Praying is powerful, and is often the best and most important thing we can do. When we pray we are proclaiming our trust and faith in our Heavenly Father who knows and loves us and only wants to best for us.
We know and trust that God hears the words of those that love Him. But, what happens when we pray God’s Word back to Him in prayer?
Sometimes we are at a loss for words. Words for those around us, words for our loved ones, words for those around the world suffering, and even words for God. This can happen in times of grief, panic, fear and chaos. Sounds familiar to our current season of life doesn’t it? And right now during a time that we’ve never experienced, it can leave us feeling defeated.
We want to cry out our prayers to Lord, but some days we may feel at a loss as to what to say. Some days we just can’t make sense of our world, and in turn make sense of what to pray.
That’s where praying scripture can help.
When we pray scripture we are using God’s very own words that He breathed into those who penned what we refer to as the Bible. (2 Timothy 3:16)
When we feel like we have cried out all of our own prayers from our hearts and souls, we can look to God’s Word so that we can continue to lift His name. You may be at a loss of what you can do. Perhaps you want to help others, but don’t really know how to safely right now. You can pray. We can always offer prayer to our Father in Heaven who is always ready to listen to our hearts.
We can lean into His Word to find the words we need when we ourselves are at a loss for them.
By praying scripture we are lifting God’s perfect words back to Him, while also aligning ourselves with our Creator and His good and perfect will.
We gain strength and confidence in His Word. We gain life and He reveals pictures of His heart and character to us. He speaks to us through His Word. What better form of worship we can offer through a time of unknown than to pray His words back to Him while simultaneously allowing them to sink into our own hearts.
What happens when we pray scripture?
- Your prayers become about God and His Word.
- Your prayers become aligned with God’s will and plan, as opposed to being solely focused on your own desires.
- Those during biblical times did it. All throughout the Bible, scripture is used by those when they prayed.
- Jesus even prayed scripture. When He hung on the cross, Jesus cried out, “My God, My God why have You forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46) Jesus was quoting the first line of Psalm 22.
- You pray more confidently. God’s Word is entirely true. So, you can feel sure that when you use His words as your own prayer you are using the “right” words. There’s no room for error or fumbling for a perfectly worded prayer.
- His Word sinks into our heart and we store it as a treasure. Just like Mary, Jesus’ mother who treasured the words the shepherds told her about her newborn Son and Savior in her heart (Luke 2:19,) we too, store God’s Word in our own hearts when we use them as our prayers.
There are so many different prayers we should all be fervently praying during this time. We each have unique situations but as believers we should all be crying out the Lord in prayer.
I have created an 8 page FREE download full of scripture-based prayers, as well as space for you to write your own prayers.
This is a time of unknown and uncertainty. We have no idea when it will end, but it will.
There will be an end to this season.
Prayerfully throughout this time those who lived in disbelief will believe.
Prayerfully we will have learned to live with gratitude and contentment.
Prayerfully the entire world will come to know and believe in the name of Jesus Christ.
Prayerfully we will have cultivated new rhythms for our family.
Prayerfully we will have learned to be more present, more intentional, and more patient with our loved ones.
Prayerfully the Lord, our God will be glorified.
In Him, Tamara
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