PRAYING THE WORD

“The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years!” (James 5:16-17, NLT).

This passage says that Elijah was as human as we are, but when I pray I don’t see fire come down from heaven and burn up anything nor have I shut up the heavens for three and a half years. I haven’t even shut up a barking dog, for that matter.

Putting aside jesting, I do want my prayers to be effective. Let me rephrase that—I want my prayers to be more effective than they are now. The question is, how can this be accomplished?

One of the keys to a more effective prayer life is to learn to pray the Word. Before we talk about the practical side of doing just that, let’s talk about the Word for a moment.

The Word of God has an inherent power to bring about change (Hebrews 4:12). In the Old Testament, before there was much of the written Word available, the Word of God would come to the prophets and they would speak it forth. When the prophets spoke “the Word of God” as it was given to them, it would bring forth the change God intended and the Word would not “fall to the ground” (see 1 Samuel 3:19 and Isaiah 55:10-11).

In the New Testament we see the same power to bring change flowing through God’s Word. The apostle Paul credited the change in the Thessalonians to the Word of God.

“When you received the message of God [which you heard] from us, you welcomed it not as the word of [mere] men, but as it truly is, the Word of God, which is effectually at work in you who believe [exercising its superhuman power in those who . . . trust in and rely on it]” (1 Thessalonians 2:13, Amplified Bible).

It is the continuing power to bring change that makes it important for us to constantly be in the Word, to memorize it, to study it, to speak it forth, to meditate in it and to “pray the Word.”

Life is full of challenges, problems, opportunities and they will always be with us. The very first thing to do when you are faced with a health problem, a financial problem, or any other problem is to see what the Word of God has to say about it.

When I was diagnosed with throat cancer I put together a list of fourteen Scriptures that declare God’s desire to heal the sick. I read them daily, meditated on them—and I prayed them!

I did not get an instant healing but I did get my healing/recovery. It is now one year since the diagnosis and I am cancer free! I am deeply grateful for the attentive care of the best cancer doctors in the world but most of all I am thankful for the attention of a loving God, and to Him belongs all the praise!

Start praying the Word! As you pray about your challenge, bring the Scriptures into your prayer. You are not reminding the Lord of the Scripture or begging Him to bring it to pass; both of those are childish concepts. As you pray the Scripture or meditate on it, you are bringing yourself into line with God’s plan to bring the healing/answer you need.

As you pray Scripture, do not try to change the verses to fit your need. Let the power and authority of the Word come to you and do its work. If Hebrews 4:12 really means what it says, then we need to take the raw Word into us, stop trying to cook it to a “better flavor,” and let the Word do its work. Don’t try to work the Word. Know the Word, trust the Word, and let its superhuman power come to you.

Here are a couple of brief examples of how I pray the Word.

Psalm 23:1: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”

After quoting this portion of the verse, I pray something like this: “Lord, You are the shepherd of my life, every part of my life! I am one of Your sheep and I follow Your leading. Thank You, Lord, for the incredible promise that because You are my shepherd I shall not want, I shall not lack. I thank You for Your provision and Your care that covers every part of my life. I praise and thank You and I receive Your care and provision because I know this is Your heart for me.”

Psalm 107:20
“He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.”

My prayer would be something like this: “Lord, thank You for Your Word! Thank You that Your Word comes and brings healing and deliverance. Thank you, Lord, that Your word is at work in me right now bringing healing to broken places and setting me free from the bondage of sin. Thank You for the life and the power of Your Word. Thank You for my healing! You sent Your Word and healed me!”

A powerful (dare we say effective) prayer is one that is filled with the Word and with thanksgiving! God draws near to that kind of praying! (See Psalm 22:3.)