If you are struggling to find ways to pray, turn to the Bible for the words to say – it is your prayer book! Hide the Word of God in your heart, and it will become your companion through the long watches of the night.
Sign up for the Bible reading plan here.
I’m Joni Eareckson Tada with an unusual way to pray.
Recently I received an email from Holly Drake, a listener who struggles with sleeplessness. It piqued my interest because I also have a hard time sleeping, due to pain. And like Holly, I use those hours to pray for others, to quote God’s Word as a way of worshipping, maybe quietly singing hymns. But Holly takes it a step further. She wrote this; she says, “Joni, I use Bible passages that I’ve stored up in my heart as a way of reflecting on God during long hours of sleeplessness, and I think it’s wonderful that you do the same. One of the ways I enrich that time is to recite the Scriptures as written. And then, to recite the same Scripture as if God [were] speaking to me personally. Then I say it as a prayer, asking the Holy Spirit to help me believe it and… do it. Then, I recite it back to God as a praise. And I even say it as Satan would want me to believe [it]. And sometimes I will even ask Jesus to help me compose a tune for that Scripture. These are just different ways to meditate.” Now, I thought that was wonderful. So, let me break it down and let’s see what Holly’s talking about.
Okay, first, she recites Scriptures as they’re written. Let’s say, Psalm 16: “Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge; I say to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.’” Well, right there Psalm 16 provides worshipful words to offer up in the middle of the night, right? And when Holly repeats Psalm 16, she asks the Holy Spirit to help her believe it and to follow through on it. But she takes Psalm 16 a step further. She recites it as though God were speaking directly to her. So, she might meditate, saying, “Holly, I am your God and I preserve you. I do this because in me, you take refuge. When you say to me, ‘You are my Lord,’ I believe you. For you acknowledge that you have no good apart from me.’” Wow. Believe me, it’s no stretch of the imagination to recite a Bible verse like that.
And Holly adds that she’ll sometimes ask the Lord to help her compose a tune for that Scripture. And I, frankly, do the same thing. Okay, back to Psalm 16 again. I might sing, “Preserve me oh God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the Lord, you are my Lord.” Setting Scripture to a tune helps you to memorize it. ’Cause music helps the words stick! Our minds can retain words better when they are set to music – proof of that is when you learned your ABCs, right? “ABCD EFG, HIJK LMNOP.” Musical patterns help us retain word patterns, so sing your Scriptures to God.
Finally, Holly says that sometimes she recites Scripture in a way that unmasks the devious schemes of the enemy. Again, she might rephrase Psalm 16 this way, saying, “The devil doesn’t think you can preserve me, O God. But he’s wrong, ’cause you are my refuge, never my enemy. Satan may say that good naturally resides within me, but not so. It’s a lie. I have no good in my heart other than what you have put there, Jesus.” So there you go, friend. Your Bible is your prayer book. So do what Holly does. And what I do, as well. Hide more of the Word of God in your heart and it will be your strong companion in prayer through the watches of the night. And real quickly, one way to hide God’s Word in your heart is to read it and read it often. So, join Ken and me in reading through the Bible next year. Download your personal Bible reading schedule today at joniradio.org. Get into the Word at joniradio.org. Oh, and one more thing – I want to send you a copy of our Joni and Friends newsletter, so just go to joniradio.org.
© Joni and Friends