Last year, one of my spiritual growth goals was to cultivate a vibrant prayer life. But as my year of prayer progressed, I realized that I underestimated all that prayer is and overestimated how much progress I could make. Prayer is a spiritual discipline that doesn't just need a year to refine—it needs an entire lifetime. Prayer is a vast channel for communing with our infinite God.
I'm not going to exhaust all that prayer is in this post, but I am going to share what God has used to refresh and invigorate my prayer life with joy, depth, and confidence. If prayer is a war-time walkie talkie, as John Piper says, then I want to point you to the user manual: God's Word.
I'm not going to exhaust all that prayer is in this post, but I am going to share what God has used to refresh and invigorate my prayer life with joy, depth, and confidence. If prayer is a war-time walkie talkie, as John Piper says, then I want to point you to the user manual: God's Word.
Praying the Same Old Things
Stale. That's how I would describe my prayer life as I neared the end of the year that was intended to refresh and grow my praying. It started well enough, but somewhere along the way it became boring. That's an awful way to describe talking to the most magnificent person in all of the universe.
Then, in December, I read a small book called Praying the Bible by Donald S. Whitney. It's roughly 90 pages, and I read a majority of it during one of Martha's naps. While I had heard encouragements to pray the Bible before, I had never understood how to apply or practice it. It was through this humble book that God showed me the simplicity and power of praying His Word.
When I don't pray the Word, I "say the same old things about the same old things" (32). It's not that praying about the same old things is the problem; we should be like the persistent widow (Lk. 18:1-8). The problem comes when we say the same old things again,
and again,
and again,
and again,
and again,
and again,
and again. Even with the best frameworks for prayer in place, prayer will get boring if we are repeating our words every single day. This is because when we are left to our own devices, we don't know how to praise or even talk with God. This is one reason He gave us His Word—to show us! When we pray, we need to use the prayer book: the Bible!
Then, in December, I read a small book called Praying the Bible by Donald S. Whitney. It's roughly 90 pages, and I read a majority of it during one of Martha's naps. While I had heard encouragements to pray the Bible before, I had never understood how to apply or practice it. It was through this humble book that God showed me the simplicity and power of praying His Word.
When I don't pray the Word, I "say the same old things about the same old things" (32). It's not that praying about the same old things is the problem; we should be like the persistent widow (Lk. 18:1-8). The problem comes when we say the same old things again,
and again,
and again,
and again,
and again,
and again,
and again. Even with the best frameworks for prayer in place, prayer will get boring if we are repeating our words every single day. This is because when we are left to our own devices, we don't know how to praise or even talk with God. This is one reason He gave us His Word—to show us! When we pray, we need to use the prayer book: the Bible!
Profitable for Prayer
All of the Scripture is profitable for prayer—but especially the Psalms.
In the introduction to Praying the Psalms, a guide to experiencing Scripture-fed, Spirit-led, and worship-based prayer, Justin Jeppesen writes:
In the introduction to Praying the Psalms, a guide to experiencing Scripture-fed, Spirit-led, and worship-based prayer, Justin Jeppesen writes:
…God sang songs over His nation calling them to remember Him and His ways. Yet these songs or Psalms were not only written to ancient Israel, they were also divinely composed for us. God has arranged divinely inspired songs for every season of our lives. Each psalm has a unique way of giving breath and language to our life of prayer with our Creator. In the same way song lyrics or melodies enable us to articulate the deepest emotions of our hearts or clarify or even simplify puzzling concepts, so too the Psalms engage us at deep levels, especially when drawing us into the broad vocal register of prayer (17).
The Psalms are for us—all 150 of them. God sings them over us and each is meant to be sung and prayed back to Him in worship. We were made to reflect the glory of God, and the Psalms teach us how to fulfill this ultimate purpose whether we are on the heights of joy or in the depths of despair. The Word of God was given by the Spirit of God to the children of God to pray back to God in worship of God.
