![]() Out of the thoughts you have as you read, you turn to God in worship, confession, thanksgiving, and petition for yourself and others. Over time, it will become natural to immediately turn these thoughts into prayer. ![]() As you read the Bible (stories, history, poems, parables, etc.) in the presence of God and pay attention to the Spirit, you will identify with passages that relate to your life, the world, and people you know. Not only can the prayers of the Bible be prayed, any part of the Bible can be used to communicate with God. They are part of your conversation with God. ![]() The prayers of the Bible, especially the Lord’s Prayer ( Matthew 6:9-13 Luke 11:1-4), become your tutors to learn how to communicate with God. The whole book of Psalms is a prayer book! By praying the prayers of the Bible, you identify with the biblical authors and are encouraged to allow God’s Spirit to shape you into the person he wants us to be. These prayers express every kind of emotion and experience. The Bible is full of prayers! From Genesis to Revelation there are biblical prayers you can pray to strengthen your spiritual life. Praying the Scriptures allows you to use the words and emotions of the Bible to gain more confidence in your own prayers. What do we mean when we say to “pray Scripture”? Evan Howard in his book Praying the Scriptures writes, “To pray the Scriptures is to order one’s time of prayer around a particular text in the Bible.” This can mean either praying the prayers of the Bible word-for-word as your own prayers, personalizing portions of the Scriptures in prayer, or praying through various topics of the Bible.Īre you ever unsure about what you should pray? Do your prayers become dull or repetitive? Do you feel like you’re praying “wrong”? Your confidence in your prayers will be strengthened when you pray God’s words. While many tend to think of prayer and Bible reading as separate spiritual practices (e.g., first pray, then read the Bible), they can be even more powerful when combined into one practice of “praying Scripture.” Engaging the Bible and praying are the primary methods for developing a deepening relationship with God. When asking Christians of different ages and spiritual maturity levels what they believe is the best way to grow as a Christian, a common answer is “pray and read the Bible.” That’s a good answer.
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