Praying The Scriptures In The New Year

Praying the Scriptures in the New Year guest post

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Praying the Scriptures is something the Lord taught me to do during a very dark season of my life. I was struggling with a long battle of depression, I felt very alone in this darkness, I had lost hope. I’m not even sure where I got the idea to start reading one Psalm each day, but I started doing it. Some days, quite honestly, I felt nothing at all…but I kept reading one each day. Some days, the words on the page meant nothing to me, but I kept reading. When I got to the end of the Psalms, I started over again at the beginning.

One day, before I even realized what was happening, the words of the Psalmist became the cries of my heart. The words of despair that David felt and wrote in his songs, were became water to my dry soul. Slowly but surely, God was doing a work in my heart through His Word. This doesn’t mean the depression was all of a sudden gone and I never struggled again. What I mean to say is that God comforted my heart in ways that no one or nothing else could do. His Word became a life saving device for my heart.

Who Can Pray the Scriptures?

Before you quit reading, thinking that praying the Scriptures must be this difficult and complicated thing that only the super spiritual are capable of, let me assure you, praying the Scriptures is for everyone. Praying the Scriptures is for the desperate, like me, who need a comforting word from God. Praying the Scriptures is for the weak, like me, who find their strength in God alone. Praying the Scriptures is for the broken, like me, who find healing and peace in speaking the very Words of God right back to Him.

What is Praying the Scriptures?

Prayer is such a personal thing. I would never attempt to share “3 easy ways to pray” as a kind of formula for the “right” kind of praying. But, I want to share a few practical ideas with you to help you realize just how simple this tool and method of prayer can be!

Praying the Scriptures can be as simple as reading a verse or passage and saying it aloud to God. Praying Psalm 23 might look like this, “Lord, You are my shepherd, I am content in You alone.” Read a verse, meditate on it, write it down, speak it aloud to God…these are all ways to pray God’s Word. Sometimes there is a certain phrase in a passage that really becomes the cry of my heart and I may repeat that one phrase all day, “Create in me a pure heart, Oh God…”

As you’re reading, if you come across a verse that just really sticks out to you, write it down, read it, meditate on it, and pray it. Carry that card with you, leave it on the kitchen counter. Journal your verses and prayers. Speak the words aloud to God. These are all ways to pray the Scriptures! Don’t make it harder than it needs to be. After all, prayer is just a conversation.

Pray the Scriptures in the New Year

Each month I have been putting together a {free} printable list of Scriptures to pray, one each day. Since we are so close to the New Year, I thought it would be appropriate to pray a Scripture each day to remind us that we are a NEW creation in Christ! So, each verse for January will give us hope that we are not a lost cause, the God is still at work in us and that we are His.

Go here to print your free Scripture Prayer Calendar for January.

If you join us, there is a small community of people on Instagram that share daily Scriptures and prayers using the hashtag #prayingthescriptures — we would love to have you!

In closing, I want to encourage you today. No matter where you find yourself today, God’s Word has something for you. The Lord has encouraged my heart time and time again, He is so faithful! I know He will do the same for you.

 

 

 

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Candace is just a messed up mama in need of God’s fresh, new mercies daily. She has blogged through her struggle with depression and how the Lord began teaching her to pray the Scriptures. She blogs at His Mercy Is New  and would also love for you to join her onInstagram as she posts daily Scriptures and prayers to encourage us all with the hashtag #prayingthescriptures.

 

This Post Has 2 Comments

  1. What a wonderful post! It’s always great to findo posts like these that help you pray when,if you’re like it, it isn’t your strong suit.

  2. Susan Evans

    What perfect timing! My daughter is going in for spinal surgery soon, and what a great idea to read the Psalms during this time!

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