Praying The Scriptures

[angelwind]

I thought maybe we could have a thread like this here, in this forum, because we seem to fellowship through our experience with the written word so much. If it is out of place and the moderators want to move it that is ok with me.

I keep wanting to learn how and to practice praying GOD'S WORD. Personalizing it for my personal growth and using it as an intercessor's tool for the church...to strengthen the body world wide at this time; drawing us into deeper fellowship with the Lord and with each other...causing us to be fruitful as we more and more learn to abide in Christ.

Some of you are experienced at this allready...I am just learning...I encourage any who feel led to pray this way...to launch out into deeper waters with me.

I'm starting with some of Paul's prayers for the church, but the Lord has been helping me pray the scripture from all over the Bible.

Thank You Lord for giving us Your Word in a written form and thank You for the examples of prayer we find in the lives of the saints who have gone before us. Help us Lord to hear what Your Spirit is saying to our hearts and help us "see"...give us insight in to Your Word that we might be wise in prayer before Your throne.

Lord I ask that we would be filled with the knowledge of Your will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding....so that we may lead lives worthy of You Lord, fully pleasing to You....as we bear fruit in every good work, as we grow in the knowledge of God.
Lord, may we be made strong with all the strength that comes from Your glorious power...may we be prepared to endure everything with patience, while we joyfully give thanks to our Father....Who has enabled us to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.
I thank You Father that You have rescued us from the power of darkness, and transferred us into the kingdom of Your beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, and the forgiveness of sins. C0l. 1:9-14

 

[TheOriginalWhitehorse]

Awesome idea for a thread. This is a topic and an activity very near and dear to my heart: so incredibly powerful.

If you're looking for lots and lots of good scriptures, the Psalms and Proverbs are chock full of good stuff to pray through. The thing I like about psalms is that so many of them are written from the author to God-already in prayer form, and touching on so many things we struggle with in our lives, too. David and Asaph wrote wonderful prayers that have faith already built into them, which builds the strength of the child of God, too: good stuff.

Proverbs is good because it is loaded to the gills with promises. So we can pray those promises, asking the Lord for them and humbly showing them to Him in His word. So powerful becaues they are His promises. For every fear, concern or doubt, there are promises for that. Even for fear and doubt themselves.

Praying scriptures builds faith, gets us in touch with our dependence on Him, and wow. That is a very good combination.

Thanks for the awesome idea!



Whitehorse

 

[caitlincares]

Here is another thread here in the Deeper Fellowship forum that focused on Paul's Prayers.

 

[Count]

Praying the scriptures is not just finding the prayers of the saints written in the bible and repeating them. Praying the scriptures is more than that. While reading the bible we can turn some verses in prayers and so we feed our spirit with these words by praying. For instance, Jesus told: "I am the way, I am the truth and I am the life." We could turn this verse in prayer by saying: "Yes my Lord, you are the way, the only way in which we walk, you are the truth, you didn't just told us the truth, but you are the truth, and you are the truth that lives inside us. You are the Life my Lord, You have not just given to us life so that we can live by this, but You are the real Life and this Life dwells inside us."

I was reading Mathew and verses 28-29 of chapter 12 cause my spirit to pray. Let's see how.

"But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the dingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can anyone enter the strong man's house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house."

The strong man is Satan, and we could do nothing against him since he was much stronger than us, and we were hindered by him to enter the kingdom of God. But it was Jesus Christ who was stronger than him and could bind that 'strong man', by the cross. He defeated him and we are now free to worship our Lord and to enjoy the kingdom of God. So;

My Lord I was a slave and could do nothing to set myself free. I was weak and unable, I was cursed and condemned for ever without hope. I couldn't match my strength with satan's strength, but You my Lord came and bound him and set us free. We can enter his house now and carry off his property, the property that he stole from us. Thank you my Lord because now we are worthy of the kingdom of God, not because of our strengh, but because of your strengh. Our strengh is You my Lord. Our strengh is Your cross my Lord. Because you have defeated him just in the Cross, and we are free our Lord, we are free to worship You, we are free to enjoy You, we are free to know You, we are free to love You, we are free to serve You and all these not by us, but by another means, by You my Lord that dwells within us. Thank you my LOrd that the kingdom of God is not far away from us, but it is nearer that we could ever imagine, it is within us. Amen.

 

[johan777]

Pro 4:20 - 22 My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart. For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh.


