How To Pray Scripture Over Someone

As a church community, we are to pray for one another as brothers and sisters in Christ. When we weep with others and rejoice with others, we pray with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ as if their problems are also ours. In good times, we also rejoice with them. We know what to pray for them based on our conversations with them. We get to know how they are doing in their lives and what specific things to pray for. For example, while having coffee with a fellow believer and mentioning that he or she is going through tough times, surely you know that you can pray for your fellow believer regarding what they just shared with you. It may also be that you’ve asked your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ from time to time if there were things that you could pray for them. Or maybe they were the ones who requested you to pray with them. 

We can pray for someone with our renewed mind—a mind saturated with God’s word and renewed by the Holy Spirit. With that, we know what is good and acceptable in the eyes of God and what to pray for our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. However, there is another way to pray for our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, and it is one of the best ways to pray for them. That is praying the Scriptures over them.

1 Timothy 2:1

I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;

What does it mean to pray scripture over someone?

Praying the Scriptures is similar to praying freely to God for someone with a renewed mind. For example, if we are to pray for a fellow believer who is struggling with sin, here is a prayer that we can pray for him freely without even looking at the Bible:

Father in heaven, You are the God Who gives grace. I thank You because we are already liberated from the bondage of sin in Christ. Therefore, we can now live upright, godly, and holy lives. I pray for [name of the person], that he/she shall continue to grow in holiness and always keep with repentance. Remind them that they have the grace to live a holy life in Christ. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

The prayer given above is something that is prayed freely without looking at the Bible, but you can tell that the prayer is biblical because it has its biblical references. The part saying “I thank You because in Christ we are already liberated from the bondage of sin” refers to Galatians 5:1. While the prayer was not prayed while looking at the Bible, it is a biblical prayer because it is prayed from a renewed mind.

Romans 12:2

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

But what is the connection to praying Scripture over someone? Praying the Scripture over someone is similar to praying with a renewed mind. You cannot pray with a renewed mind or pray the will of God and that which is good and acceptable in His sight without knowing His word. Only through the Scripture can we know God’s will and what is good and acceptable—in other words, praying the Scriptures over someone is using scriptures and applying them to the person. For example, if you know of a fellow brother or sister in Christ who is worried or anxious, you can pray 1 Peter 5:6-7 over the person about humbling oneself and casting one’s cares to God. Praying scriptures over someone means praying what God’s will over the person is, and we can only know God’s will by reading His word. 

How do you pray for someone using Bible verses?

As mentioned a while ago, we pray the Scriptures over someone by applying a verse to that person. For example, if you are praying for a person to always walk in wisdom, surely you can apply some verses from the Book of Proverbs as you pray for the person. You can use Proverbs 9:10, which talks about the fear of the LORD being the beginning of wisdom. Or Proverbs 4:27, which talks about turning one’s feet away from evil. Proverbs 16:16 speaks about desiring wisdom more than gold, and Proverbs 27:12 tells us about being prudent.

Proverbs 4:27

Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.

Proverbs 9:10

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.

Proverbs 16:16

How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! And to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver!

Proverbs 27:12

A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished.

Using those verses, here is how you can pray over someone to walk in wisdom:

Heavenly Father, You are the God of wisdom Who gives it generously to those who ask. I pray that You would always give [name of the person] the grace to seek wisdom more than gold. I pray that they shall value wisdom. I also pray that they shall always delight and walk in the fear of You, for that is the beginning of wisdom, and it may turn their feet away from evil. I pray that they shall always exercise understanding, discernment, and prudence in their life and always choose to do that which is right in Your eyes. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

 

Another example we have is the one from 1 Peter 5:6-7 that we mentioned a while ago regarding praying scripture over someone worried or anxious. You can apply it and pray the Scriptures over someone like this:

Father in heaven, You are our strong tower, refuge, and fortress. I pray for [name of the person], that they will not dwell in fear nor take their cares onto themself. Instead, I pray that they shall humble themself and cast their cares to You for Your care about them. Remind them that You are their Heavenly Father Who loves and cares for them, and they can pour their fears and anxieties out to you just like King David did. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

While praying scriptures over someone means applying Bible verses to what you pray over a person, it is also essential to remember that proper interpretation of the verse is also needed. Proper interpretation means going to the context of the scripture. For example, in Jeremiah 19:11, God told Israel that He has plans for their welfare, not for evil, and He’d give them a future and hope. It does not pertain to worldly prosperity; rather, it pertains to the hope of coming home because the context of the verse is that the Israelites were in exile and were longing to come back home. In our case, it means that Christians have the hope that, no matter what difficulties we may encounter in this temporary life on earth as exiles, in Christ, we will soon come home and be with Him in heaven, where our real citizenship is.

Another example is from Philippians 4:13. The context of that verse is that Paul was in prison when he was writing it. It refers to living a victorious and dynamic life even if one is going through a season of difficulties. It means having the strength to do God’s will even in hardship. It does not pertain to winning championships or achieving things through Christ Who strengthens you. So, to properly apply that in prayer, you pray it for those who are going through difficulties in life—that they may still live obedient and victorious lives even if they are going through hardships.

2 Timothy 2:15

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

In other words, you cannot just take verses in the Bible out of context and use them to pray over someone just because you liked the verse. Every scripture has its context, and we need to properly understand it, apply it correctly, and know if it is even applicable as we pray for someone. We should rightly handle the word of truth in preaching, teaching, and praying.

1 John 5:14-15

14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:

15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.Praying the Scriptures over someone is one of the best prayers we can pray for others because we pray for God’s will. The Bible teaches us that our confidence is that we know that God hears our prayers when we ask according to His will. That also tells us that whenever you don’t know what to pray for someone, the Bible is an excellent place to look for what you can pray.