“The quality of our lives often depends on the quality of our habits” James Clear
Praying the Word of God is powerful and comes naturally if we practice the habits of guarding our heart and renewing our mind. The secret is to habitually study God’s Word so that we learn His will and purposes for our lives. For example, if you read the first chapters of Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon you will discover how Paul prayed for leaders in the churches. These four letters in the New Testament are letters he wrote from prison! If you pray these over your life, you will begin to know God’s will for your life. Study these prayers and you will also begin walking in them as God’s promises for you.
Many years ago my wife, JoAn, and I lost a baby at birth. We already had two very healthy children and the death of our third child caught us off guard. A few years later we began praying about having another child. One morning I became aware that the Holy Spirit was directing my attention to Psalm 112. I wasn’t familiar with that psalm but the Holy Spirit knows how to direct our thinking to His Word. Here’s the verse that changed our prayer life:
“For the one who fears the Lord and delights in His Word: his children will be mighty in the land”!
From that day forward we began to pray that scripture with thanksgiving:
“Father thank you for being our Lord, we delight in you, we trust in you, we give our lives to you. We thank you in advance that our future children are mighty according to Psalm 112:2.”
Over the following years we welcomed three healthy children into our home. Throughout the lives of all five of our children we confess that they are mighty according to Psalm 112. Today we claim that same promise for our grandchildren. In that Psalm we also found answers to other concerns on our heart. Praying the Word of God became a life-giving Lordship Habit! Psalm 112 is our family prayer.
Why do we pray God’s Word?
In the Apostle Paul’s second letter to the Corinthian church he writes:
“For no matter how many promises God has made they are ‘yes’ in Christ. And so through him the ‘amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God. Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” II Corinthians 1:20-22
Jesus fulfilled the Old Covenant law. The promises are ours because of His sacrificial life on Calgary and resurrection. When we live sensitive to the Holy Spirit and the Word of God our prayer life becomes powerful. The Holy Spirit often “quickens” a scripture to our hearts. By “quickening” I refer to times when the scripture that you’re reading comes alive, almost seems as if it’s jumping off the page at you. Here’s why that happens:
“Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.” Romans 8:5-7
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