Father God, thank you that as I read, meditate on and do what your word says, I will find healing for my body

 

[nhzname]

I love praying these verses, especially for non-believers, but also sometimes for myself and other brothers and sisters in Christ, when we feel we are not close enough to the Lord.

Ezekiel 36:24-28 NIV~

... the nations will know that I am the LORD , declares the Sovereign LORD , when I show myself holy through you before their eyes. For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God.

Personallized, I may say something like ...

Father, by your grace, forgive us our sins against you and show yourself holy through us, that others may see that you are the Lord. Wash us, Lord, and we will be clean. Cleanse us from all impurity, and draw us near to you. Remove our hearts of stone and replace them with hearts of flesh. Write your law upon our hearts, that we may be your people, and that you may be our God. Put your Spirit in us Father, and move us to follow you decrees and honor your laws. I ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen

 

[angelwind]

Brethren, my cup "runneth over". I was not sure I should even put this thread on the board. Your responses and prayers are exactly what I was sensing in my heart; what I thought the Lord was showing me.

God is good. Thank You Lord for the wonderful gifts You give to Your church and each member...thank You for sending Your Spirit to help us edify each other and share Your love and wisdom.

 

[IKTCA]

The more basic approach of praying the scripture is to ask the Lord to fulfill the scripture. Let me give an example.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

As I examine myself closely, I find there is no burning desire in me to be pure or to see God. From this I can tell I am not in obedience of this command: Be pure in heart. So I ask Jesus to teach me what is pure so that my heart knows what to yearn.

As time goes by, little by little, Jesus shows me what is not pure in me, and what is pure and to be desired. Little by little, Jesus fulfills his command in me as I desire to obey the command.

Sometimes, I don't even understand what a verse means. Then I ask the Lord to explain it to me so that I can obey it. Sometimes, a command is too hard for me to obey. I wish Jesus had not said that to me. That's when I ask Jesus to change my heart so that the command does not offend me, and that I yearn to obey the command.

This is my basic approach of praying the scripture. I find this approach much fruitful. Anyone in my stage of faith (rudimentary, still rough, but seeking) may benifit from this appraoch. I can use this on all commands and teachings and promises.

Thank you for listening. And thank you for the post since OP addresses an approach that I can benefit from.

 

[mythbuster]

To pray-read is to contact the Lord in His word with our spirit. The Bible is His breath, His words are Spirit and life, and we breathe the word out. As we pray-read we can have the breath of God. Not for knowledge but for fellowship in life. Fellowship with our wonderful triune God whom we love but cannot see. Fellowship for the renewing of our mind, the transforming of our soul, the fanning into flame the gift within.

To eat Jesus is to take His words into us as food. He has prepared a table for us and we enjoy Him as our unique diet. He is the manna from heaven. Pray-read the word, especially the apostle Paul.

Col 1:17-18

And He is before all things, and all things cohere in Him, and He is the Head of the Body, the church, He is the beginning, the Firstborn from the dead that He might have the first place in all things.

 

[e-bwm]

The thing about praying the Scriptures that stands out to me is that the Scriptures reveals God's will to us, and by praying according to His Word then we are in essence praying according to His will, which he promises to answer, as stated in 1 John 5: 14, 15:

And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. (KJV)

Father, I thank you for the promises that you give of answering our prayers, when we pray according to your will. I pray that we stay attuned to You and your Word that we may know the Your will that we might know how to pray.

 

[johan777]

Psa 119:11 I have hidden Your Word in my heart, so that I might not sin against You
Psa 119:15 I will think on Your Commandments and have respect to Your ways.
Psa 119:18 Open my eyes, so that I may behold wonderful things out of Your Law.
Psa 119:25My soul clings to the dust; give me life according to Your Word
Psa 119:27 Make me to understand the way of Your Commandments, and I will speak of Your wonderful works.
Psa 119:34 Give me understanding, and I shall keep Your Law; yea, I shall observe it with all my heart.
Psa 119:37 Turn away my eyes from seeing vanity; in Your way give me life.

Psa 119:50 This is my comfort in my affliction; for Your Word has given me life.
Psa 119:71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted, so that I might learn Your Precepts.

