Becoming a Man of Prayer: Pt. 2
Praying the Word
Last week we shared some tips on how to get comfortable with prayer, and one of those was by praying verbatim or paraphrasing verses from the Bible. Either way, the idea is to use God’s Word to inform and direct our prayers with verses that fit our circumstances. And since there are so many verses we might use for this, we decided to offer a few examples in this week’s blog.
When married men pray with and for our wives, for instance, we might paraphrase Ephesians 5:25-26 –
“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word.”
Our paraphrased version might be something like, “Lord, help me love my wife just as Christ loves the church and to give myself up for her to make her holy and to bathe her in your Word so that she will be cleansed.”
Another one is 1 Peter 3:7, which, by the way, is also a prescription for ensuring our prayers aren’t hindered. It says,
“Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.”
So we might rephrase that with something like, “Lord thank you for a wife who is also an heir of your gracious gift of life. Help me treat her right. Help me be considerate of her needs and be aware of our differences. Help me stay right with her so I won’t create a wedge between her and me or between You and me.”
The Psalms, many of which were written as prayers, also offer a rich source of scripture we can pray. Psalm 19:14 and Psalm 51:10, for instance, both provide great starts to just about any prayer.
“May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” (Psalm 19:14)
“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10)
There are too many verses we can use in prayer to list them all, but here are just a few more to consider.
A Prayer Before We Read God’s Word
“Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever. For great is your love toward me; you have delivered me from the depths, from the realm of the dead.” (Psalm 86:11-15)
Prayers of Praise and Gratitude
“I will exalt you, Lord, for you lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me. Lord my God, I called to you for help, and you healed me. You, Lord, brought me up from the realm of the dead; you spared me from going down to the pit.” (Psalm 30:1-3)
“I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted. Both horse and driver he has hurled into the sea. The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him. (Exodus 15:1-2, the start of what’s known as the Song of Moses and Miriam)
A Prayer of Trust in God
“The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” (Psalm 118:6)
A Prayer of Deliverance
“Our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” (2 Chronicles 20:12)
A Prayer for Protection
“Remember me, Lord, when you show favor to your people, come to my aid when you save them, that I may enjoy the prosperity of your chosen ones, that I may share in the joy of your nation and join your inheritance in giving praise.” (Psalm 106:4-5)
A Prayer to Conclude a Prayer
“Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (1 Timothy 1:17)
Praying the Word means the divinely inspired words of God become your vocabulary of petition. It shows that you read and study His word, believe His words hold great weight, and that you are taking on the thought patterns of Christ.