Praying Scripture

Mary Ann Collins
(A Former Catholic Nun)

November 2001

There are many prayers in the Bible. Have you ever prayed through them, like they were your own? It is one way of "engrafting" Scripture and making it a living part of you.

It is also a way of knowing that we are praying according to God's will. For example, if God showed the Apostle Paul that Christians need wisdom and revelation, then we know that praying for those things is according to God's will. And Paul's prayer can be a springboard for our own prayers.

When we pray the Lord's Prayer we are praying according to Scripture. But there are many other Biblical prayers that we can pray. We can appropriate them and make them our own. For example, here is Paul's prayer for the Christians in Ephesus:

"For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above that we ask or think according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen." (Ephesians 3:14-21)

At first, this may look intimidating. Most of this is one long, complicated sentence. However, we can break it down into bite-sized pieces. There are many ways that this passage could be approached. I will just give an example. As you pray, you will find something that is more appropriate for you. Also, every time you come to this passage, you may find new treasures in it, and new ways to pray it. Please take the following as just one possible working example of how this Scripture passage could be prayed.

Father God, thank You for being my Father in Heaven. Thank you for the riches of your glory. Please give me revelation of Your goodness and Your glory, and the wonderful treasures that are to be found in You. Lord God, please strengthen me with Your might, by Your Holy Spirit, in my inner man. May Jesus Christ dwell in my heart by faith. Lord, I want to be rooted and grounded in Your love. And I can't do that. I can't make it happen. Please make me like a plant whose roots go down deep into Your love. Make Your love my source of strength and protection and nourishment. Make the revelation of Your love be a source of vision and motivation for my life. Use me to minister Your love to other people. Lord God, give me a revelation of Your love. Help me comprehend it. Show me how great and how deep Your love is. Enable me to know the love of Christ which is so great and so pure and so beautiful that it is beyond our understanding. Holy God, thank You that you are able to do far more than anything I can ask or imagine. Thank you for Your great power that is working in me. Lord, may You be glorified. Change my heart and make me someone whose life glorifies You.

As you read the Bible, you will find many prayers. You will also find many other things that are clearly God's will for us, and which can be the basis for prayers.

Some passages can be prayed directly, word for word. One of my favorites is Psalm 139: 23-24:

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

If you have a Catholic Bible, the Psalms are numbered a little differently. If this reference doesn't work, then try one chapter earlier (Psalm 138). Also, try one verse higher (verses 24-25). The Psalm begins "O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me." The verses I quoted above are the last ones in the Psalm.

I also like to participate in the heavenly worship that was shown to the Apostle John in the Book of Revelation. I love to pray, and to sing, Revelation 5:12. (This text is used in Handel's "Messiah". A wonderful chorus is based on it.)

"Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing."

Isaiah also had a vision of heavenly worship. I like to join in the prayer of the seraphims, which is given in Isaiah 6:3:

"Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory."

Not everything in Scripture is appropriate for prayer. Some Psalms contain "imprecatory prayers" where David asked God to destroy his enemies. I do not recommend praying those kinds of prayers. Our hearts are deceitful (Jeremiah 17:9), and it is too easy for us to become vengeful, bitter or self-righteous. We need to guard our hearts. (Proverbs 4:23) Imprecatory prayers can be spiritually dangerous.

USE OF THIS ARTICLE

I encourage you to link to this article. You have permission to quote from this article, as long as you do it fairly and accurately. You have permission to make copies of this article for friends and for use in classes.

Copyright 2001 by Mary Ann Collins. All rights reserved.

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e-Mail: MaryAnnCollins@Juno.Com