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Intercessors Arise -
2019
13 May
“Praying the Bible helps our prayer lives because it brings an entirely new focus to what we are praying.” Wesley and Stacey Campbell
Did you know that God wants us to talk with Him as we read His Word? He loves it when we dialogue with Him over what we are reading. He wants us to actively talk with Him in our heart. We gain so much strength as we read His Word and engage in conversation with Him. It’s so simple but makes so much difference in our prayer lives.
The Bible gives us the conversation material for our prayer lives. Prayer becomes easier and more enjoyable as we do this. We speak and pray God’s Truth back to Him. We commune and abide with Him on a deep level. Over time we see great change in our lives and especially in our prayer life.
When the famous missionary, David Livingstone, started travelling across Africa he had 73 of his most valued books with him, weighing 180 pounds. After his party had gone 300 miles, he decided to throw away some of his books because he was totally exhausted from carrying them. As he continued, his library grew smaller and smaller. By the end of His journey He had one book left, his most important one — His Bible! Having our Bibles and pray-reading God’s Word should be our most precious possession as well.
When we pray-read the Bible, God teaches us in a way that is tailor-made for us personally. We say new things to Him and we pray with more creativity. It’s amazing. The Holy Spirit prays through us and gives us new insights as we pray, but how can we do this in the most effective way? How do we pray-read God’s Word?
How to Pray-Read the Word of God:
“If you abide in Me, and My words abide (live) in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you” (John 15:7).
Here are 10 ways to pray-read the Bible:
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Pray the promises to believe — When we read a promise in the Bible, we turn it into a conversation with Jesus.
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Thank God and declare trust — With the promises in Scripture, we thank God for the promise and declare our trust in it.
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Ask for more understanding — We ask for more understanding of a particular truth.
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Pray the exhortations to obey while reading — These exhortations can relate to our speech, work, food, attitudes, service, relationships, and more.
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Commit to obey the truth — Make simple declarations of our resolve to obey it.
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Ask God for empowerment — We ask God to help us to obey by giving us wisdom, motivation, and power to obey.
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Pray slowly and softly — Short phrases are good. We don’t need to shout or preach to God.
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Take time to journal — Record your thoughts as you pray-read the Bible. Journaling helps us to capture the truths that God wants to give us.
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Pray-read the descriptions of Jesus — There are 30 descriptions of Jesus in Revelation 1-3 alone. We can worship God with these descriptions and ask Him for more insight into what they mean to our lives.
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Use the acronym A-R-K — Think of the Ark of the Covenant where God’s presence dwelt, and then do the following three things:
A — Agreement — Agree with who Jesus is in a specific way. Declare truth about who He is.
R — Revelation — Ask for revelation as to each of the 30 descriptions. Ask for more insight and a spirit of wisdom and revelation (Ephesians 1:17).
K — Keep the prophesy — Ask for help to apply the commands and plans of Jesus in the book of Revelation, and ask Him to give you faith and help you to obey.
I encourage you to start pray-reading the Word of God on a regular basis. You will be amazed at all that God has to say to you from His Word as you dialogue with Him. You will grow in your effectiveness in prayer, as God leads you into thrilling depths and greater heights in your relationship with Him.
This Intercessors Arise course will help you to develop a life that powerfully prays God’s Word. Pray-reading the Bible and a multitude of other dynamic teachings to help you grow in praying the Bible are included. It’s called «How to Powerfully Pray God’s Word for Breakthrough.»
“The Bible is actually a whole book of spiritual words! The Bible will teach you the language of God so that you can effectively communicate to Him. When you speak from the Bible in your prayers, you will be led to an entirely different place in prayer—one you might’ve not thought was humanly possible, simply because the language of the Bible is so absolutely different than our own.” Wesley and Stacey Campbell
Together in the Harvest,
Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
International House of Prayer Kansas City (IHOPKC)
www.intercessorsarise.org
Photo Credit: ©Unsplash/AaronBurden
We can all agree that praying God’s Word is essential to our spiritual growth–but what does it actually mean to pray God’s Word? To answer this question, let’s first take a look at the definition of prayer.
What is the Definition of Prayer?
The definition of prayer, according to Oxford Languages, is “a solemn request for help or expression of thanks addressed to God or an object of worship”. The Hebrew word for prayer is tᵊp̄illâ, which means prayer, intercession, and supplication (source). When we go before the Lord in prayer, we can call on him to help us in our times of need. I love the Scripture in Hebrews 4:16,
Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Praise God that we can approach his throne of grace with boldness and confidence, knowing that he is there to help us in our times of need!
According to the Oxford definition of prayer, we can also use prayer as a powerful way to express our gratitude and praise to God. I love praying the Psalms as a way to express praise, thanksgiving, and adoration to the Lord. These are powerful ways to use prayer as a way to draw closer to God as we reflect on the truth that he is GOOD–and is worthy of our praise!
What does it mean to Pray to Scripture (or to Pray God’s Word)?
Now that we have a better understanding of the definition of prayer, we can dive into one of my favorite ways to pray: praying God’s Word. When people talk about praying Scripture, they often refer to using Bible verses to guide and formulate their prayers.
It’s the idea of “praying Scripture back to God”, by using his words to pray for his will to be done in our lives. God’s Word is living and active–sharper than any two edged sword (Hebrews 4:12). His Word is useful in our lives for teaching, correcting, rebuking, and training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16). God’s Word is also incredibly useful when we pray!
How do you Pray Scripture?
We can pray God’s Word by choosing a Scripture to read and focus on. In this example, let’s use Matthew 6:25-34.
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
When we read this passage of Scripture, the main theme we gather is not to worry. This is a great passage to pray back to God when we find ourselves worried and anxious about our lives. There are many principles in this passage that we can pray back to God.
We can pray and ask God to…
- Help us to not worry about our lives
- Help us to trust him to take care of our needs
- Help us to seek his Kingdom and his righteousness
Here is an example of a prayer you could pray using Matthew 6:25-34,
Prayer: Lord, thank you so much for the comfort and power of your Word. You say that I don’t have to worry about my life. If you care for the birds of the air, help me to trust that you will certainly take care of me and my family. I am much more valuable than many sparrows. Glory to your name!
Help me to not worry about the daily necessities of life–about what I will wear, eat, or drink. You will provide food, clothing, and shelter for me–for you are Jehovah Jireh–my God who provides. Help me to seek your kingdom, and your righteousness. I desire to seek you with all my heart. Lead me on the path of your righteousness, and help me to trust that you will provide everything else that I need. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Praise God that we can go before him and pray for his will to be done in our lives!
How do you Pray Scripture Over Someone?
You can also pray God’s Word over your loved ones. This simply means that you can pray specific Scriptures for friends and family members. I like to choose Scriptures that I want to pray for loved ones, and I either write those Scriptures and prayers down in a prayer journal, or there are times when I speak those prayers aloud over my family.
Related:
Take a look at this post on 35 Scriptures you can pray over your children, or this post on 35 Scriptures you can pray for your husband.
Want to pray powerful Scriptures over yourself? Check out this post on 40 Armor of God Scriptures that you can pray over yourself!
What did Jesus say about Praying?
Jesus had much to say about prayer! Many people look to the words of Jesus in the Lord’s Prayer to guide their own prayers. Not only do we pray God’s Word when we pray the Lord’s Prayer, but we are praying the very words of Jesus when we pray!
After Jesus finished praying, one of the disciples asked him in Luke 11:1 to teach them to pray. Jesus taught them to pray using what is now known as the Lord’s Prayer:
He said to them, “When you pray, say:
“‘Father, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.”
When Jesus taught the disciples to pray, he was instructing them to:
- Honor the Lord and praise his name (hallowed be your name)
- Pray for the Lord’s provision in their lives (give us today our daily bread)
- Pray for the forgiveness of their sins (forgive us our sins)
- Pray for protection from temptation and from the evil one (lead us not into temptation)
When we pray the Lord’s Prayer as Jesus taught his disciples, we are praying the very words of God, and proclaiming that his will be done in our lives!
Prayer Lessons from a Toad
A few years ago, I learned a valuable lesson in the power of prayer from a toad. Have you ever discovered that God sometimes speaks to us in the most unlikely ways?
In the particular story I read with my kids from Frog and Toad, Toad was very impressed by his friend Frog’s garden. “I wish I had a garden.” Toad lamented.
Frog gave him some seeds and told him that with a bit of hard work, he too would have a bountiful garden.
After Toad planted his seeds, the rest of the story describes the comical way Toad waited for his seeds to grow. He tried to “help” his seeds grow by performing various activities.
He talked to his seeds. Nothing happened. He impatiently yelled at them. Still nothing. He read stories, poems and played music to his seeds–all to no avail. Finally, frustrated and forlorn, he fell asleep.
A little while later, Frog excitedly woke Toad to show him the budding sprouts in his garden.
“Toad!” exclaims Frog, “Now you will have a nice garden!” “Yes,” Toad remarked. “But you were right, Frog. It was very hard work!”
The Power of Praying God’s Word
I love this story because it reminds me of a powerful spiritual truth: We are called to sow seeds of prayer.
But when we don’t see immediate answers to our prayers, we try to “help God out” by making things happen on our own. We yell. We shout. We try to manipulate people and situations.
We attempt to speak our prayers into fruition with our own feeble words; but ultimately God is the One who causes the seeds of our prayers grow.
God is the only One who can speak things into existence.
In the beginning when the world was formless and empty, God spoke–and things happened. Take a look at the pattern in Genesis 1.
And God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters…”and it was so.
And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear…”and it was so.
And God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees…” and it was so.
God spoke… and it was so.
He is the only One with omnipotent power to speak things into life. But sometimes we act like Toad and work ourselves into a frenzy, taking matters into our own hands.
But there is a better way to pray.
God has graciously given us His words to speak, as He did through the prophet Jeremiah:
“I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.” Jeremiah 1:9b-10
We don’t have to use our words to make the seeds of our prayers come to life. When we pray the Word of God, we always pray the will of God.
God’s Word is like a fire and hammer; a sword and a mighty shield. His Word snuffs out the enemy’s schemes against us and obliterates strongholds.
His Word breaks through chains of bondage and releases us from captivity. His Word rebuilds our teetering faith and revives our withered souls.
His Word is faithful, steady and true–and never returns void.
As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. Isaiah 55:10-11
Praying God’s Word with Confidence
So instead of using our own words when we pray, why not try using His? There is great power in praying God’s promises.
Are you in need of peace? Ask that God’s peace, which transcends all understanding will guard your heart and mind (Philippians 4:6).
Are you lacking in strength? Pray that God will be your refuge and strength, an ever-present help in times of trouble (Psalm 46:1).
Are you battling fear? Praise God that He has not given you a spirit of fear, but of love, power and self-discipline (2 Timothy 1:7).
Sow seeds of prayer today, and speak His Word over every situation in your life. He will give you an unspeakable joy, and in His perfect timing, you will reap an abundant harvest!
Download these free prayer printables to deepen your prayer life and powerfully pray the Word of God!
Download these free printables HERE.
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Galatians 6:9
Feel free to download this prayer printable for your personal prayer time. Click HERE to download this printable!
Here are other printables you can use to pray the power of God’s Word. Just click on the link and select the printable you want to download!
Click HERE to download the prayer printables you want to print!
Looking for even more ways to deepen your prayer life? Check out the BOLD Prayers of Jesus Prayer Challenge! You will receive tons of prayer printables to deepen your prayer time with Jesus!
Sign up for the Prayer Challenge HERE!
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Where does your wisdom and comfort come from? Who or what do you turn to in your time of need or when you have an important decision to make? Make it a habit to always seek the Lord, His word and His counsel whenever these tough situations arise.
Look to prayer and the Word of God to guide your footsteps. When we open our ears to hear what the Spirit is saying, we allow our hearts to be encouraged, thereby allowing the Holy Spirit to operate in us. God will do what he says He will do. We can anchor our faith on His Word.
It’s in the difficult times that we often turn to our favorite Bible verses or books. What are your favorite Bible verses or book of the Bible? Let us pray.
Proverbs 2:6-7 – For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding; He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly.
James 1:5 – If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
Jehovah Nissi, night departs and day arrives. As I go out into the world fulfilling Your will for my life, I ask that You keep me out of harm’s way. Lead the way.
Oh Heavenly Father, guide me accordingly. Shape me and mold me into a better person. As I draw near to You, may I understand Your teachings and apply them to my life.
Psalm 111:10 – The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!
Speak Into My Life
Grant me the understanding and knowledge of You and Your word. As I open my Bible to read the scriptures, give me wisdom and discernment.
And even as I sit and listen to the pastor, preacher or apostle reveal what Your Holy Book is speaking into my life, help me to see and understand.
Help me to understand Jesus Christ, and the way in which He lived His life, so that I can follow in His precious footsteps.
Ecclesiastes 7:12 – For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.
Bless Me With Divine Knowledge And Wisdom
I long to be in Your Holy presence, Oh Lord. Sit right beside me as I learn. Bring understanding to my mind as Your teachings are revealed to me.
Bless me with divine knowledge so that I could one day teach others. Help me to learn how to be more understanding, kind, patient and compassionate towards my brother just as You were when You walked the earth and came to save us.
In Jesus’ mighty name, I declare and decree that a revelation of wisdom and knowledge of the word would be dawned upon me, Amen.
Proverbs 1:7 – The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Matthew 7:7-8 – “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
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As believers, it is important that we learn to pray the Word of God over our own lives and over our own bodies. Too many believers are too lazy to press into God for themselves, and instead, rely on someone else’s faith or someone else’s gift. When you are a baby Christian, God will allow you to do that, but after a while He expects you to stand on your own two feet and have your own relationship with Him. Ultimately, He wants every one of us to be completely dependent on Him and if you are looking to man to be your help and salvation, then you are not trusting in God or looking to Him at all.
The power of God is wrapped up in His Word. Whatever you need from Father God, find a scripture that covers what you are believing God for and pray it. Put your trust in God and put the Pressure on the Word.
God’s Word is Medicine to our Bodies.
My son, attend to my words; consent and submit to my sayings. 21 Let them not depart from your sight; keep them in the center of your heart. 22 For they are life to those who find them, healing and health to all their flesh. Proverbs 4:20-22 AMP
As you spend time meditating on God’s Word memorizing it, receiving it for yourself personally, and allowing it to become part of you it will become real to you and the result will be that life, healing and health will come to your body.
Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him. 3 He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 4 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth. 8 He was taken from prison and from judgment, And who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken. 9 And they made His grave with the wicked—But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth. 10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. 11 He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.
Isaiah 53:1-12 NKJV
When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, 17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: “He Himself took our infirmities And bore our sicknesses.” Matthew 8:16-17 NJKV
Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed. 1 Peter 2:24 NKJV
God’s Word is Spirit and it is life. God’s Word brings healing to every aspect of our lives. God’s Word will only work in our lives when it is IN us and we are in it.
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. John 15:7 NKJV
We must meditate on God’s Word and we must pray His Word out loud. The Word of God is the divine seed of God bringing life, health, healing and deliverance.
He sent His Word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. Psalm 107:20 KJV
And if the Spirit of Him Who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, [then] He Who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also restore to life your mortal (short-lived, perishable) bodies through His Spirit Who dwells in you. Romans 8:11 AMP
If you need healing in your body you need to meditate on God’s Word. Even if your body is healthy and strong, you need to build up your faith in the area of healing. Take these scriptures and meditate on them every day. Read them, think about them, speak them out loud, and pray them over your body and you will see God’s healing power begin to work in your body.
Memory Verse:
“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” (Mark 11:24)
Today we are going to begin a series on prayers that bring results. Several places in the Bible, God makes us understand that He answers prayers.
Several places in the Bible, God makes us understand that He answers prayers.
We do not just pray for the sake of praying. Neither do we pray just to feel good. Prayers produce real results. Prayers change things and situations and invoke great intervention in the affairs of men. We should never forget that.
But there’s a problem. Many people seem to be praying without getting answers. This is what we are going to start addressing from today. We’ll look at prayers that get quick answers and start praying those kinds of prayers.
If you need answers to your payers, learn to start praying the WORD of God. In the spirit realm, it is not your words that have power but the WORD of God.
For example, if you are praying for wisdom and ability to read, understand and remember later, or wisdom to make some tough decisions in workplace, you can read James 1:5 an pray out those words and ask God for wisdom. You can combine it with other scriptures like John 14:25.
You can pray like this:
“Father LORD, I come to You this day for wisdom. You said that if any lacks wisdom he should ask. O LORD, I lack wisdom, so I’m asking You for wisdom right now. I need to make some decisions and I don’t know what to do.
“Holy Spirit, Jesus said You will teach me all things. Please teach me right now what to do. Give me wisdom to read, understand, remember and take the right decisions. You gave Daniel and his friends wisdom that made them to be 10 times better than their mates. This is the same kind of wisdom I am asking You today…and I believe that You have given to me, in Jesus name.
Those are not the only scriptures that talk about wisdom, but I just gave you an example.
These days, it’s pretty easy to find scriptures regarding any area. From your phone you can search out verses from the internet or your Bible app and you’re good to go. I believe that is one of the important benefits of the net age.
Use scriptures to pray regarding what you are praying for and the answers will be provided quicker than praying your own words.
God wants to answer your prayers. Start praying the scriptures henceforth and you’ll be so blessed.
You’ll keep moving forward.
Further Reading:
Jeremiah 33:3, Matthew 7:7-11, Psalm 91:15
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