Prayer and the powerful word of God

Some years ago, I read a story that opened my eyes to the power of praying the scriptures.

D.L. Moody, the Billy Graham of the late 1800s, noticed an elderly man who prayed with real power.  Moody, who was a young pastor at the time, wanted to know this man's secret.  So he asked him and the man took him up to a loft in his barn where there were two Bibles, one of them open.

There he prayed and Moody realized his secret - he prayed back the words of scripture to God.  He was sure God would hear and answer because they were God's promises to his children.  That transformed Moody's praying - from then on, he prayed from the Bible.  Here is a link to that story: http://www.praywithchrist.org/prayer/plead.php.

Others have followed the same path - such great pray-ers as George Muller and Andrew Murray.

Why is this approach so effective?  One reason is that it builds faith because if God says it, it must be according to his will.  We can be sure he will hear and answer prayers like that.  We know that faith is vital in seeing God work in our lives.

In his book The Hour that Changes the World, Dick Eastman suggests three steps to praying God's word:

• Read a portion of scripture until you reach a verse or passage that catches your attention;
• Meditate on what that verse is telling you; and
• Pray it back to God whether it is a prayer of confession, or praise, or request.

A personal example:  A few days ago, I read Romans 15:7 where Paul tells us to accept each other just as Christ accepted us.  I realized that I did not accept others the way Christ has accepted me.  Today, I started praying that Jesus would help me accept others the way he accepts them.

Here is a YouTube video which spells out very well the value of praying the scriptures: