Praying Scripture

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord" (Colossians 3:16).

Evoking the word of God into your prayers evokes His power into your life. Praying God’s word will strengthen your prayer life, give you greater confidence in His abilities, and will fortify and bind His word in your heart.

A few ways to pray scripture are as follows: 

  • Pray prayers from the Bible: Praying like God’s children from the Bible is one way you can pray scripture. The Bible is full of prayers like: The Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13), David’s prayer for deliverance (Psalm 3), Jonah’s prayer for salvation (Jonah 2:2-9), Hannah’s prayer of praise (I Samuel 2:1-10), Moses’ prayer for favor (Exodus 33:13),and Paul’s prayer for believers (Philippians 1:9-11).
  • Pray by Topic: Find scripture related to a given topic that you may be struggling with. For example if you are struggling with fear you may research varying scriptural texts that address the topic of fear and pray those scriptures over your fears.

Here’s an example of a Scriptural Prayer:

Dear Father, I pray for Your power because I am weak. I have no might so I am asking You to please increase and be my strength (Isaiah 40:29). You are my portion, Oh God, therefore I put all of my hope in You (Lamentations 3:24). It’s only by Your mercy that I am not consumed (v. 22). Your compassion towards me fail not, as a matter of fact, they are new every morning. Oh how great is Your faithfulness (v. 23).

Memorizing Scripture

"Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads" (Deuteronomy 11:18 NIV).

Can you recall the words to the songs “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” or “Jesus Loves Me This I Know”? Most likely you do remember the words, even if you haven’t sung these songs in more than 20 years. That’s because information repeated over and over becomes imprinted in our memory. God knew this, He after all created us, and so He instructed us to bind His words in our hearts and in our minds. There is power in the word of God and being able to recall God’s word and live God’s word requires that we know God’s word. We should be so familiar with God’s word that it comes to our mind immediately, when needed. When you internalize God’s word in your heart and in your mind, you will reap the benefits of God’s promise of extended days (Deuteronomy 11:21). Here are some tips for memorizing scripture:

  • Start Small: Either choose a short passage of scripture or take a larger passage and break it down into chunks.
  • Pray the scripture: Incorporating the scripture to be memorized into your prayers is another way to “bind the scripture” in your heart. Also Ask God to help you be able to retain the scripture text in your mind and live out the text in your daily walk.
  • Write it down: This is another excellent use of your journal. Write down the text to be memorized word for word, as writing helps contribute to memory retention. Also consider posting the written text in all the places you'll most likely see it—on your bathroom mirror, in your office cubicle, on the refrigerator door, etc. This will give you the opportunity to repeat it over and over again.
  • Use music: Just as you remembered the words to “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”, music can help you also remember scripture. You can make up a tune or sing the scripture to the tune of another favorite song, like “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”.
  • Share your goal: Having an accountability partner helps you better keep your commitment and having a “memorization partner” makes it more fun.