Precept Ministries lays out a great method here for breathing new life back into our prayers. It is both God-honoring and effective for those we're praying for. Let's ask God to take our prayer life to a new level.
Prayer should be a huge part of a believer’s normal activity. No matter what church or denomination you attend, prayer is something we all have in common. Yet many of us still don’t make prayer a priority in our lives. Why is that? For some it is because we don’t know what to pray.
What to pray for someone: One of the problems many of us face when we are praying for someone is what to pray. It is easy when we have a specific issue to intercede for, like an illness or a financial need. But what do you say the rest of the time without feeling a little shallow? Do we just pray “Lord, bless them” or “Lord, give let them have a good day”? Or, even worse, do we only pray for someone when we have a specific problem and ignore them the rest of the time?
Pray Scripture: One easy answer is to pray Scripture. Take a passage of Scripture and turn it into a prayer for the person you are interceding for. One of the simplest ways to do this is to use one of the prayers found in Scripture as a guide. Paul especially would include prayers in his letters to let the reader know how he was praying for them.
5 Benefits of Praying Scripture
1. Praying Scripture deepens your prayer life.
“Bless them today” becomes “may they be strengthened with power through Your Spirit in the inner man”.
2. Praying Scripture makes it easier to pray for your enemies (Matthew 5:44), Few things are harder than praying for someone who is persecuting you. Praying a prayer directly from the Word gives you a guide which will keep the emotion out of it and keep your mind on track instead of letting it drift to and focus on the offenses they have caused.
“I pray that You would give ______a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of You, open the eyes of her heart, that she will know what is the hope to which You have called her”
3. Praying Scripture brings assurance that you are praying according to God’s will.
Scripture is the Word of God and praying it means that you lining up your request with His heart’s desire.
4. Praying Scripture teaches you the Word of God.
As you are praying Scripture your own understanding of the Word and the passages you are praying deepens.
5. Praying Scripture teaches you about the God of the Word.
By praying Scripture your knowledge of who God is grows. Scripture is the very word of God. As you engage with it you will know Him better and understand His will for all of us in clearer way.
The practice or discipline of praying the Word will accomplish as much in your own life as it will in the life of the people you are praying for.
Wrapping it up
Below we have included six passages of Scripture which are prayers taken from Paul’s letters. We have changed a few words so the passage is easier to pray as a prayer. In some of them we used the feminine personal pronouns and in others we used the masculine. Read the prayer, put the person’s name in the blank, change the gender of the pronoun if you need to and start praying.
Scripture Prayers
• Ephesians 1:17-19
Father I pray that You would give _________a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of You, open the eyes of her heart, that she will know what is the hope to which You have called her, what are the riches of Your glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of Your power toward us who believe, according to the working of Your great might.
• Ephesians 3:16-19
Father, I am asking that according to the riches of Your glory, You will grant_________ to be strengthened with power through Your Spirit in his inner being, so that Christ may dwell in ________’s heart through faith—that he, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that he may be filled with all the fullness of You.
• Colossians 1:9-12
Father I am asking that __________ will be filled with the knowledge of Your will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of You, fully pleasing to You, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of You. May __________be strengthened with all power, according to Your glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to You, because You have qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.
• Philippians 1:9-11
“And this I pray, that ___________’s love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that she may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”
• 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12
To this end also I pray for _________, that You would make him worthy of his calling, and fulfill every resolve for good and the work of faith with power, so that Your name will be glorified in _______, and ________’s name in You, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
• 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, comfort and strengthen ________ heart in every good work and word.
(Taken from: http://blog.precept.org/home/bid/181517/5-Reasons-to-Pray-Scripture?utm_source=FACEBOoK_PMI&utm_medium=Link&utm_campaign=BLOG_reasons-to-pray-scripture )
Prayer should be a huge part of a believer’s normal activity. No matter what church or denomination you attend, prayer is something we all have in common. Yet many of us still don’t make prayer a priority in our lives. Why is that? For some it is because we don’t know what to pray.
What to pray for someone: One of the problems many of us face when we are praying for someone is what to pray. It is easy when we have a specific issue to intercede for, like an illness or a financial need. But what do you say the rest of the time without feeling a little shallow? Do we just pray “Lord, bless them” or “Lord, give let them have a good day”? Or, even worse, do we only pray for someone when we have a specific problem and ignore them the rest of the time?
Pray Scripture: One easy answer is to pray Scripture. Take a passage of Scripture and turn it into a prayer for the person you are interceding for. One of the simplest ways to do this is to use one of the prayers found in Scripture as a guide. Paul especially would include prayers in his letters to let the reader know how he was praying for them.
5 Benefits of Praying Scripture
1. Praying Scripture deepens your prayer life.
“Bless them today” becomes “may they be strengthened with power through Your Spirit in the inner man”.
2. Praying Scripture makes it easier to pray for your enemies (Matthew 5:44), Few things are harder than praying for someone who is persecuting you. Praying a prayer directly from the Word gives you a guide which will keep the emotion out of it and keep your mind on track instead of letting it drift to and focus on the offenses they have caused.
“I pray that You would give ______a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of You, open the eyes of her heart, that she will know what is the hope to which You have called her”
3. Praying Scripture brings assurance that you are praying according to God’s will.
Scripture is the Word of God and praying it means that you lining up your request with His heart’s desire.
4. Praying Scripture teaches you the Word of God.
As you are praying Scripture your own understanding of the Word and the passages you are praying deepens.
5. Praying Scripture teaches you about the God of the Word.
By praying Scripture your knowledge of who God is grows. Scripture is the very word of God. As you engage with it you will know Him better and understand His will for all of us in clearer way.
The practice or discipline of praying the Word will accomplish as much in your own life as it will in the life of the people you are praying for.
Wrapping it up
Below we have included six passages of Scripture which are prayers taken from Paul’s letters. We have changed a few words so the passage is easier to pray as a prayer. In some of them we used the feminine personal pronouns and in others we used the masculine. Read the prayer, put the person’s name in the blank, change the gender of the pronoun if you need to and start praying.
Scripture Prayers
• Ephesians 1:17-19
Father I pray that You would give _________a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of You, open the eyes of her heart, that she will know what is the hope to which You have called her, what are the riches of Your glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of Your power toward us who believe, according to the working of Your great might.
• Ephesians 3:16-19
Father, I am asking that according to the riches of Your glory, You will grant_________ to be strengthened with power through Your Spirit in his inner being, so that Christ may dwell in ________’s heart through faith—that he, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that he may be filled with all the fullness of You.
• Colossians 1:9-12
Father I am asking that __________ will be filled with the knowledge of Your will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of You, fully pleasing to You, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of You. May __________be strengthened with all power, according to Your glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to You, because You have qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.
• Philippians 1:9-11
“And this I pray, that ___________’s love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that she may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”
• 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12
To this end also I pray for _________, that You would make him worthy of his calling, and fulfill every resolve for good and the work of faith with power, so that Your name will be glorified in _______, and ________’s name in You, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
• 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, comfort and strengthen ________ heart in every good work and word.
(Taken from: http://blog.precept.org/home/bid/181517/5-Reasons-to-Pray-Scripture?utm_source=FACEBOoK_PMI&utm_medium=Link&utm_campaign=BLOG_reasons-to-pray-scripture )
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