This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 1 John 5:14
The other day I was praying with my daughter & when I finished she laughed & said, “you talked to God just like it was a conversation with another person!”
Praying should be just that, a conversation between me & God. Over the years I have grown in my relationship enough that I talk to Him a lot, about a lot of different things all through the day. Of course, I have concentrated prayer times, but a lot of what goes on in my communication with Him is a casual conversation between my heart & His.
Just think if I went around only having long, formal conversations with the people in my life. Sure, there are times when that type of communication is needed, but general conversation between family members & friends is made up of short bits of information, encouragement & concerns. Talking about our day, talking about upcoming plans, discussing the lives of other people that we love. Those same things are what we need to discuss with God.
Our prayer life isn’t meant to be a liturgical ballad that makes angels stop in amazement; it’s meant to be a conversation with our Father who loves us.
I have 2 kids & I love it when they talk to me. However, they have entirely different styles of communication. One is bold & says everything that comes to mind, the other is more analytical about words & gives me pieces of thoughts over time. Either way, I don’t care because if my kids want to talk to me, I am willing to listen. I don’t care if it's in-depth details about their day, silly antics of the time they spent with friends or dreams & desires they have in their heart. I just want them to tell me about it.
God is the same way. He understands we all have different ways of communication because He created us all differently. He doesn’t care how you communicate with Him; He just desires that you do it regularly.
He wants us to keep praying, keep talking & keep communicating with Him enough to learn that He will communicate with us as well. God wants us to have the kind of prayer life that draws us to the understanding that He wants more for us than we could ever imagine. {Ephesians 3:20-21}
Too often we over-spiritualize prayer by making it such a religious act that it becomes dread or just something on the to-do list. God sees us as His righteous child; He wants to hear from us & make our relationship with Him significant through our prayer.
Sometimes we also use our own agenda in our prayers with the thought that it will somehow sway God’s viewpoint to that of our own.
The problem is, my flawed human desires are so askew from God’s holy desire for my life. This is where praying scripture is vital because praying our own inclinations for our lives will just wear us out & keep us feeling stuck, but praying God’s Word over our lives changes our perspective & aligns our hearts with God’s desires for us.
When we pray His scripture, our spiritual eyes are opened & we see that God is not slack regarding His promises to His children. {2 Peter 3:9} Praying scripture is simply taking the words of a verse or a passage & applying them to whatever situation you are facing. The great thing about God’s Word is that it has one meaning but many applications. “Interpretation of the Bible is singular, but the application is multiple because it is the job of the Holy Spirit to illumine the heart.”1
The only way praying scripture works is if we enter into prayer with a heart that is willing to hear from God & receive what He wants for our lives. He has a more excellent plan for us than we could ever dream up, but a hardened, selfish heart isn’t open to what He wants for our lives. We must first set aside our thoughts & intentions for situations in our life & be willing to look at them through the Father’s grand plan.
So here are 5 prayers with scriptures that I have found valuable & I hope they will help you too:
Father help me to know which way to go when I need to make a decision. "Your ears shall hear a word behind you saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left." {Isaiah 30:21}
Father help me to use the weapons you have laid out for me. Weapons that help me exhibit the fruit of the Spirit & cause me to choose Your holiness in everything I do. "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments & every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ & being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled." {2 Corinthians 10:3-5}
Father help me to remember that You will work all things out for good in my life. Right now, I can’t see past the circumstances of this trial, but I know You can. You have everything I need to make it through & I trust in You. "We know that all things work together for good to those who love God & to those who are called according to His purpose." {Romans 8:28}
Father help me to have a merry heart in all circumstances, not just the ones that make me happy. Let my joy come directly from you & let me keep my focus on the fact that You are bigger than everything that occurs in life. "A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones." {Proverbs 17:22}
Father, thank you that you renew my spirit & that the things in this world that wear me out physically, emotionally & mentally feel like they may overwhelm me, I can find refuge in You that is refreshing to my soul. "We do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, the inward man is being renewed day by day." {2 Corinthians 4:16}
We can experience God’s character as we become aware of His presence through prayer. Praying His own Word back to Him increases our intimacy with Him.
1 The Nelson Study Bible, copyright 1997 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission
