Praying through your Bible reading

For our Wednesday evening Bible studies at the Église Baptiste d’Odza we’ve been doing a series of lessons on prayer. We’ve examined the principles of Christ’s teaching on prayer in Matthew 6, the mentality necessary for prayer (life is war), prayer and our relationship with God, how to approach God in prayer (including the A.C.T.S. method), and, most recently, the relationship between the Bible and prayer.

We know that the Bible has much to say about prayer – how to pray, what to pray for, why to pray, and even when to pray – but what exactly is the necessary link between our Bible reading and prayer? 1 John 5:14-15 promises that if we ask anything according to the will of God we can be assured of receiving it, but how can we be sure we’re asking according to God’s will? Obviously that has to come from praying in accordance with how His will is revealed in His Word.

We know that prayer is not just asking for things but developing a relationship with God. As in any relationship, there must be communication for the relationship to progress – both listening and talking. As we read God’s Word we listen to Him talk to us and as we pray we talk to Him. But when we communicate with someone, we don’t just listen to what they say and then talk about something totally different that we want to talk about; we must listen and then respond to what is said. It was at this point in my study that a very interesting idea came to me – the idea of praying through your Bible reading, that is responding to what God says to you through His Word. The seed for this thought came from a quotation from John Doberstein, who said about prayer…

Prayer is turning to the Word of God. Prayer is nothing but response to God’s word and therefore it is nothing without the Word that precedes it. We must avoid the danger of making prayer an independent and autonomous concern of our devotional life. Our task is not to ‘practice’ and ‘cultivate’ prayer and the so-called spiritual life, but rightly to hear God’s Word and give him due answer in prayer.

As I thought about it I began to realize that in each verse, each sentence, each thought, or even each narrative section there is at least one way that I can and should respond to God. If you use the A.C.T.S. (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) method you can say that in each of these parts there is a reason to adore God, confess a particular sin, give thanks to God, or pray for someone else.

I decided to try it out this morning as I was reading Hebrews 5. I was actually pleasantly surprised as to how the Word of God shaped my praying as I responded to what God revealed in that chapter. Here’s what my prayers from Hebrews 5 sounded like this morning…

v.1: “Thank you Lord that you are the one who chooses and appoints your servants and that our calling doesn’t rest on our own desires or merits.”

v.2-3: “Lord, so often I am not gentle with those who are ‘ignorant and going astray,’ even though I myself have many of the same weaknesses. Forgive me for self-righteously condemning others and being harsh with them rather than being gentle and offering them grace and mercy. Thank you that you are always gracious and merciful in your dealings with me even though you are perfect and don’t share my weaknesses and sins.”

v.4-6: “Lord, your sovereign hand was at work from the beginning in ordaining Christ to be the Great High Priest and author of my salvation. Thank you that you didn’t just leave my salvation up to ‘chance’ but that you secured my pardon through your preordained plan.”

v.7: “Jesus, when you prayed, you were submissive to the will of the Father even despite your ‘loud cries and tears.’ Create in me that same heart of submission even though my loud cries and tears belie the fact that I want the suffering to pass from me. Forgive me when I am so determined and focused on getting what I want that my heart is unwilling to submit to your will.”

v.8: “Lord, teach me obedience through the things that you allow me to suffer. I don’t want the trials that you bring into my life to be wasted by my not learning anything from them.”

v.9-10: “Because of your obedience and suffering I receive the benefits of eternal life and a sympathetic High Priest who understands and can help me. Thank you, Jesus!”

v.11-12: “I am so ’slow to learn’ in many areas of my life. It’s not that I don’t mentally know the facts of the Scripture, but the fact that I have not put them into practice shows that I have not really learned the truth that I know intellectually. Especially in this area of prayer, although I am attempting to teach the truths that I know intellectually to others, I still have so much that I need to learn and put into practice. Forgive me for neglecting the practice of your Word and help me to progress in my growth not just in my knowledge.”

v.13: “Wow, Lord! I often tend to think that I know much about your Word because I have studied much, but this verse tells me that if I’m not actually putting it into practice I’m not even ‘acquainted with the teaching.’ Forgive me and guard me from pride because of my education. Just because I have studied your Word for years doesn’t mean that I know it – especially if I am not applying what I know. I desperately need your wisdom and help to not only understand, but to apply as well.”

v.14: “God, I desire to be mature in my faith. Help me to be constantly using your Word in my own life, not just to apply it to others. Help me to be able to distinguish the good from the evil in my life and not be blinded by what I know intellectually. Give me the courage to be honest with myself and the discipline necessary to train myself in the application of your Word. Help me to be as ruthless with myself as I can be to others and as gracious with others as I usually am to myself.”

Even as I was praying these things, I was struck by the way in which I “felt” myself communicating with God. As I was responding to what God was saying to me in His Word, I had no doubt but that God will respond to these prayers. How encouraging it was for me to have the Word of God direct my prayers in this way! It also made me feel as though I was not just reading the Bible for information or out of duty, but that God was really revealing Himself to me and confronting the real needs in my life with His Word.

Have any of you used this method in your own personal prayer time? What are the effects that you have seen in your own life of prayer and your Bible study from using this method?