By Rebecca
Is your prayer life in the doldrums? Do you find it difficult to pray, and have little enthusiasm for prayer? I have also had the same problem. Many times I find prayer difficult, and simply cannot find the words to pray. Then the Lord led me in a different direction which has changed everything. Please let me share it with you.
Get yourself a bound book with blank lined pages. It is better to have a bound book so the pages cannot come out. This will be your journal. You need one for your quiet times, and one for your prayer life. (In your quiet time journal you will write down those things that the Lord shows you or promises He gives to you, so that you can go back and review and not forget them. This is very important!)
The most effective prayers we can pray are when we pray God’s word back to Him. So now I have a Prayer Scripture Journal. During my daily quiet times, when the Lord quickens a particular scripture to me to pray, I write it down in my journal. Each day, in addition to whatever book I happen to be reading for my quiet time, I also read some in the Psalms. I have found the Psalms to be rich in “prayer scriptures.” At least once a week, sometimes more often, I take my Prayer Scripture Journal and sit down and go through every scripture in it and pray those scriptures back to the Lord, applying them to whatever situations I need to pray about at the time. This makes my prayer time effective, meaningful and fun. Let me give you some examples:
In the midst of the trials and struggles of everyday life, I frequently quote the following to myself:
“Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him,
For the help of His countenance.” Psalm 45:5
Then I pray the following scripture to the Lord, asking Him to fulfill it in my life:
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7
As I admonish myself with the scripture in Psalm 45:5, and then pray asking the Lord to guard my heart and mind with His peace that surpasses all understanding, I find great help. This is a most effective weapon of warfare against the anxieties and fears the demons throw into us so frequently.
Here is another example. One of the angels once told Daniel that they have little to do here on earth because the Christians so rarely ask the Lord for their help, especially in battle. Instead, Christians just assume God will automatically protect them. I use the following almost daily:
“Bless the Lord, you His angels,
Who excel in strength, who do His word,
Heeding the voice of His word.
Bless the Lord all you His hosts,
You ministers of His, who do His pleasure.” Psalm 103:20-21
I combine this scripture with the following:
“The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him,
And delivers them.” Psalm 34:7
Scripture tells us that if we pray according to God’s will, we KNOW for sure that our prayers are answered. So here we have proof. Psalm 103 tells us that the angels not only excel in strength, but they do God’s word. Now God’s word says that “The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them.” I pray this with confidence, asking the Lord to send His angels to surround our property and protect us and all our animals and everything on our property. I fear the Lord, God knows I do, and the angels DO God’s word, so this is a prayer that I can be assured of having answered every time. Are you getting the idea? I also apply this scripture in Psalm 103 to many other things promised in God’s word.
Have you lost a loved one? Are you in a deep grief process? This is a particularly hard time, because most often during a grief process we do not hear from the Lord nor feel near to Him. In fact, most often it feels like God is very far away from us. However, we can pray with confidence the following scripture KNOWING it will be fulfilled because it IS God’s word!
“The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart,
And saves such as have a contrite spirit.” Psalm 34:18
It doesn’t matter how far you FEEL you are from God in your grief, God’s word promises that He IS near to you in a special way. Be confident in God’s word as you pray it and ask Him to alter your emotions.
As you spend time with the Lord in His word on a daily basis, you will find that your prayer scripture journal will fill and become a very important part of your prayer life.