Praying the Scriptures

Nick Minerva • Jan 25, 2021

Throughout my life, I have had seasons of rich prayer. God was working in my heart and I was seeing answers left and right. Prayer felt as natural and vital as breathing. I have had other seasons when praying felt impossible, in which “rich” is not a word I would’ve used to describe my prayer life. My mind would wander, and answered prayer seemed more like a myth. 

If I were, to be honest, I would have to say my current experience feels more like the second example. With everything that my wife and I are working through I find myself easily distracted and emotionally drained. To intentionally work through this, I have started to use a method of prayer that God has greatly used in my life.

Praying the Scripture

Praying through passages of the Bible, mainly Psalms, has been a method of prayer that has helped me. It helps keep my mind engaged and my heart fixed on Jesus as I pray. Practically speaking it’s pretty simple. You just read a line or verse of Scripture then pray about whatever comes to your mind. The benefits of using this prayer method are numerous, but let me list a few that I have personally experienced. 

 

Praying The Scripture Gives Words to my Heart

 

I am not a poetic guy. I often struggle to find words that express my heartfelt adoration of God. Enter the Psalms. Often my heart will be heavy and praying through a Psalm of lament (like Psalm 13) gives me the words to express what is on my heart. In his fantastic little book, Praying the Bible, Donald S. Whitney said  “So basically what you are doing is taking words that originated in the heart and mind of God and circulating them through your heart and mind back to God. By this means his words become the wings of your prayers.”  (Whitney, Donald S.. Praying the Bible (p. 32). Crossway. Kindle Edition.)

 


Praying The Scripture Has Led Me To Pray About Different Things 

 

Praying through passages of Scripture has often led me to pray about things that are not right in front of me, but still need prayer. The other day I was praying through Psalm 53 and verse four says  “Will evildoers never understand? They consume my people as they consume bread; they do not call on God.”  This verse brought to my mind all of the people who are exploited, consumed, and persecuted and how desperately they need our prayer. So I prayed through prayer guides from the Central Valley Justice Coalition (they work to end human trafficking in the Central Valley) and Remember (an organization that works with persecuted Christians around the world.)

 


Praying The Scripture Has Led Me To Pray Differently About The Same Things

 

There are many needs I am confronted with (like the salvation of my children) that I pray for regularly. When we have regular things that we (rightly) pray a lot about, our prayer often sounds like we are reading God our spiritual grocery list and we become unmotivated to pray. But praying for the same thing in new ways can make your prayers come more alive. Psalm 145 was again helpful in praying for this oft-repeated request in a new way. Verse four says  “One generation will declare your works to the next and will proclaim your mighty acts.”   So I prayed that I would faithfully declare God’s saving work to my children and they would call upon his name to save them. 

 


Praying The Scripture Has Helped Me Pray About Sin

 

In many Psalms, the writer is praying for victory in a physical battle. Ephesians 6:12 tells us we no longer wrestle with flesh and blood. So when I pray through a Psalm that asks for victory in a physical battle I pray for victory in a spiritual battle. When I read psalms like 68:21 that say  “Surely God crushes the heads of my enemies”  I ask that God would crush the head of my apathy. 

It’s important to remember that while we are praying through passages of Scripture we are not necessarily claiming Scriptures as promises that are not promises. We are simply using the language of the Bible to bring things to mind and inform how we pray. This is not a magic formula to get more answers to prayer. If you commit to praying this way, you will probably experience answers to prayer, but that’s because you are praying, not because using the language of the Bible unlocks an extra door in the floor of heaven. The primary goal of praying through Psalms is PRAYING, not Bible interpretation. (I am in no way downplaying proper Bible interpretation. That is 100% vital.) If something comes to your mind as you are praying through a Psalm that has nothing to do with the historical and grammatical context of that Psalm, it’s perfectly right to pray for it. Donald Whitney has another very helpful illustration of this in his book. Psalm 23:3 says  “He renews my life…”  The context of this is talking about renewal for a believer. But if God brings to your mind a lost person, it would be perfectly right to pray that God renews their spiritual life from life to death. 

Praying the Psalms has been one of the most transformative things I have done. If you would like to learn more about it, I can’t recommend  Praying the Bible  by Donald Whitney enough. If you feel stuck in your prayer life, or don’t even really have a prayer life, this is a great place to start. Just click the link and you can get a copy of it. He also has put together a helpful guide that breaks up the book of Psalms over one month. You can check that out here. 