But what does praying the Psalms look like? Malcolm Guite, in the preface to David's Crown: Sounding the Psalms, writes:
For the Psalms themselves are great poetry, and so rich and varied in their imagery that they feed and nourish the imagination and become a source from which our own original prayers can be formed and enriched. We pray with the psalms not simply by reciting the original text, but also by responding freely and creatively to their imagery. … We recite the psalms not just as historical texts from 'out there and back then', but also as inspired words given for our own hearts to sing 'in here and right now' (xiv).
Practically, Piper says it best, "Praying the Word means reading (or reciting) Scripture in a spirit of prayer and letting the meaning of the verses become our prayer and inspire our thoughts."
This perspective has refreshed my prayer life. Scripture-fed, Spirit-led prayer is a conversation with God. He speaks through His Word (Scripture-fed) and I respond (Spirit-led) in prayer. That response can have a wide range as the Spirit calls different prayer needs to mind, but, as much as possible, I want God's Word—particularly the Psalms—to fuel the language of my prayer.
This language engages our hearts, for God has written His Word on our hearts: For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people (Jer. 31:33; Heb. 8:10).
This language thaws our spiritual chill and shatters our hard-heartedness, for God's Word is like fire and like a hammer: "Is not my word like fire," declares the LORD, "and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?" (Jer. 23:29).
This language is always relevant and applicable, for God's Word is living and active: For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Heb. 4:12).
Pray the Word, and in so doing, take up the Sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:17).
Praying Like Jesus
One of the most compelling reasons for us to pray the Psalms is we see that Jesus prayed the Psalms. As Whitney notes in Praying the Bible, "Jesus prayed the Psalms. The final act of his earthly life was to pray the words of a Psalm" (88). Here's Justin Jeppesen again in Praying the Psalms:
Of all the Scriptures cited in the New Testament, Psalms tops the list. The Lord Jesus himself quotes this joy-filled book over 50 times, often during occasions of great personal turmoil. They were, for Him, the songs of God, reminding Him of His Father and of Home. As a poignant example, Jesus quotes from the Psalms at the time of His greatest suffering on the cross. And what empowered Jesus to endure the agony of Calvary? According to Hebrews 12:2, it was "the joy that was set before him." Jesus was "a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief" (Isa. 53:3), and yet, we powerfully see lament and joy converge at the cross. No wonder Jesus uses the Psalms in His dying breaths to extol His firm reliance upon and ultimate trust in His heavenly Father (Ps. 22: 1; Ps. 31:5). Even for Jesus the Psalms gave voice to His conversations with His Father and the Scriptures have been recorded to give us His example to emulate (19).
To the degree that we pray Scripture will be to the degree that we pray like Jesus. …The Psalms provide an invaluable entry point to begin praying the way Jesus prayed (19).
By praying the Psalms, we will see more of Jesus, for he is in them. By praying the Psalms, we will become more like Jesus, for He prayed them.
Praying God’s Word means we need to know God’s Word. May we too store up the Psalms in our hearts, cherishing and praying them as they give voice to our conversations with our Father.
Praying God’s Word means we need to know God’s Word. May we too store up the Psalms in our hearts, cherishing and praying them as they give voice to our conversations with our Father.
Pray Then Like This
There is no question. Jesus is the greatest model of prayer and best teaches us how to pray. In Praying the Psalms, Justin Jeppesen says:
It's been said that if we can learn to pray as Jesus prayed we will have the power to live as Jesus lived. The good news is that Jesus did not leave His disciples guessing when it came to understanding how He prayed. He gave them the very rhythm of prayer modeled by His life and His words, especially found in what is commonly referred to as "The Lord's Prayer" (Mt. 6:9-13; Lk. 11:1-4). The kind of prayer that Jesus' life exemplified was Scripture-fed, Spirit-led, and worship-based (19).
If we are to pray then like this, then the Psalms lend themselves to praying through the rhythym of reverence, response, requests, and readiness. This was pointed out to me in the introduction to Praying the Psalms and was illustrated with Acts 4:24-31 and emphasized again in Praying the Bible (88). In this passage, the disciples pray Psalm 102 and Psalm 2 using the rhythym that Jesus gave them. They applied what Jesus taught by praying the Psalms!
