Praying Scripture Back to God
This blog is adapted slightly related to the dates mentioned from the original publication here.
No serious thinking person can deny that our nation is in crisis. The American family is in shambles, and where it is not, it is under extreme pressure. Cultural values have eroded, and our government is contributing to the moral decay rather than stopping it. Every survey I see indicates that the great majority of the American people, 70-80% of them, believe this nation is on the wrong track.
We know that 2 Chronicles 7:14 tells us that the secret to releasing God’s healing power into our land is humble prayer. The challenge is finding a sustainable way to engage ourselves in daily prayer for our land and the people we love.
We know, according to 1 John 5:14, that God hears every prayer that is prayed according to his will. There is no better way to know that we are praying according to his will than by praying the very words of Scripture back to him.
At http://pray.afa.net/ you will find a prayer for each day that incorporates the very words and themes of Scripture. (The prayers are largely based on the ESV, but also at times incorporate the NIV.) The Scripture passages there follow a reading schedule that will take you through the entire word of God in three years. If you read the passage for each day and pray the prayer for each day, three years from today you will have not only read through the entire Bible but also prayed it back to God.
For instance, the prayer for Feb. 12, which I have included below, is drawn from Psalm 91. You will notice a space where you can list by name those for whom you wish to pray. You can make the spray pattern as narrow or as broad as you like.
In my case, I pray each day for the members of my family by name, the organization I work for and its president, my church and its pastor, my cell group and its leader, my neighborhood, my city and its mayor, my state and its governor, and my nation and its president.
I have bookmarked this website on my computer and open it up first thing in the morning while my coffee is brewing. I read the passage on my smartphone or in my Bible, and then pray the prayer for the day back to God. I’d encourage you to think about doing the same.
We don’t yet have an archival function on the prayer page, so there isn’t any way at this time to retrieve prayers from prior days. Perhaps that can serve as an incentive to make prayer a daily habit!
The prayer below is based on Psalm 91, a powerful psalm about God’s power to protect and deliver. The prayer is designed to be prayed for those who are nearest to your heart. It just might be a great place to start.
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Psalm 91
Almighty and Most High God,
In the name of Jesus, I bring ______________________ before you this day, the people I love most in the world, and I pray also for myself. May we dwell in your shelter and abide in your shadow. Be our refuge and our fortress, the God in whom we trust.
I ask you to deliver us from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. Cover us with your feathers that we may find refuge under your wings. May your faithfulness be our shield and rampart. I pray that we will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.
Though a thousand fall at our side, ten thousand at our right hand, may it not come near us. Instead, may we look with our eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. I pray that we will make you our dwelling place and refuge and that no evil will be allowed to befall us and no disaster come near our home.
Please command your angels concerning us to guard us in all our ways. May your angels lift us up in their hands, so that we will not strike our foot against a stone. May we tread on the lion and the cobra, and trample the great lion and the serpent.
I pray that you will deliver us as we hold fast to you in love. Please protect us because we know and acknowledge your name. Answer us, I pray, when we call to you and be with us in trouble. I humbly ask you to rescue us, honor us, satisfy us with long life, and show us your salvation. Amen.
