You don’t have to be a Bible scholar to pray God’s Word effectively. In fact, all you need is the simple, childlike faith that God really will speak to you through the Scriptures, as well as a system that gets you in the pages of the Bible on a regular basis. Here are a few suggestions for making reading and praying the Bible a regular part of your life.
Have a regular time for prayer. If you delay your daily praying until you have time for it, it won’t happen. Prayer needs to be as important in your routine as eating, sleeping, and personal hygiene. Set a time to meet with God–five minutes, ten minutes, fifteen minutes, whatever–and then be ruthless about protecting it
Have a regular place for prayer. If possible, have a specific place where you meet with God. It could be at your kitchen table with a hot cup of coffee, in a cozy chair in your living room, or at an office desk. But when it comes to prayer, familiarity breeds intimacy. You don’t want new sights, sounds, and settings distracting you from your conversation with God.
Have a regular system for prayer. I believe that it’s good to know in advance where you’re going to read in the Bible. The sixty-six books of the Bible offer countless prayers for ourselves and our loved ones.
If you can, try to have a reading plan that gets you all the way through the Bible in a year. But don’t force it. Be open to the Spirit’s guidance on what to read.
Praying the Psalms never gets old. My life and the lives of those I love have been greatly impacted because of the powerful pinpoint prayers I’ve been able to pray from the Psalms. When you read the Bible, look for statements of what you want to be true in your life.
Read with your spiritual eyes open. As you read through the verses of a particular chapter, don’t be in a hurry. The goal is not just to get to the end. You’re looking for treasure. You’re looking for verses that jump off the page. You’re looking for promises that connect with your passions.
As you read, listen for the gentle nudge of God’s Holy Spirit. Ask him to speak to you through the text. Occasionally you’ll hear him say, “I want to do this in you,” or, “You need to pray this verse for your life.” So right then, stop and write your initials next to that verse. Then, every time you read that chapter or open your Bible to that page, you’ll be reminded to pray God’s Word back to him.
My Bible has become more than my prayer guide; it’s my prayer script. I never have to worry about what I’m going to say to God about a certain subject. The answer is always right there in his Word.
