How To Pray Scripture

While we should pray to God regarding every concern we have in life, the best prayers we can pray to God are those prayers within His will. According to 1 John 5:14-15, asking things according to God’s will shows the confidence that we have that God will hear our prayers. That also tells us that it is essential to know God’s will in order to pray for it. So how do we know God’s will? We can know God’s will if we read our Bibles. The Bible is God’s breath on Earth. Even if human authors wrote it, the Holy Spirit divinely inspired them. Whatever they have written, which we read today as God’s Word, is divinely inspired by God. The Scriptures are God-breathed. As we come to read our Bibles and study them, we come to know God’s will. For example, by reading the Scriptures, we know that God’s will for us when choosing a spouse is never to marry or be unequally yoked with an unbeliever. Know that you can pray for God’s will by praying and asking God for wisdom and discernment when choosing a spouse and never dating an unbeliever. Something else we know from the Gospels is that it is God’s will for us to respond in love towards our enemies. You can pray the Scriptures by praying to God to give you the grace and strength to love your enemies and bless those who persecute you. That is why, if we don’t read our Bibles, then we will never know God’s will, and if we don’t know God’s will, then we cannot pray for it. Praying for God’s will by knowing it from the Scriptures gives us the confidence that God will answer us, since it is His will that we are precisely praying for. Such prayer also stirs up joy in us.

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.

2 Timothy 3:16

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

Matthew 24:35

Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

How do you pray for Bible verses?

When we pray Bible verses as we apply them in our lives, we must first know their context. Context is critical. We can never take Bible verses out of context and use them wherever we want. For example, if you just read Philippians 4:13 alone, without knowing the context, you would end up misapplying the verse. You might think that you can close a business deal, or be able to win the championship game, through Christ alone, who strengthens you. While there is nothing wrong with praying to God for those things, applying Philippians 4:13 in that way is misapplying the verse. Therefore, praying it in that sense is also praying it out of context. We have to understand the context of Philippians 4:13 when Paul wrote it. Paul was in prison while he wrote the letter to the church in Philippi, saying that whatever he faced in life, he had learned how to be content, whether in good times or bad times, and that regardless of his circumstances, he could still do all things through Christ, who strengthens him. Paul was not on vacation when writing Philippians 4:13. He was in prison. That was Paul’s context when writing the verse. Therefore, the proper application of Philippians 4:13 in our life and prayer is not about achieving worldly prosperity in life, but by living a victorious and dynamic life and doing the will of God even if you are going through hardships or suffering. 

Philippians 4:11-13

11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Another regularly misapplied verse is Jeremiah 29:11. The context of Jeremiah 29:11 is that Israelites were about to be exiled to Babylon. Because of their sin, God judged them and used Babylon to punish Israel, which resulted in them being exiled. However, in verse 1, God tells Israel to adapt to living in Babylon, and as they live there, they are told to seek its welfare and pray to God on its behalf. Living in Babylon did not necessarily mean participating in idolatry and evil practices. God also tells the Israelites, through the prophet Jeremiah, that there will come a time when they will return home and that being in exile is not permanent. That is where the famous Jeremiah 29:11 comes, where God tells the Israelites that even in exile, He knows the plans He had for them, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give them a future and a hope. The Israelites are to obey and trust God while in exile, knowing the plans of God and that He is sovereign, until the time when they get to come home. Understanding the context of Jeremiah 29:11, we can see that this verse is not directly addressed to us as modern Christians. We are not Israelites who have been conquered by Babylon and sent into exile. However, that does not mean we cannot apply it in our Christian lives.

For us Christians of the New Covenant, we are in Christ, and all the promises of God find their yes in Him. Christ fulfilled every requirement of all the covenants made in the Old Testament. Because of that, Christ becomes the inheritor of the promises of all those covenants. That is why those who live in Christ receive those promises as well. Similar to Israel, we are also exiles. The Bible is clear that this Earth is not our real home; our real home is the one Jesus has prepared for us in heaven. Our real citizenship is there. Like the Israelites longing to return to Jerusalem, we are longing for the time where we get to go home in heaven. As we live in exile and go through hardships in this world, we remember God’s promise that soon we will be with Christ in the place where there will be no more tears, sorrow, hunger, or death, and we will be able to enjoy God’s presence for eternity. That is God’s plan of welfare for us, His plan of hope for the future. Jeremiah 29:11 does not pertain to worldly blessings like having a nice car, a job promotion, or perfect health; it pertains to the eternal and spiritual blessings that we have in Christ, which we look forward to in the future hope that we have in Him.

Jeremiah 29:1-14

Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the residue of the elders which were carried away captives, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon;

2 (After that Jeconiah the king, and the queen, and the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the carpenters, and the smiths, were departed from Jerusalem;)

3 By the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent unto Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon) saying,

4 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon;

5 Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them;

6 Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished.

7 And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.

8 For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed.

9 For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the Lord.

10 For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.

11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.

13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

14 And I will be found of you, saith the Lord: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.

2 Corinthians 1:20

For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.

Galatians 3:16

Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

Ephesians 1:11-14

11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

1 Peter 2:11

Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

Philippians 3:20

For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:

Revelation 21:4

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

Therefore, here is how we can properly apply Philippians 4:13 and Jeremiah 29:11 in our lives through prayer:

Father in heaven, You are the God who looks after me and preserves me. Thank You because I can still preach the Gospel, minister to others, and do Your will through Christ, who strengthens me, even in life’s difficulties. I can still live a victorious and dynamic life even if I suffer. Remind me of Your plans and the future hope that we have in Christ, that our life here on Earth is only temporary and that we are only pilgrims here waiting for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ who will bring us to our real home, which is eternity with You.

Whenever we apply Scriptures in our lives and use them for prayer, we must make sure that we apply them correctly. Remember that we are the ones who should humble ourselves before God. We cannot force God’s Word into something that we want. We should rightly handle the word of truth.