Blog 24 / Our High Calling
April 1, 2021
Praying Scripture
There is nothing more powerful in the universe than the Word. The Word spoke creation into existence and continues to hold it all together. The Word raised the dead and healed the sick and calmed tempests. The Word is all powerful because the Word is God (John1:1).
As Christians we can do nothing that is more effective than to pray Scripture because we are then praying the very will and words of God. As we memorize and meditate on Scripture and let its precepts, promises and commands take root, the Holy Spirit can bring relevant verses to mind when we need to use them in prayer. There are Scriptures for every need that we could ever have. We can personalize and use them in all situations. Here are a few examples:
When praying for leaders we can pray Col. 1:9, “Lord, fill them with the knowledge of Your will.” When asking for protection from the enemy, there is Isa. 54:17, “Thank You that no weapon formed against us will succeed.” When praying for spiritual growth, ask 1 Pet. 1:16, “Father, we desire to be holy as You are holy.” Facing an impossible situation? Echo Jeremiah’s prayer to the Lord in 32:17, “Nothing is too hard for You.” And for worship, use Ps. 46:10, “Be exalted O Lord in all the earth.” Often the Holy Spirit often can also lead us to pray whole passages of Scripture.
As we put on the armor of God each day, we are told to take up the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. When we combine the Word with praying in the Spirit (Eph. 6:18), our prayers have divine power to destroy strongholds. It is not intellectual brilliance that will defeat the enemies of our Lord. It is praying Scripture. When we use the Word of God in prayer, we render ineffective such arguments as evolution and humanism and every prideful thing that sets itself up against the knowledge of God (2 Cor. 10:5).
Hopefully, most of us will never be arrested for being armed and dangerous, but being armed with the sword of the Spirit and praying in the Spirit certainly makes us dangerous to the kingdom of darkness. When Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness, He responded with the Word against which Satan had no defense. We have the same Word which we can use with the same power and authority.
Praying Scripture means that not only will we push back the enemy, but we will also be contributing to God’s will being done on earth as it is in Heaven. As we confess with our mouths the truths of Scripture in prayer, we have the full backing of Heaven that the words we pray will not return empty but will accomplish all God intends for them to do.
Colin Stott
GRN Global Prayer Coordinator
