose You have for him. Increase his faith and let his life bring glory to Your name, Jesus.
Or out of Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans that I have for you, says the Lord, plans for peace and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
Prayer: Father, release Your plans of prosperity and hope in Bill’s life. Let him see You at work in providing a job so he can support his family …
- Scripture is full of the things that are on God’s heart.
When we study and pray Scripture, we learn the things that are on God’s heart, so we can pray them.
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).
“Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest, that He will send out laborers into His harvest'” (Matt. 9:37-38).
Be sure to listen to my latest podcast episode to discover more benefits of praying Scripture aloud. You’ll also learn a simple yet powerful way to do it. {eoa}