I have for many years engaged with the scriptures as a primary part of my prayer life. Here I will share a bit of the how. One way is to simply pray the scriptures, for example turning Psalm 23:1 into a prayer, taking ‘The Lord is my shepherd’ and praying, ‘Lord, thank You that You are my shepherd. I thank You that you lead and guide me.’ This aligns with what Jesus taught, ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.’ We begin to pray trusting in and honouring who He is. I have used this approach and a common prayer used by many, myself included, is something like, ‘Lord, give us a spirit or wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of You’ (based on Ephesians 1:17).
Though in general, in my own prayer life what I engage in is drawing on a composite of what scripture teaches. Here is an example of something I regularly pray for myself and others, “Father, I thank You that You are drawing out and establishing Your purpose in our lives, helping us to walk uprightly that our prayers may delight You! Father, I declare that in line with Your word You are filling us with the knowledge of Your will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.” I know that I can pray this way based on the following scriptures.
5 Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water, But a man of understanding will draw it out. Proverbs 20:5 (NKJV)
8 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, But the prayer of the upright is His delight. Proverbs 15:8 (NKJV)
9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; Colossians 1:9–11 (NKJV)
The word counsel in Proverbs 20:5 also means purpose so I believe that He has placed His purpose in each of our hearts and desires to draw it out directly and through others. Proverbs 15:8 informs us that when we walk uprightly, He delights in our prayers. Thus, I know that when we come to Him with an open humble heart it brings delight to Him. I also know based on what Paul wrote to the believers in Colossae that He wants to fill us with the knowledge of His will more than we want to know it. I can then thank Him that He is in fact doing just that, filling us with the knowledge of His will and that if I quiet our hearts before Him we can discern His will.
The benefit of praying this way is that we can live out what John wrote.
14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 1 John 5:14 (NKJV)
In praying the scriptures, we know that we are praying according to His revealed will and that as we present our prayers before the throne of grace He is hearing and responding.