Psa 119:88 According to Your loving-kindness give me life; so shall I keep the testimony of Your mouth.
Psa 119:104 Through Your Commandments I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.
Psa 119:105 Your Word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path.
Psa 119:130 The entrance of Your Words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple
Psa 119:133 Order my steps in Your Word; and do not let any iniquity rule over me.
Psa 119:149 Hear my voice according to Your loving-kindness; O Jehovah, according to Your judgment give me life.
Psa 119:169 Let my cry come near to You, O Jehovah; give me wisdom according to Your Word.
Psa 119:170 Let my prayer come before You; deliver me according to Your Word

 

[nhzname]

Ephesians 1:17-19 paraphrased ~ Father, please give each of us the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that we may know you better. Open the eyes of our heart that we may be enlightened and know the hope to which You have called us, the riches of Your glorious inheritance in the saints, and Your incomparably great power for us who believe.
Bless you Father! Thank you for your Holy Spirit. May you be glorified in us. Amen

 

[johan777]

Psa 19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;
Psa 19:8 the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;
Psa 19:9 the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.
Psa 19:10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.
Psa 19:11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
Psa 19:12 Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
Psa 19:13 Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.
Psa 19:14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.

Thank you Lord. Your word:
revive my soul
make me wise
enlighten my eyes
warns me
keep me from presumptuous sins

Oh, Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight.

 

[nhzname]

~ Colossians 4:6 ~ Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

Father, reign in me and speak your words of truth and love through me. Guide me by your spirit that I may know how to share my faith, and your wisdom, with all who ask. Thank you Lord, that your Holy Spirit intercedes for us in accordance to your will.

 

[angelwind]

Lord make us increase and abound in love for each other...for the brethren...and for all. Strengthen our hearts in holiness...that we may be blameless before You...our God and Father....at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.

1Thess. 3:12-13

And the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for all of you. And may He so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.

 

[MeekOne]

The more basic approach of praying the scripture is to ask the Lord to fulfill the scripture. Let me give an example.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

As I examine myself closely, I find there is no burning desire in me to be pure or to see God. From this I can tell I am not in obedience of this command: Be pure in heart. So I ask Jesus to teach me what is pure so that my heart knows what to yearn.

As time goes by, little by little, Jesus shows me what is not pure in me, and what is pure and to be desired. Little by little, Jesus fulfills his command in me as I desire to obey the command.

Sometimes, I don't even understand what a verse means. Then I ask the Lord to explain it to me so that I can obey it. Sometimes, a command is too hard for me to obey. I wish Jesus had not said that to me. That's when I ask Jesus to change my heart so that the command does not offend me, and that I yearn to obey the command.

This is my basic approach of praying the scripture. I find this approach much fruitful. Anyone in my stage of faith (rudimentary, still rough, but seeking) may benifit from this appraoch. I can use this on all commands and teachings and promises.

Thank you for listening. And thank you for the post since OP addresses an approach that I can benefit from.

I can understand just what you mean in your post, and feel somewhat the same way. As I read my Bible, there are many times when it is revealed to me how I should handle different things, where I was wrong or where I was right in my life, and how I need to handle things from here. I never really thought of this "new" way to pray....at least new to me, and I like it...although I have to say that there are times when I am reading my Bible and I have to stop and pray about what I just read and ask the Lord to apply it to me in my life...maybe I have been doing it all along now that I think about it. Either way, I am grateful for this thread and want to hear more...thanks

 

[MeekOne]

Dear Heavenly Father...Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight-- That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me. Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me hear joy and gladness, That the bones You have broken may rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins, And blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners shall be converted to You. Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, The God of my salvation, And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, And my mouth shall show forth Your praise. For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart-- These, O God, You will not despise.

 

[nhzname]

Philippians 1:3-6 ~ I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now. For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

Father, thank you so much for my brothers and sisters in Christ. Thank you for calling each of us into you family, and helping us to work together to accomplish all that you have prepared for us. Thank you for the teachers and pastors that help us to grow more and more in your grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for the caregivers and encouragers who strengthen us with words of hope in times of need - who stand beside us in times of illness, and offer so much of themselves in loving kindness. Thank you for the missionary field you have given each of us in our daily work places, homes and schools. I pray Almighty that you will continue to strengthen us and enpower us by your Holy Spirit. Help us to seek your face and your will in every situation. Continue your work in us, Lord, to make us more and more into the likeness of your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

n hz name I pray. Amen.

 

[mythbuster]

And receive the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which Spirit is the word of God,
By means of all prayer and petition, praying at bevery time in spirit and watching unto this in all perseverance and petition concerning all the saints...
Ephesians 6:17-18
Recovery Version

 

[johan777]

Gen 5:24 Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.


Father, God, I want to walk with you like Enoch did!