Praying the Bible Read online

  Then you read the second half of verse 1: “May the name of the God of Jacob protect you!” That prompts you to pray something like this:

  Thank you, God of Jacob, that through your Son, Jesus, you have set me securely on high by your grace. I will never fall. By your work of preserving me through the Holy Spirit, I am securely set on high. The Bible says in Ephesians that I am seated in the heavenly places with Christ. Thank you for the security of that and all you have done for me in Christ.

  As you pray these things, perhaps you already begin to sense your faith strengthening. Your confidence that the Lord will indeed answer grows as you ask him to answer you, not because of the earnestness of your pleading but because of the reality that he has set you securely on high in Christ. Indeed, as Australian theologian Graeme Goldsworthy put it, “As you pray a psalm, think about the pathway from the psalm to you through the mediation of Christ.”6

  Eagerly you turn to verse 2 and read, “May he send you help from the sanctuary.” You pray:

  O God, send me help today right from the sanctuary of heaven itself. Send me help with my finances, send me help with my children, send me help in my work. From the highest place of authority that exists, send me help with my lack of faith. Send me heavenly help with temptation today. Please send me help right from the throne room of heaven, O Lord.

  You might pray for heavenly help for many things, and then you read verse 3: “May he remember all your offerings and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices!” This might suggest to you words such as these:

  Heavenly Father, my offerings to you are the life and death of Jesus, your perfect Son. He is the offering you accept. Jesus is the sacrifice you will receive. I do give myself to you afresh, Lord—all that I am and all that I have. But I know that you will regard these with favor, and I believe you will hear my prayer for help from the sanctuary, because I offer them all in the name of the perfect offering, Jesus.

  And thus you continue through the psalm until you run out of time or you run out of psalm.

  The Psalms—Like a Little Bible

  Book for book, I believe the best place in the Bible to pray the Bible is the book of Psalms. One reason for this, as someone has said, is that “the Psalms are like a little Bible. Every doctrine in the Bible is there: either in the bud or in the flower, but they are all there.”

  Another reason the Psalms adapt so easily to prayer is that God has inspired a psalm for every sigh of the soul. Within the breadth of 150 psalms, you can find the entire range of human emotion. You will never go through anything in life in which you cannot find the root emotions reflected in the Psalms. Exhilaration, frustration, discouragement, guilt, forgiveness, joy, gratitude, dealing with enemies, contentment, discontentment—you name it: they are all found in the book of Psalms. Athanasius, a fourth-century, North African theologian who famously defended the doctrine of the Trinity, said of the Psalms, “Whatever your particular need or trouble, from this same book you can select a form of words to fit it.”7 That’s why, if you will look briefly at just five psalms, at least one of them almost always puts into words the burden of your heart at the time.

  But the main reason why the psalms work so well in prayer is that the very purpose God put them in his Word to us is for us to put them in our words to him.

  It is possible, of course, to talk to God from any part of his Word. So let’s turn our attention to how we can pray from other parts of the Bible besides the Psalms.

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  Praying Other Parts of the Bible

  For me it is absolutely essential that my prayers be guided by, saturated by, and sustained and controlled by the word of God.

  John Piper

  In my experience, only the Psalms surpass the New Testament letters for the ease in which they can be turned into prayer. For starters, many of the New Testament letters contain prayers of the apostle Paul, which believers today can pray exactly as they are printed in the text (e.g., Eph. 1:15–23; 3:14–21; Phil. 1:9–11). Also, most of the content of these letters is such that little effort is needed to personalize them in prayer. So while many of the psalms address the Lord directly and can be prayed verbatim (such as Psalm 18:1, “I love you, O LORD, my strength”), the New Testament letters usually require only a little more transition. For example, although Romans 8:1, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” does not directly address the Lord, turning that verse into prayer requires nothing more than words such as, “Thank you, Lord, that I am free from condemnation because of Christ Jesus.”

  New Testament Letter

  Let’s look at how praying through several verses together in a New Testament letter might go. Suppose the passage you choose is 1 Thessalonians 2.8 But why, it might be asked, would someone want to pray through 1 Thessalonians 2, especially if the Psalms are so well suited for prayer?

  One reason is that someone might decide to pray through 1 Thessalonians 2 precisely because they know what it says and believe that the subject matter of that chapter is what they need to pray about, just as the person who feels the need for a more loving heart and would know to turn to 1 Corinthians 13 in order to pray about that.

  Far more likely, though, is that a person might decide to pray through 1 Thessalonians 2 simply because his daily Bible reading has taken him to that chapter. After reading the chapter he decides, “This really ministered to me, so instead of going to the Psalms to pray, I’ll stay in this chapter and pray through what I just read.”

  Having settled on 1 Thessalonians 2, you read verse 1: “For you yourselves know, brothers, that our coming to you was not in vain.” Then perhaps you pray:

  Thank you, Lord, for the one who came to me with your gospel. Thank you for his/her faithfulness to share the words of eternal life in Jesus. Thank you for opening my eyes to my need for your salvation so that I did not receive your gospel in vain.

