The Power of Praying God's Word

“The life of a Christian is all about passion… Nothing is more powerful than when the Holy Spirit reveals the Son of God through the words of Scripture. Like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, every heart began to burn when God revealed Himself. When He unveils Himself and we have understanding of what He is saying, passion is the result. Seeing the face of God, and then gazing at it, has to begin sometime and someplace. It begins by bringing our whole person before the consuming fire who is God, reciting His words—the Bible—out loud to Him and then letting the Holy Spirit reveal Christ to us. That is why we pray the Bible.”

Dear intercessors,

Jesus was passionate about the Word of God. He used it when He prayed. He knew the power of the Word of God in intercession. When He was tempted by the devil in the wilderness, He quoted the Word of God. The devil left because of the power of the Word of God. Jesus knew that speaking the Word of God would bring spiritual breakthrough in the most difficult times of spiritual attack. 

Praying God’s Word fights the fleshly battles of life using His spiritual weapons. This gives us authority in the supernatural realm to pull down strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). We no longer are in agreement with darkness but agree with the light of God’s Word. 

Praying the Word of God brings freedom, discernment, and protection. God’s Word can bring life in a most amazing way!  

In Baghdad, Iraq, a 22-year-old Army Private First Class soldier named Brendan Schweigart was on a critical mission wearing a bullet proof shield for protection. You can only imagine the tension in that situation. Before going out to battle, he carefully tucked his Bible in his pocket beneath his bulletproof shield. While on a dangerous mission, he was shot with a high-powered rifle. The Bible saved his life when it shielded the bullet from his heart. He told his mother that he always carried his Bible into battle. Brendan received a Purple Heart and was soon released from the hospital. The bullet was still in the pages of his Bible, a miraculous reminder of the amazing power and protection of the Word of God.

God’s Word will protect our lives when in spiritual battle. It can bring forth life in the darkest of situations. It can save us from those fiery darts from the enemy. I wonder how many of us carry our Bibles into battle like Army Private Brendan? 

The mystery of intercession is actually profoundly simple. We tell God what he says in His Word. Everyone can pray like this—young and old, beginners and the experienced. God knows everything. We don’t have to come up with some intelligent method of praying, but He is deeply touched when we pray the truths in His heart back to Him. God loves it when we agree with Him through His Word. We read His Word and let the Holy Spirit speaks to us through it. Then we pray it back to Him as the Holy Spirit leads us. His Words are Spirit and Truth (John 4:23-24; 6:63). When we pray God’s Word, it marks us on the inside, changes us, and builds us up. We unite with God’s heart in a most amazing way.

Our own hearts are transformed as we pray God’s Word.

He will actually withhold His blessing until we stand in faith, agree with His heart, and pray it back to Him (James 4:2). Praying God’s Word gives us sustaining power. The revelation we get from Him through His Word strengthens our emotions. We can change whole cities when we agree with God’s heart in prayer. Power and revival are released when we pray His Word over a city. God runs the universe through prayer. 

Haven’t you noticed when you’re discouraged, how different you feel after God speaks to your heart through His Word? It’s as if a light goes on that dispels the darkness. God upholds all things by the word of His power (Hebrew 1:3). When we read and pray His Word we can have a living, active dialogue with Him in our heart (Hebrews 4:12). But we must receive it with obedience, faith, and devotion. When we abide in it (John 15:7), everything else seems to falls into place.   
    
Bible prayers are easy to find. There are many types of prayers in the Bible. For example, there are the Psalms, the prayers of wisdom such as the book of Proverbs, the Song of Songs, the prayers of the Prophets, the prayers of Jesus, the apostolic prayers, and the hymns of Revelation.

Praying the Bible can and will have a dramatic effect in our prayer lives and prayer meetings. It is definitely a key to the success of day and night prayer and worship. It’s advantageous in our walk with God. It takes us to such a higher level in our relationship with Him. Our faith increases and rises to a new place in authoritative strength. We pray the will of God and see answers to our prayers (1 John 5:14-15). We become fixed on God with a greater determination to please Jesus in all that we do and say.  Praying Scripture helps us to grow in Biblical knowledge. God is able to bring our prayer lives into an entirely new focus. 

We are in a serious battle throughout the world over the authority of the Bible. There is a great decline in the belief that you can know absolute truth and right from wrong. This is one reason why we must uphold it as absolute, authoritative truth in our prayers. Jesus prayed from the foundation of absolute truth. We must also. As we pray God’s Word out loud, our faith grows and we are equipped for every good work.

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” - (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

We must emphasize the Bible in our prayer meetings and everywhere we go. As we do this, we combat the lies of the enemy and spiritually strengthen our ability to abide in God’s Word. We choose to obey God’s Word as we pray it. We feed our hearts on it. We learn to talk to God about His Word and then we listen. We internalize it, and we say it back to Him. 

Praying God’s Word refreshes us internally and enables us to live radically for Him long-term. Let’s learn to cultivate a spirit of radical devotion to God’s Word as our everyday lifestyle. David wrote many of the Psalms in the Bible. He saw himself and others through the eyes of God as he prayed. He understood the love of God even when facing difficulty because His attitude was right. Praying God’s Word is a positive way to live.

"When you pray the Bible, you will understand how God views you and how He views others. In a culture distorted by negative media images, we all need to be founded on what God thinks of us. David's self-image came through prayer. He saw himself as God's anointed, as the apple of God's eye. David knew that God loved him, and that he was favored when the wicked were not. Therefore, we need to pray the Bible until we receive the same attitude that David did."

Together in the Harvest,
 
Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
International House of Prayer (IHOP) KC Staff
deb@intercessorsarise.org
www.intercessorsarise.org