(Ps. 138:2 KJV)
I’ve said it before and I will say it again and again: the Bible, the written Word of God, is first and foremost the foundation for all of our praying. When we pray the Word, we can pray with boldness, knowing that we are praying the perfect, unchanging will of God. We don’t have to wonder if we will be heard or answered because:
This is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
(1 John 5:14 –15)
In every situation, the Bible is our most certain guide. There are many things we can (and should) pray straight from its pages. We can always pray for fellow believers, for example, the prayers Paul wrote in his letters to the New Testament churches. We can pray from Ephesians with unwavering faith for God to grant them the spirit of wisdom and revelation and give them a deeper and clearer understanding of His will. We can ask Him with confidence to strengthen them with might through His Spirit in their inner man and give them experiential knowledge of His love.
When we’re sick, we can pray for healing with words that come directly from the Scriptures. We can thank God for the answer even before we see or feel it because He has already declared in His Word that by His stripes we were healed (1 Peter 2:24).
When we need material provision, we can simply turn to the Scriptures and find God’s assurance that He is our shepherd and we shall not want. We can stand in faith on His promise to meet all of our needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus and rejoice.
What a blessing it is to have the Bible for our prayer book! It covers every area of life. It is and always will be God’s first and final Word to us. It is our solid foundation in prayer.
Scripture Reading: Ephesians 1:15 – 23
Excerpt permission granted by Lynne Hammond Ministries
On the chilly March night in 1972 when Lynne Hammond took her first step into a life of Spirit-led prayer, she had no idea what was about to happen. All she knew was the hunger in her heart for God wouldn’t let her sleep. In the few short months she’d been born again, her desire to fellowship with Him had grown so strong she could hardly contain it. “Help me, God!” she cried. “I want to know you. I want to be able to talk to you. Please, teach me to pray!”
Suddenly, a heavenly presence flooded the room. Lynne sensed waves of spiritual fire sweeping over her and a beautiful language began to flow like a river from within her. Although she’d never heard of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, she knew instantly, without a doubt—this was God!
What began that night soon blossomed into a life of prayer that ultimately became a ministry of prayer when, in 1980, Lynne and her husband, Mac, founded Living Word Christian Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Under Lynne’s leadership, the prayer ministry at Living Word has become an internationally recognized model for developing effective pray-ers in the local church.
A teacher and an author, Lynne publishes a newsletter called Prayer Notes, has written numerous books, and currently serves as the national prayer director for Daughters for Zion. Her passion for inspiring and leading others into the life of Spirit-led prayer continues to take her around the world to minister to believers whose heart cry, like hers, is “Lord, teach me to pray!”