How Then Should We Pray…?

If you have been a Christian for some time, I am sure you have heard a message or two, or many, about prayer and the importance of prayer. Without a doubt, every pastor has preached about prayer from Matt 6 or Luke 11 (the Lord’s prayer); sometimes, preaching from this passage seems like a yearly ritual at the beginning of the year. Congregations are constantly reminded to pray and rightly so! Prayer is important because that is how we talk to God and express our praises, thanksgiving, confessions, petitions, etc. However, sometimes, we get into a routine and prayer becomes burdensome.

Constants

When I became a Christian, one of the things that was impressed on me was to make certain things “constant” in my life. Constants was the name given to Spiritual Disciplines. They were called such so that they become a constant part of our lives. They occur every day and they don’t vary from day to day. One of these constants was Personal Prayer. I prayed every day at the same time, and it was definitely becoming a constant in my life. But what also became constant were the things I prayed about and my prayers themselves. I had developed a routine where I had a specific order of things I prayed for and the prayers (words I said) were also the same every day. 

As time passed, prayer became very mechanical, and I was saying “the same old things about the same old things.” I started to lose my fervor in prayer, and it started to seem like something I have to check-off every day. This constant soon started to vary till it was regularly irregular. I continued on with my sporadic prayer life for many years. I enjoyed praying on some days; but there were days (sometimes a long stretch of days) when I just didn’t know what or how to pray.  

I realized that my struggles were not unique, and that many Christians struggled with praying. I heard how they were not able to concentrate, their minds wandered, they were repetitive when they prayed, so on and so forth. I knew it wasn’t supposed to be this way. As Christians, we are called to pray and, like Jesus, we should be praying every day. The joy and blessings of praying are for all of us, not just a few. So, what was I missing? And what is everyone who struggles with prayer missing? 

There is a Way… 

It is important to remember that Christianity is not a list of dos and don’ts, but it is a relationship. We have been adopted into God’s family as His sons and daughters (Eph 1:5) and Jesus taught us to call God our Father (Matt 6:9). A relationship cannot last without communication. This is why we pray. And our prayer should be in the form of communication! It should not just be one-way but a two-way communication. And God, for His part, has spoken… in His Word!

Therefore, when we pray, we should pray through a passage of Scripture. It is that simple!

(Note: A lot of the material in this article is derived from the book “Praying the Bible” by Don Whitney)

But How…?? 

It may sound like a cliché to say, pray through a passage of the Scripture; however, the question one would ask (including me when I first read it) is: How do I do it? Which part of Scripture should I use? How do I pray through a passage of the Scripture? 

The best place to pray through the Bible is the Psalms. The Psalms are the prayers of the Israelites. It helps us to know how they prayed and how Jesus Himself prayed. Some of the Psalms don’t need any personalization since they are already personalized and addressed to God. Consider Psalm 8:1, which offers praise to the Lord.

O Lord, our Lord,

How majestic is Your name in all the earth,

Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens!

There is no need to modify this in any way. We can just say it to the Lord as our own praise. Psalm 51 can be a prayer for repentance, Psalm 25 for deliverance, so on. 

Some Psalms will need to be personalized. For example, praying Psalm 27:1 would look like: Lord, You are my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? Lord, You are the defense of my life, whom shall I dread? And Psalm 106:1 would be: I praise You, O Lord, I will give thanks to You, Lord, for You are good and Your lovingkindness is everlasting! 

Everyone in the Bible did it!

This method of praying is not new to us. We can see throughout the Bible that many people have engaged in this pattern of prayer. Moses prayed to God in Exod. 32:13 using the words that God had said to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in order that God may not destroy the Israelites. The Psalmist, in Psalm 105, recounts of all the works of God in delivering Israel according to His promises. In the New Testament, Jesus prayed the Psalms. In his most agonized moment in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed for the cup to pass from Him, a reference to the cup in Ps 75:8. And He prayed Psalm 22 while He was nailed to the cross and Psalm 31 (Ps 31:5) before He gave up His Spirit. The Apostles, in Acts 4, use multiple Psalms in their prayer. There is a great precedence set for us in the Bible and we should try to use it, so our prayer life will be as strong as theirs. 

Prayer, Not Interpretation

Most often, when reading the Bible, we might be concerned about understanding what the passage means. This is a valid desire and should be our primary goal when reading Scripture. However, the goal in praying through the Scriptures is not interpretation: that is, we aren’t trying to understand what a passage means but using the words to help us pray. Let me illustrate.

Suppose you are praying though Psalm 61 and you read in verse 2, “my heart is faint.” You are reminded of your friend or a relative who has been having some issues with her heart, she has seen the doctors and she is undergoing treatment. You might pray that God will strengthen her heart, that it might not become weak, that the doctors may know how to treat her, and her family will have wisdom to handle this situation, etc. It is clear this verse is not about physical heart issues, but you are using the text to pray for your friend or relative. That is the important thing – turn every thought into a prayer as you read the passage.

Other parts of Scripture

Although the Psalms are the easiest place to start, there are many other parts of the Bible that can be helpful in praying. The letters in the New Testament contain multiple prayers from the writers and in many cases, those can be prayed directly to the Lord (similar to Psalms addressed directly to God). The other parts of the letters can also be very helpful in praying. Most of the letters contain many imperatives (commands) for us to practice in our lives; these can become great prayers and reminders throughout the day. 

For example, Paul tells in Col 4:6, “Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt,” and you pray, “Lord, help me to be kind with my words today. Help me to build up the people I interact with and not tear them down. Help me to be a source of encouragement. But, above all, help me to speak Your grace, which you have showed us through Your Son, Jesus, into their lives. Help me to do it with gentleness and not with pride.” 

The same can be done with many parts of the Bible and we will not only be able to pray for ourselves but even for those that have sought our prayers. 

What does it look like?

So, how do you do it on a daily basis? Set aside a specific amount of time to pray. Start at the beginning of a Psalm or another passage. Read the first verse. Stop and pray about everything that comes to your mind. When you can’t think of anything else, go to the next verse, and so on and so forth till you run out of the Psalm or you run out of time. 

A Final Analogy

I enrolled in personal fitness training for a season in my life. I couldn’t walk for 2 weeks after my first session, but it got better as I continued doing it and I started seeing results. The difference between these training sessions and my own workouts was knowing what to do. When I went to the gym by myself, I would do the same set of workouts every time. There was nothing interesting about it; the routine was monotonous, and I would be bored in the middle of the workout. However, all I had to do was show-up for my personal training and follow the instructions of my trainer. 

All you have to do while praying through the Bible is show-up and start reading. As you read, the words are given to you in the passage, and you can turn them around toward God to pray. You won’t have to sit there thinking what to pray or let your thoughts wander or look at your watch or be discouraged about your prayer life. 

God has given us His own words and what could be better than letting His own words shape our words when we talk to Him.  

Let Us Pray!