How often do you use God’s word in Prayer?
God’s Word has an essential role in all aspects of your prayer life. Your communion with God will be based on and include much communion through the Word. Your praise must of necessity make much use of Scripture as you praise the Lord. Whatever time you spend on your devotional life, surely about half will be spent reading and feeding on God’s Word.
A major reason for weak prayer lives is a neglect of God’s Word.
This word present us with another piece of the Christian’s panoply—a helmet to cover his head in the day of battle—THE HELMET OF SALVATION.(Ephesians 6:17). The word of God is both defensive against fiery darts of your enemy and offensive to wound your enemy too. It’s a killing sword; does not only keep and restrain you from yielding to the force of temptations, but also kills and mortifies your lusts, and this makes the victory complete.
GOD'S WORD IS BASIC TO A CHRISTIAN LIFE OF PRAYER.
The God who hears prayer is the God of the Bible. Prayer and the Word are interrelated. Praying people love God’s Word, and those who love God’s Word long to pray and love to pray. When you feed on God’s Word, you will repeatedly find that your reading becomes prayer. You will be so blessed by the Word that as you read you begin to love the Lord, to thank and praise Him, to ask the Lord to apply the Word to your heart and fulfill it in your life, or to ask Him to fulfill a particular promise for you. The Word flows into prayer again and again almost before you realize it.
The more constantly you feed on the Word, the richer and deeper your life of prayer becomes. The Word of God is the food that makes you strong to pray. Jesus defeated Satan by pointing to the essential role of the Word. “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4).
God’s Word nourishes your prayer, strengthens your prayer, and warms your heart and fires your spirit as you pray. You cannot have a strong spiritual life apart from constant feeding upon and assimilating God’s Word. Spiritual growth depends upon daily spiritual food. Earnest, even forceful praying, if not nourished on God’s Word, may be weak and flabby.
“Little of the Word with little prayer is death to the spiritual life. Much of the Word with little prayer gives a sickly life. Much prayer with little of the Word gives more life, but without steadfastness. A full measure of the Word and prayer each day gives a healthy and powerful life.”(Andrew Murray)
Power in the use of the Word depends on the prayer life. Power in prayer depends on the use of the Word. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Word and the Spirit of prayer. Both prayer and the Word thus are centered in God. God reveals His heart in the Word. You reveal your heart to Him in prayer. He gives Himself to you in His Word. You give yourself to Him in prayer. In the Word He comes to your side and lives with you. In prayer you ascend to His throne and sit with Christ.
Prayer depends on the Word of God. It is built upon the message, truth, and power of the whole of Scripture. Prayer absorbs the power of the Word and incorporates all its vision, urgency, and force into its prevailing. Jesus promised, “If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to My Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be My disciples” (John 15:7-8).
(Above outline quoted by Wesley L. Duewel)
Spiritual power for prayer warfare is inseparable from constant feeding on the Word, on massive incorporation of the Word into your spiritual life. It may be commended to let us know that the Christian, when advanced to the highest attainments of grace possible in this life, is not above the use of the word; no, cannot be safe without it. When girded with sincerity—his plate of righteousness on his breast, the shield of faith in his hand, and the helmet of hope covering his head, that his salvation is out of doubt to him at present; yet even then he must take the sword of the Spirit, which is word of God. And as God is the only holy person, so the Scripture is the only holy book
Let us be thankful to God for the word and furnishing us with this sword for our defense. Let us study the word, so that we may make use of this weapon to defend ourselves against the many potent enemies that are in the field against us.
‘Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me,’ Ps.119:133
GO TO GOD IN PRAYER FOR A KEY TO UNLOCK THE MYSTERIES OF HIS WORD.
God Bless You.
James Dina
jodina5@gmail.com
