Praying God's Word Back to Him
One night I picked up my Bible to read because I wanted to spend some time praying. A verse leaped off the page. It was a prayer. I placed my husband's name in it, adjusted the pronouns, left out some phrases, and prayed with my eyes open as I read. The next verse was a prayer too. The next verse wasn’t. I kept on. Faith grew in me. I was praying specific prayers from my heart for my husband, and had the wonderful assurance that God was listening and empowering him.

Time sped by quickly and I glanced at my watch. Three hours had passed by! I was amazed.

The Way I Prayed Scripture Prayers Before
In the past, I had used Scripture as a basis for prayer, and my husband prayed that way all the time. But I had never read Scripture aloud and prayed at the same time—keeping my eyes open, placing a person’s name in the verse, and making adjustments to the verse as I read.

Before, praying Scripture had often been a memory exercise for me—reading Scripture, closing my eyes to pray, trying to remember what I had just read, and looking back when I forgot.

A New Way To Pray
That night marked a new beginning for me. I started to have a better understanding that when we pray God's Word into people's lives, He acts! The reason is obvious: God's Word is His will.

He says,
“If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you…. For the word of God is living and active…. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.” John 15:7; Hebrews 4:12 (NIV); Isaiah 55:11 (NLT)

The Power of Praying Scripture-Based Prayers
God used praying Scripture-based prayers to help me refocus and revitalize my prayer life. I experienced profound joy praying His Word into the lives of my family and others. The Lord was near.