Do you ever struggle with knowing what to pray or wonder if your prayers are being heard?
Listen to God’s promise in 1 John 5:14-15. “This is the confidence 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 asked of him.”
Isn’t that incredible? Not only do we have the privilege of talking directly to the King of kings, but we can know that He hears us and responds to our prayers!
You may wonder how you can pray according to God’s will. I did too. The amazing truth is that the more time we spend with God by studying His Word and learning His ways, the more our lives, our thoughts, and our plans begin to align with His.
And then we can take it a step further by praying God’s Word! The Bible is full of God’s promises and His will for our lives. One of my favorite parts of studying Scripture is that it not only becomes a part of us – it becomes a vocabulary with which we commune with God.
I’d like to share with you some ways we can pray God’s Word from my Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World DVD Study.
Word Time: Praying God’s Word
How to Pray God’s Word
In John 15:7 Jesus shares an important link between prayer and the Word of God: “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.”
Imagine the power when we pray Scripture over the situations we face and the people we love! Here are a few ways to do that:
- Pray prayers directly from the Bible.
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1:9–11)
- Look for—and ask God to give you!—promises to pray.
Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:6)
- Personalize scripture for specific needs.
My paraphrase: “Lord, You told me that if I lack wisdom, I should ask You and You will give it to me generously without finding fault.” (James 1:5)
- Pray scripture over personal strongholds.
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7, nkjv)
- Read inspirational scripture out loud as a prayer.
O our God… we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you. (2 Chronicles 20:12)
- Pray one of the most important prayers: Jesus’s prayer in Gethsemane
“…not my will, but yours be done.”(Luke 22:42)
Do you know how much God loves to hear your voice?
There is nothing sweeter to Him! You are His prized creation, His bride, His beloved, and He loves nothing more than to hear your voice.
Praying Scripture not only has the power to change our hearts and minds; it also has the power to change things around us. For God’s hand is moved when God’s people pray.
My word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
Isaiah 55:11
<<See previous Word Time
Wanting to go deeper? Check out these other blogs on prayer:
Choosing to Pray (Even When You Don’t Feel Like It!)
I’d love to hear from you…What are your favorite Scriptures to pray?