Praying with Scripture

My girls like to play with old paper towel tubes. They stick them up to their eyes and look around. They have lots of fun until you suggest they look at something specific.

“Look at that beautiful bird outside in the tree!”

It is impossible for them to find it – their vision is too narrow. They can’t see the bigger picture to even grasp where the tree is let alone the bird. They begin flailing, spinning around, getting more and more frustrated, and by the time they are finally pointed in the right direction the bird is gone.

That can be how our prayers are too. Too often I come to the Lord, and all I can see is my list of things I want Him to fix or accomplish. I list them off to God passionately and sincerely. And if I’m honest *wince*, I often include directions for how I’d like Him to resolve my issues, fix my concerns and pave the way for my happiness.

Now, I believe God delights in us bringing our lists to Him. After all, we are told to present our requests to God (Philippians 4:6)- and in presenting our requests at the feet of Jesus we are acknowledging that He is over all things (Matthew 11:27) and in Him lies our hope (1 Timothy 4:10)!

However, too often I come to God and my only purpose is to have my wishes granted. I have an unspoken goal of getting God to do what I want. When really, I should come to prayer with humility, expectation, and gratitude that God will do what He wants.

This is why I like to pray with Scripture.

When I say praying with Scripture – I don’t mean taking my list of requests, and then flipping through my Bible hand picking a verse out of context that I think matches with each of my requests. Doing that is just another veiled way of me trying to control God.

God is God, we are not. And I don’t necessarily get to choose which of His promises or attributes I think will best meet my need.

Instead, I’m talking about putting the list down to the side, and just reading Scripture, in context. (Cue your New Year’s resolution to read your Bible more 😉). As you read, meditate on what you read (that’s a fancy word for think about it, mull it over, let a word or phrase repeat in your head while you go about your daily tasks). Use your brain to wrestle with the text. Use your heart to feel the emotions of the text.

As you read God’s Word, and process it – then pray it back to Him. This allows us to see the bigger picture of what God is doing around us. This is us lowering our paper towel tubes. This is us loosening our grips on our lists.

Here are four things (I know there are more – and would love to hear yours in the comments!) that I find when I use Scripture to shape my prayers:

1. I learn new things about God’s character;

2. I am convicted of areas of my life that don’t reflect my identity as God’s child;

3. I gain trust in God’s plans being better than my own; and

4. I end up with peace regarding my list of requests – sometimes I find that I don’t even want the things on my list anymore. Sometimes I find that I still want those things, but I have gained peace in God’s timing and plans for them being accomplished.

So practically what does this look like?

• Take a passage – whatever passage of Scripture you are reading for your devotion/Bible study – and just read it first.
• Then go back through it again… If it talks about an aspect of God’s character – praise Him for it!
• If it talks about something that God has done – thank him!
• If it’s a promise that God has made – ask him to make that promise true for you (or someone on your list)!
• If it’s something that confuses you – ask him for clarity!
• If it’s something that talks about how you should be living – confess the times when you haven’t lived out that truth and ask Him to help you make the right choices in the future.

As you start praying God’s words back to him – you get a clearer view of who He is and what He is up to in the world. As you see what He is up to – your heart longs to jump in alongside him. As your heart longs to dive in, you’ll ask God to shape your day and your week and your year according to His marvelous plans.

And when His plans don’t end up looking like your plans, or He adjusts your list, or even when He is silent – you aren’t destroyed by anxiety or despair. This is because you know Him better now, and so you trust Him more too.

I’ll leave you with an example from a passage I was reading this week. I hope this encourages you in your prayer time!

1 John 3:1-3

 “(1) See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. (2) Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appearswe shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. (3) And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.”

Prayer

(vs. 1) God I praise you that you are my Father and that you love me!

(vs. 1) Thank you God for calling me your child!

(vs. 2) Jesus, will you help me to have compassion on those who mistreat me because they don’t know you yet?

(vs. 2) I confess that even though I do know you Jesus, I don’t always look like you. I am thankful that one day I will see you face to face and I will be like you – but today there are areas of my heart, my thoughts and my actions that need to be purified. Will you show those to me and help me change them?

(vs. 1-3) Holy Spirit, will you go with me today – help me to treat my husband and my kids and anyone else in my path today with the same love you have shown me. Help me to act as your beloved child, and to rest in your love.  

In Jesus’ name – amen.

Enjoy your prayer time today friends! Love, M