So many people struggle with praying according to the will of our God. Often, we assume that our impressions of what to pray for are extremely limited by our personal opinion, our own motives and values, a lack of intimate knowledge or our God, little understanding of how He works among and within us, and many other reasons. Yet the scriptures are filled with prayers or passages that are easily used as the basis for prayers.

Here are a few more in this series on prayer.

Worship and praise.

Psalm 47 “God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.  Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises. For God is the king of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm.  God is king over the nations; God sits on his holy throne.  The princes of the peoples gather as the people of the God of Abraham.  For the shields of the earth belong to God; He is highly exalted.”

Psalm 63:1-8  “O God, You are my God; I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh faints for You, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.  So I have looked upon You in the sanctuary, beholding Your power and glory.  Because Your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise You.  So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands and call on Your name.

My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast, and my mouth praises You with joyful lips when I think of You on my bed and meditate on You in the watches of the night, for You have been my help, and in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy.  My soul clings to you; Your right hand upholds me.” 

General prayers.

Psalm 5  “Lord, lead me in Your righteousness because of my enemies; make Your way straight before me.  For there is nothing trustworthy in their mouth; their inward part is destruction itself. Their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue. Make them pay, God; have them fall by their own schemes!  Scatter them in the multitude of their wrongdoings,
For they are rebellious against You.”

“But rejoice, all who take refuge in You, sing for joy forever!  And may You shelter them, that those who love Your name may rejoice in You.  For You bless the righteous person, Lord, you surround him with favor as with a shield.”

Psalm 7  “O Lord my God, in You I have taken refuge; save me from all those who pursue me, and rescue me, or he will tear my soul like a lion, dragging me away, while there is no one to rescue me.  Arise, Lord, in Your anger; raise Yourself against the rage of my enemies and stir Yourself for me; You have ordered judgment.  Let the assembly of the peoples encompass You and return on high over it.  The Lord judges the peoples; vindicate me, Lord, according to my righteousness and my integrity that is in me.  Please let the evil of the wicked come to an end but establish the righteous; for the righteous God puts hearts and minds to the test.  My shield is with God Who saves the upright in heart.”

Psalm 10:12-18  “Arise, Lord; God, lift up Your hand. Do not forget the humble.  Why has the wicked treated God disrespectfully?  He has said to himself, “You will not require an account.”
You have seen it, for You have looked at harm and provocation to take it into Your hand.  The unfortunate commits himself to You; You have been the Helper of the orphan.  Break the arm of the wicked and the evildoer, seek out his wickedness until You find none.”

“The Lord is King forever and ever; nations have perished from His land.  Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will strengthen their heart, You will make Your ear attentive to vindicate the orphan and the oppressed, so that mankind, which is of the earth, will no longer cause terror.”

My take: In praying the scriptures, I have found helpful to personalize some passage to be more like a conversation between my God and me. For example,when praying Psalm 5 above I may make a portion of it into the following: “But I rejoice, because I take refuge in You, I sing for joy forever!  And may You shelter me, so that I may love Your name and may rejoice in You.“

There are many ways in which you can personalize scriptures as prayers. The point is that one can enrich their prayer life by praying the scriptures. I encourage you to give it a go!

Do you have favorite passages from the scriptures that help you in your praying? If so, please add a few in the comment section below. And watch for more prayers from scripture in future posts.

Banner image via bible_keeper, from Pixabay