A Creed To Remind The Gathered Church Of Its New Life In Christ

By Nick Minerva • 14 Jul, 2023
When I was pastoring I wanted to read a blessing over the church that would remind all of us of our new life in Christ. So I wrote this new life creed and every week I would read it and remind us of what Christ had done for us. We gather together as believers professing our great need We acknowledge that we have fallen short We confess that we are rebels who have gone our own way Apart from Christ, we stand condemned, guilty, and unable to save ourselves But what we are incapable of doing, God did In his infinite love, God made a way of salvation for all who would believe Jesus willingly laid down his life and received the just punishment we deserve So that could walk in new life So yes, we confess our great need We humbly recognize that apart from Christ we are incapable of any good thing But we also proclaim that because of the finished work of the cross we will never be apart from Christ We are forever secure in the love of the Father We have been sealed by the Holy Spirit All because of the sacrifice of the Son, Jesus Christ. We are no longer in bondage to sin We are no longer facing righteous wrath We have been declared holy by our King And nothing on heaven or earth will change that reality This gathering is a testimony to our redeemed state We pursue holy living to be an authentic demonstration of the love we have for Christ We believe that we have been empowered by grace to meet our every need And we gladly anticipate the complete fulfillment of our adaption and the remaking of this world at the coming of our Lord To Christ be glory forever and ever Amen

A Praying Church: A Book Review

By Nick Minerva • 23 May, 2023
Prayer is one of those topics that always seems to convict me. I have never heard a sermon or read a book on prayer and not been challenged. Even as I am writing this review there is a bit of imposter syndrome because I know I should pray more. In A Praying Church , Paul Miller writes about how to become a people of hope in a discouraging world through prayer. And he does so in a way that was very authentic and accessible. While I was consistently challenged, I was also consistently encouraged. Throughout the book, he takes you on his journey of developing a personal prayer life plus countless stories of ministries that developed communal prayer as a vital component of their life together. One thing that struck home with me throughout these stories was the reality that prayer always grows out of desperation for God. There were several things that I found very helpful in this book. One of them was the connection between a life yielded to the Holy Spirit and a vibrant prayer life. The power to do anything of eternal importance comes from the Holy Spirit and the Spirit moves in response to prayer. Paul shows us a biblical pattern we see throughout the New Testament. Prayer-Spirit-Jesus-power. However, this is not a simple formula to get God to do what you want. Another thing I appreciated about this book is Paul tells us time and again that the Spirit often moves in ways we don’t expect and that almost always includes difficulties. The Spirit enables us to look more like Jesus and that means joining him in the fellowship of his suffering. So this is not a “how to turn God into your personal genie” scheme, like many books on prayer. God often answers in ways we don’t expect and in places we don’t anticipate. This book is also full of practical help. I’ve already mentioned the stories he tells, but Paul also offers several helpful charts, strategies, and ideas to help put into place what he writes about (and lives by.) At the end of each chapter, he has a section called “A Word To Pastors” with a few paragraphs of wisdom to help them become a person of prayer and then lead their congregation to become a church of prayer. This book also made me thankful that I am a part of a church that has sought to grow in corporate prayer over the last few years. This would be a great book for any ministry leader who is burdened with the prayer life of his or her church. But it’s also a great read for any believer seeking to develop their own prayer life. Crossway was kind to send me a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. You can get a copy of it at the affiliate link below.

Non-Toxic Masculinity: A Book Review

By Nick Minerva • 28 Apr, 2023
Let me start this review by saying everyone should read this book. If you've grown up in Evangelicalism, you‘ve no doubt heard of purity culture. For the last several years we have seen the harm that has come as a result of this sub-group of Christianity. In Non-Toxic Masculinity, Zachary Wagner does an excellent job unpacking its teaching and the damage that has come as a result. He explains so well the angst I've been feeling with the movement and how often the Church falls short and winds up doing more damage. But unlike many critiques, this one also points a way forward. We know what toxic male sexuality looks like. We see it in the news and unfortunately, in the Church. But what does healthy male sexuality look like? What does it look like for me? What will it look like for my boys? In my heart, I know what I want it to look like, but so often I struggle to find the right words to express it. Non-Toxic Masculinity paints a healthy picture that is (re)humanizing and ultimately looks like Jesus, who, like all of us, had a sexual body. Zach is also very transparent in this book and God used his transparency to encourage, challenge, and convict me. As you read his story you will no doubt find yourself resonating with him on some level. Every man should read this book for themselves first and foremost. But if you have sons, nephews, grandsons, or young boys in your life, reading it is a must. Non-Toxic Masculinity is a breath of fresh air that will prove to be a tremendous resource for generations. Thank you Zach for writing it and sharing your story to serve us.
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