Wondering how to pray according to the Bible? Perhaps this will help . . .
I was in my early teens the first time I remember hearing it:
“Whatever you ask in My name, I will do it . . .” – John 14:13a HCSB
Surely that can’t be right, I thought. What if I asked for a Porsche? Would God just give it to me?
Thankfully I didn’t have to wait long before a youth leader explained it to me.
As with many passages of Scripture, I would need to look to other verses in the Bible to round out the full picture and meaning.
Turning to 1 John provided a better understanding – a book written by the same John who wrote the Gospel of John where the earlier verse was found.
“Whenever we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked Him for.” – 1 John 5:14-15 HCSB
Here, we see that John adds an important phrase that was missing from the opening verse:
. . . according to His will . . .
It says “whenever we ask anything according to His will . . .” (emphasis added).
Okay, that makes more sense.
But I still had a problem as an early teen:
How the heck was I supposed to know what His will was?
The answer to this question would take me much longer to figure out.
How to Pray According to the Bible
Over time, as I grew in my walk with the Lord, I came to a realization:
If I used God’s own words from Scripture as a basis for my prayers, I was much more likely to pray according to His will.
It took some getting used to, but the more I practiced, the more natural it became.
In October 2021, I decided to participate in a 31-Day Writing Challenge using the theme, “31 Prayers for Writers.”
Each day, I used a passage of Scripture to formulate my prayer.
I also decided to rely on the ACTS acronym to shape the content of my prayers:
Adoration
Confession
Thanksgiving
Supplication
Full disclosure: I did not come up with this method, nor do I know where it originated, otherwise I would give the appropriate credit!
Using this “template” helped me to avoid the common pitfall of asking, asking, asking of the Lord.
So often, I find that my prayers start with phrases like:
“Lord, help me . . .”
“Lord, please do this . . .”
“Lord, please give me this . . .”
“Lord, please heal this person . . .”
By focusing first on adoration, confession, and thanksgiving, I was able to spend time praising the Lord and acknowledging my desperate need of Him before turning to my requests.
With each day that passed, I learned through practice how to pray through passages of Scripture. Let’s look at an example together.
How to Pray Through Passages of Scripture Using the ACTS Method
Here’s an excerpt from 31 Prayers for Writers so you can see this method of how to pray according to the Bible in action:
“May the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with all of you.” – 2 Thessalonians 3:16, HCSB
Adoration
God, I praise You for being the Lord of peace. I worship You as the omnipresent One, who is with me at all times. You are patient, merciful, and compassionate. You generously offer Your peace to those who ask.
Confession
I confess that I often neglect Your offer of peace. I often disregard the invitation to live with the peace that You alone provide. I forfeit that peace and fill my heart with fear instead. I fail to trust You with my life and my writing.
Thanksgiving
Thank You for willingly offering the peace that passes understanding. Thank You for inviting me to share that offer of the peace of Christ with others through my writing. Thank You for living in me through Your Holy Spirit.
Supplication
Father, help me to extend the peace that You provide to others through my writing. Give me the words to speak that would be a comfort and consolation to those in desperate need of peace. Help me most of all to point them to the Prince of Peace, who alone can take away not only the anxieties of today and the cares of tomorrow, but who promises eternal peace to those who trust and believe in Your Son, Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of their sins.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
(Psst . . . You can order the paperback version of 31 Prayers for Writers here if you’re interested.)
Putting It into Practice
Fast forward to January 2022. I received an email from a publishing professional asking if I would be willing to take on a writing assignment.
The project?
Writing a book entitled, 101 Prayers for Comfort in Difficult Times.
Each entry was to begin with a passage from Scripture, followed by a brief prayer based on that portion of the Bible.
I said yes, I would be honored to do it, and set to work.
I began the project with the hope that the Lord would use my humble offerings to somehow bless and encourage future readers.
Little did I know how much this practice of learning how to pray through passages of Scripture would be spiritually edifying to my own soul.
The biggest challenge was to write 101 prayers without repeating myself too frequently. I was forced to find new, fresh ways to express my adoration and gratitude to the Lord and admit my neediness to Him.
The format of the book did not allow space to use the full ACTS method, but I was challenged to use words and phrases from the Scripture passages to formulate my written prayers.
Here’s one entry from the book, 101 Prayers for Comfort in Difficult Times, published by Christian Art Gifts:
He Goes Before You
“The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” – Deuteronomy 31:8, NIV
Lord, You alone are faithful. You are my protector and deliverer. The promise of Your presence consoles me. Forgive me fr the many times I have doubted Your nearness and questioned Your love.
When I feel lonely and fearful, God, remind me that You have never left me, You are with me now, and You will never abandon me in the future. I know I can rely on You and the trustworthiness of Your character. Whatever You declare is true.
Thank You for going before me, especially when the path ahead seems dark and ominous. Thank You for paving the way, for holding my hand, for staying by my side. Give me the trust and confidence of Paul, who wrote, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31) Truly, You are the greatest advocate of all.
Amen.
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ORDER 101 PRAYERS FOR COMFORT IN DIFFICULT TIMES HERE
Click here to purchase a signed copy from the author
Next Steps
If you’ve never learned how to pray according to the Bible before, I encourage you to start today. Choose a familiar passage and incorporate the words from the verses into your prayer.
By using God’s own words in your prayers to Him, you’ll be much more likely to pray according to His will.
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