  After you say all that comes to mind from verse 1, you turn to verse 2: “But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know . . .” The words “suffered and been shamefully treated” stand out to you because of the suffering in your own life at present. So you pray about matters related to your suffering and the relief of it. That may lead you to think of people in your family, church, or neighborhood who are suffering, so you pray for them. The words “shamefully treated” may also apply to you personally and prompt prayers about that. Further, they may bring to mind fellow believers near and far who are experiencing persecution for being followers of Jesus, individuals or people groups you’ve recently heard about at church or in the news.

  Following those prayers, you continue reading in verse 2: “. . . We had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict.” Afterward you may find yourself praying along these lines:

  O God, give me the boldness to declare the gospel to that person at work, to that person down the street, despite the conflict in their heart. I pray for the Christians in the Sudan, in India, in China, in the places of persecution I just mentioned. Give them the boldness to declare the gospel despite the conflict they experience due to the government and false religions.

  Once you’ve said all that comes to mind from verse 2, you look to the next verse: “For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive.” Almost immediately you might think of someone you know whose mind and heart are being clouded by error, a friend or family member who has become enamored with some false teacher. Or perhaps you pray for someone being tempted with impurity—you, your spouse, or your child. Then you pray for anyone you know who is falling prey to deception, possibly a young woman being deceived by a young man, or vice versa.

  As you consider verse 3 again, you realize that Paul was saying that his teaching, in contrast to that of some others, did not spring from error or deception. So you pray for the teachers in your church, namely, that no error would infect their study and preparation and thereby infect the church. Y
ou pray that God would protect them from impurity and the damage that could do to the church. And you ask the Lord to keep them free from all deception.

  If you were to pray through 1 Thessalonians 2 in that way, how long would it take you to pray through those twenty verses? Quite awhile, right? Yet you wouldn’t run out of anything to say, would you?

  Have you ever had the problem of running out of things to say in prayer? D. A. Carson, in his excellent book on the prayers of the apostle Paul, presents a solution:

  Pray over the Scriptures. Christians just setting out on the path of prayer sometimes pray for everything they can think of, glance at their watches, and discover they have been at it for all of three or four minutes. This experience sometimes generates feelings of defeat, discouragement, even despair. A great way to begin to overcome this problem is to pray through various biblical passages.9

  But best of all, if you were to pray through 1 Thessalonians 2 verse by verse, as illustrated above, not only would you have no shortage of things to say but also your prayer would be unlike any you have ever prayed in your life. Make it your prayer practice to pray the Bible, and you’ll never again say the same old things about the same old things.

  The New Testament letters constitute such a rich resource for prayer because you find so much packed into almost every verse. In 1 Thessalonians 2:2, for example, even between the commas we discover matter for prayer. Virtually every line in a New Testament letter suggests something to pray about. In fact, as we’ve already noted, many of these letters include actual prayers. But now we’ve learned that we can pray not only through the prayers but through every part of the letters, from the opening greeting to the final blessing.

  Narrative

  Let’s look now at how to pray through one other genre of literature in the Bible, a narrative passage. To do that, let’s turn to John 5.

  We certainly need to learn to pray through narrative passages because so much of the Bible is narrative—especially in the Gospels, the book of Acts, and all those Old Testament stories. But there is one big difference between praying through a narrative passage and praying through a psalm or a New Testament letter. Thus far we have looked at the text microscopically. In Psalm 23 we read, “The LORD is my shepherd,” and we took note earlier of someone who read those five words and prayed about them for twenty-five minutes. In 1 Thessalonians 2:2 we prayed about several items prompted just by words found between two commas in the same sentence. But in a narrative passage, instead of leaning over the text and looking at it microscopically, we need to back up and get the big picture.

  Just think about what would be involved in praying microscopically over a narrative passage such as John 5, which begins: “After this there was a feast of the Jews” (v. 1). Well, if you had to pray about something there, you might eventually think of some way to pray about feasting, or confess that you’ve feasted too much lately—but it wouldn’t be easy, would it? Instead, what you would probably do is read all eight verses in this story and pray about the big ideas, that is, the big, broad brushstrokes of the narrative. That’s because in a narrative passage of Scripture there are typically stage-setting verses, after which comes the punch line of the story. It may be only the punch line that you pray about in a narrative passage.

  So in the case of John 5, the mention of “a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed” (v. 4) would likely lead you to pray for someone you know who needs healing. Perhaps verse 5, “One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years,” would cause you to remember and pray for a friend or family member who has suffered with an illness or a disability for a very long time. Maybe then you reflect on how easy it is to become accustomed to the suffering of others as opposed to the mercy of Jesus, shown here in healing this man, and you pray for forgiveness and a more Christlike attitude. Most of all, this brief paragraph may cause you to realize afresh how gentle Jesus is to sinners who feel hopeless and powerless about their condition but who look to him for mercy. This might prompt you not only to look anew to Jesus for mercy and forgiveness for yourself but also to pray that others you know—perhaps that one who needs healing—would look to Jesus for mercy.

