Earlier this week we learned about the idea of praying Scripture, which is when we use the words of the Bible to guide our prayers. We used Psalm 30 to practice this, as most of the psalms are already prayers that we can easily apply to our lives today. However, we can also use other parts of Scripture to guide our prayers. In fact, a passage does not even have to be a prayer already for us to use it to pray.

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For example, one of my favorite passages is John 14-18. It’s full of the words of Jesus to his closest friends and followers the night before he went to the cross. You know that, in that moment, he’s going to say some really important things! If I were to choose a chunk of this passage at random, such as John 14:15-18, I could use this passage to guide my prayers too. It says, “If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”

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Here’s what my prayer might look like if I were “praying” this Scripture: Father God, I love you, and I want to keep your commands. Will you strengthen my ability to obey you, by your Spirit? (v. 15) I know that I can’t obey without the strength of the Spirit of truth, my Advocate. (v. 16) I don’t always understand or trust the Spirit, though. Will you grow my listening ear to perceive the Spirit’s counsel? (v. 17) Thank you for never leaving me alone! Help me to trust the Spirit as your presence with me. (v. 18) Thank you, Jesus! Amen.

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Do you see how I allowed each verse and the passage as a whole to give me ideas about what to pray for? I love this practice and encourage you to try it for yourself this morning. Simply choose a favorite passage or verse, or, if you don’t have one, open to this section of John to another bit and try this style of praying. I pray this time and practice blesses you this morning, friends!