Why Pray the Scriptures

I love the Word of God!  I especially love when the Scriptures I am reading inspire me to pray. I keep a journal of the Scriptures God has highlighted to me over the years. I pray these verses for my family, my marriage, my workplace, my city, my circumstances, my friends, etc. My prayers are filled with power and authority because I use God’s Words and pray them back to Him!


God’s Word is the final and most powerful authority. When we pray the Word, it dismantles the works of darkness and agrees with God’s heart to bring heaven to earth. Praying the Word releases confidence.  “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us,” I John 5:14. This must be our default mode:  What does the Word of God say about ____________?  Fill in the blank.  What does God’s Word say about your marriage? Your family? Your employment? Your future? Where you should live? Etc. Don’t allow your emotions or personal experiences to lead you in any way. Let the Word be your sure foundation.
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Psalm 119:68, “Everything you do is beautiful, flowing from Your goodness; teach me the power of Your wonderful words”.   Father, teach us the power of your wonderful words! 
Here are 10 reasons why to pray the Scriptures:

1. Jesus is the Word (John 1:1, 14). “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us,” John 1:14.  The Word of God is the only reliable source to speak into our inner being. The Word is timeless and never-changing. The Word is Truth (John 17:17). Truth is eternal. It does not subject itself to an opinion poll or a popularity contest. Truth is still truth whether you agree with it or not. Trust doesn’t change based on emotions or experiences. Truth doesn’t argue because it has the final word. Truth is unmoved by time. Truth is constant. Truth is absolute. God’s Word is the final and most powerful authority. Join your heart, mind and language to the language of the Truth. Truth is not a “what”, it’s a “who”, Jesus, the Living expression of the Word.
2. Praying the Scriptures is talking to God in His own language.  Pray His Names and titles by which God reveals His nature and character. His Name tells us who God is and what He’s like. We need to be convinced of His Nature. “God never does anything on the earth but through Biblical prayer,” John Piper.  Pray in accordance with His Nature. Dive into the mysteries of who God is. Every revelation of God becomes a powerful weapon of warfare.
3. God binds Himself to His promises. “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God,” I Corinthians 1:20. God is faithful to all His promises. Not one is forgotten. He doesn’t change His mind. He is not fickle like man. So plead the promises. Numbers 23:19, “Has God said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken and will He not make it good?” Promises predict answers. Promises are faith-filled weapons! They are the molds into which we pour our prayers. They foretell what to expect. They shape our praying. They motivate and direct. “When you get a promise from God it is worth just as much as a fulfillment. A promise brings you into direct contact with God. Honor Him by trusting the promise and obeying Him and if there is any preparation that you still need, God knows about it and if there is anything that is to be opened up to you He will do it, if you count upon Him to do it,” Andrew Murray.
4. Praying the Scripture releases the power of the Spirit as a Sword. Ephesians 6:17, “Take the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God”. This is your offensive weapon. All the other pieces of armor are for your protection from the enemy. Fill your prayers with the powerful weapon of God’s Word. Belief will awaken in your heart. Confidence will grow. “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of this world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds,” 2 Corinthians 10:3-4.  "To clasp hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world," Karl Barth.
5. Praying the Word builds faith. “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God,” Romans 10:17. "The more we worship God, the bigger God becomes in our understanding, resulting in a greater faith to believe He will accomplish His purposes through us," Dick Eastman.  Our prayers get bigger when we have revelation of who God is and what He is like.  We will pray from an expanded view of God. Our confidence will grow as we meditate on and pray from the Word.
6. Praying the Scriptures assures that you are praying the mind and will of God. God always answers the prayers prayed in agreement with His will. John 15:7, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you.” There is a direct connection between the degree to which our minds are shaped by Scripture and the degree by which our prayers are answered. I John 5:14, “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His Will He hears us.”  The Word of God is a description of His will. When we pray the Word we hit the mark every time.  It’s like hitting a bull’s eye in the center of the target. Don’t give up!  Keep praying!
7. Praying God’s Word is an invitation for God’s Kingdom to invade earth. “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” Matthew 6:10. Heaven coming to earth in every realm is God’s will. Pray with confidence what Jesus taught us to pray. The more we “see” God’s Kingdom the more real it will become and we will pray with greater power and authority. Pray “Let heaven come!” As you pray, let it flow from the revelation of God’s goodness and His passion to restore all things.
8. Praying God’s Word seals the answers. Promises predict answers. They point to what to expect. Isaiah 55:11 says that God’s Word never returns to Him void without accomplishing what He desires. Pray to fulfillment. Do not give up before you see the answer. Pray as if you are victorious!
9. Praying God’s Word brings power into our praying. In the Amplified Bible, Luke 1:37 says, “For with God nothing is ever impossible, and no word from God shall be without power or impossible of fulfillment.”  Pray what God says. Let God’s Word be like a medicine for your soul. As you fill your prayer life with it, you will be strengthened in faith, believing that God has the power to do what He has said.
10. Praying the Scriptures orchestrates prayer agreement for multiplied power. Leviticus 26:8, “Five of you will chase a hundred and a hundred of you will chase a ten thousand and your enemies will fall by the sword before you”. The Kingdom of God is expanded when God’s people align themselves with the purposes of heaven and partner with God in prayer. EM Bounds, “God has of His own motion placed Himself under the law of prayer and has obligated Himself to answer the prayers of men. He has ordained prayer as a means whereby He will do things through men as they pray, which He would not do otherwise.”  The very act of praying the Word is to put your full assurance on the power and ability of God to change circumstances. 

 
How to start:  Before you begin, invite the Holy Spirit to “open my eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of Your Word” (Psalm 1119:18).

1. Read a verse or promise from the Word of God to shape your prayer.  Write the verse, promise or phrase in a journal so you can continue to pray it and grow in understanding of what God is speaking to you.
2. Allow any imagery from the verse to influence your prayer. Can you get a picture of this in your mind? Example: Revelation 7:9-10, “After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne and to the Lamb’”.  Use any imagery to “color” your prayer. 
3. Turn the verse of promise into a 1st or 3rd person prayer. (Pray it about you or someone else.)  Example: Ephesians 3:17-18, “And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of God...”  Father, I pray that each of my children would be rooted and established in Your love. May they have revelation of the width, length, height and depth of Your great love for them.
4. Declare the Truth/Promise over yourself or another.  Example:  “I am the Lord who heals you,” Exodus 15:26. You are the healer God. I declare Your Name, Healer over my friend.  

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