  Once you have prayed through a section of Scripture, I’m confident you can turn to any part of the Bible and pray through that passage.

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  The Most Important Part of This Book

  The Psalms are given us to this end, that we may learn to pray them in the name of Jesus Christ.

  Dietrich Bonhoeffer

  Having walked the path of this book thus far, now you find yourself at a fork in this trail of words. In one direction the path is called “Information”; the other is called “Transformation.” At this juncture you will decide whether the pages you’ve turned (and those ahead) will change your life or be forgotten, whether a transformation in prayer occurs or you add this book to the pile of those you’ve read but do not remember.

  That’s because I’m going to ask you now to put down this book, pick up your Bible, and pray through a psalm. Choose one of the Psalms of the Day or just pick a favorite. Well-known psalms such as 23; 27; 31; 37; 42; 66; 103; or 139 also make good choices for this exercise.

  Have you chosen your psalm? Good! If not, go back and reread the two preceding paragraphs.

  Do you have one now? No? Then please stop reading and choose a psalm. Perhaps you are thinking, “Nah, I’ll just keep reading and pray later.” Having taught this material hundreds of times, I know by repeated experience that those who fail to do this exercise soon forget the teaching and profit little from having encountered it.

  You are reading this book because you want a richer, more satisfying experience with God in prayer, right? But this book won’t help you unless you apply its teaching to your prayer life. And that’s what I’m asking you to do right now—not someday, but now—to apply what you’ve learned by praying through a psalm. So if you haven’t already done so, select a psalm now.

  Ready? If so, I’d like you to try praying through the psalm for at least seven minutes. It doesn’t matter whether you sit, kneel, or walk as you pray.10 Check the time—use a timer if possible so you won’t be distracted by looking at the time—and begin.

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  Evaluating the Experience

  For freshness of utterance, for breadth of comprehension, for elevation of thought, for intimacy of heart, there is no prayer like that which forms itself in the words and thoughts of Scripture.

  J. Graham Miller

  Okay, welcome back. Wait—you did pray through a psalm, didn’t you? Good! You’ll be able to identify with this section only if you engaged in the exercise.

  So, how did it go? Unfortunately, I can’t converse with you in person about your experience, but if I could, I have a pretty good idea of the kinds of things you would say. That’s because whenever I’ve asked, “How did it go?” to a group who has just prayed through a psalm, I always get the same kinds of responses. Below are some of the most common.

  “My Mind Didn’t Wander”

  It’s much easier to remain focused in prayer when you pray your way through a passage. With the text to hold your attention and guide you in prayer, your thoughts are less likely to dissolve into the almost mindless repetition of the same old things about the same old things. And when you’ve finished praying about a certain matter, or even if your mind does begin to wander, the next verse in the text makes it easy for you to refocus.

  “My Prayer Was More about God and Less about Me”

  Praying through a passage of Scripture—especially a psalm—tends to be a more God-centered way of praying. People report that they find themselves praising God more than usual. Instead of prayer being mostly a time of saying, in effect, “Lord, here I am again with my usual list of the things I want you to do for me,” it becomes more about God—his attributes, his ways, and his will. And more God-centered prayer is a good thing, isn’t it?

  In an effort to make prayer less self-centered and to giv
e some sense of order to their prayers, many have adopted the well-known ACTS acrostic. Using this memory aid, you begin your prayer with “A” (adoration), then continue with “C” (confession), followed by “T” (thanksgiving), and only then “S” (supplication). While the structure can be helpful, the problem is that after awhile this method also produces the same repetitious prayers.

  So although we want to be God-centered in prayer and begin with “A” (adoration), the tendency is to ask ourselves, “How should I adore the Lord today?” And since we don’t have the time or the mental resources to think every day of new ways to adore the Lord, we tend to fall back on the same old ways, words, and phrases we habitually use to adore the Lord.

  The good news is that you don’t have to come up with new ways to adore the Lord. The Lord has given us 150 chapters of divinely inspired praises (that is, the Psalms) for us to use in adoration. Praying these will bend our prayers more toward God and less toward ourselves. Moreover, praying the Psalms will lead us to confession, thanksgiving, and supplication as well.11

  “The Time Was Too Short!”

  I get excited when I hear this comment, and so do the pastors who hear their people say such things after the exercise. “That was seven minutes?” people will ask. “It felt like two or three!” Some will admit, “I’m ashamed to say it, but I can’t remember the last time I prayed for seven full minutes. And yet I could have kept going a lot longer.”

  If this was your experience, you also know that even if you had continued in prayer, you would not have run out of things to say. All that’s needed is simply to carry on to the next verse, then the next verse, and so on, as long as you have time.