Ken Langley, quoted in Praying the Bible, says it well, "For thirty centuries, God's people have found in the Psalms an answer to the disciples' plea, 'Lord, teach us to pray'" (Lk. 11:1) (81).
My Reflections
The more my prayer life grows, the more I realize how much my prayer life needs to grow. Essential to that growth is the user manual to prayer: God's Word. As I've prayed it, I've consistently experienced more joy, depth, and confidence in my conversations with my Father.
Praying the Word takes practice, and I continue to learn for myself the discipline habits of grace require. But I will continue to push into these disciplines and habits as I see more and more their present value and eternal worth. However, I'm learning that prayer is not about how much control I can exercise over my praying. Rather, it's about how much control of my praying I can surrender to the leading of the Holy Spirit. The discipline required then is to make time to pray the Word and to stay focused on it. Praying God's Word is only as enriching as the time I make for it and the attention I give to it.
1 Peter 4:7
The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.
So, was that year I took to cultivate a vibrant prayer life wasted? No! By all means, set aside a year to push into prayer. Pray individually, and pray corporately—for praying with others is one of the best ways to learn to pray. Study what the Bible teaches about prayer. Read books about prayer. Start a prayer journal, and establish a system for prayer—like prayer cards. Set entire days aside for prayer. Go on prayer walks. Offer to pray for people you meet. But underneath all of these good things, let's make Scripture the foundation of our praying. It guides and fuels all of the above.
And when the year is done, let's keep praying—for the rest of our lives! Great blessing is found when we persistently press into prayer—especially when we use the user manual for prayer: God's Word.
Praying the Word takes practice, and I continue to learn for myself the discipline habits of grace require. But I will continue to push into these disciplines and habits as I see more and more their present value and eternal worth. However, I'm learning that prayer is not about how much control I can exercise over my praying. Rather, it's about how much control of my praying I can surrender to the leading of the Holy Spirit. The discipline required then is to make time to pray the Word and to stay focused on it. Praying God's Word is only as enriching as the time I make for it and the attention I give to it.
1 Peter 4:7
The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.
So, was that year I took to cultivate a vibrant prayer life wasted? No! By all means, set aside a year to push into prayer. Pray individually, and pray corporately—for praying with others is one of the best ways to learn to pray. Study what the Bible teaches about prayer. Read books about prayer. Start a prayer journal, and establish a system for prayer—like prayer cards. Set entire days aside for prayer. Go on prayer walks. Offer to pray for people you meet. But underneath all of these good things, let's make Scripture the foundation of our praying. It guides and fuels all of the above.
And when the year is done, let's keep praying—for the rest of our lives! Great blessing is found when we persistently press into prayer—especially when we use the user manual for prayer: God's Word.
Doxological Extras:
1) For a thorough and better explanation of how to practically pray God's Word, read Praying the Bible by Donald S. Whitney. It's well worth your time (which it won't take much of).
2) If you desire to pray the Psalms outside of your normal Bible reading plan, I encourage you to use the app Five Psalms. Here's the link to Five Psalms for Apple, and here's the link to Five Psalms for Android. With 30 days in a each month (more or less) and 150 Psalms total, there are five Psalms for each day. Use this app to scan the day's five Pslams before choosing which you will pray.
3) Oh, there is too much to be said about prayer for one blog post. If you would like a systematic study of what the Bible teaches about prayer, as well as fasting, I recommend Secret Church 19: Prayer, Fasting, and the Pursuit of God taught by David Platt (Spotify link). All the sessions together make for roughly 6 hours of content. Some of my favorite sessions include The Pentateuch and The Gospels, but they're all rich!
4) In a few short pages in Praying the Bible (85-88), Don Whitney shows how Jesus prayed the Psalms while he hung on the cross. I found this enlightening and compelling, but I didn't make the space to quote that passage in this post. However, if you would like to read it, email me at avery@hey.com. I would be happy to share it with you.
5) I expect that if you were to ask some of the longest-lived, well-respected, most-accomplished, God-glorifying saints what they would do differently in their lives if given the chance, the majority would say they would have prayed more.