A Prayer Primer: Praying with Scripture - Lauren Sparks

A few weeks ago, our preacher mentioned someone he knew who often prayed for hours on end.  Hours.  When he asked her how she could possibly pray that long, she mentioned that she was praying scriptures.  No matter how many requests on our list, we will eventually reach the end.  But the Bible holds more material than most of us could pray through in a year.  So here’s a prayer primer (using scripture) from a non-expert.

This is the 40th Wednesday I have devoted this space to praying God’s Word.  This practice has been so transformative for me that I definitely want to continue it into the new year.  But maybe we need a refresher on it.

My prayers felt like check lists as I asked for some of the same things over and over again.  God, heal Sherry.  Lord, forgive me for my selfish attitude toward my husband.  Make me a better parent.  Grant us wisdom with our finances.  Check.  Check.  And check.

All these prayers are important.  I don’t want to belittle them.  And I still pray them, but I began to feel like a metronome repeating the same sounds day after day.  Until God lead me to turn a single scripture I read into a prayer for my teenager.  And He birthed in me a fresh way to relate to Him.  I’ve never looked back.

A New Way to Relate

I still study scripture for understanding, but almost always end up praying His words back to Him.  Sometimes I’m convicted by a verse and pray a prayer of repentance – asking God to forgive me and help me overcome the sin.  Often the passage reminds me of a challenge a loved one faces and I pray the words for him or her.  If my daily reading teaches on the attributes of God, I praise and thank the Lord for those things.

2 Timothy 3:16 tells us “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,” NIV  So I use it in all these ways as I pray!

If you have never prayed scripture, make it a New Year’s Resolution to try!  Start small.  One day a week.  And I’ll make it easy for you.  Come back here every Wednesday and we will dissect a passage and pray it together.  Or look back over my past Wednesday posts to get started.  If you have any questions, comment below or send me a private message by clicking the CONTACT link here or in the heading of this page.

I am already praying FOR you and I can’t wait to pray WITH you.