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I’m gonna make a bold statement: If you take a step of faith and learn to pray the Bible regularly it will be one of the most transformative practices in your walk with God. I’ve found that to be true in my own life, so I’m going to teach you three simple ways you can make praying God’s Word a meaningful habit in your life too.

8 Reasons You Should Pray the Bible

Before we jump into practically pray the Bible, let’s cast some vision as to why you should pray the Bible. Here’s what I’ve learned from Bible teachers in my life and from my own experience praying God’s Word.

1. It will help you in conversation and connection with God.
2. It will help you pray things you may not have thought to pray about otherwise.
3. It will give you language when you don’t know how to express your prayers.
4. It will help you make specific requests in your prayers.
5. It will keep you from being repetitive in your prayers.
6. It will keep your mind from wandering during prayer.
7. It will help you pray prayers that are biblically sound and agree with God’s will.
8. It will help you meditate on and memorize Scripture.

Convinced? Awesome! Let’s dive in.

3 Ways to Pray the Bible

1. Pray through your daily Bible reading.

Here’s the method I use in my devotion times. I adapted my own version based Donald Whitney’s teaching in his book, Praying The Bible and Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, and teachings I’ve heard over the years from John Piper and other Bible teachers.

The Scriptures are generally teaching us information from three main categories or themes: God’s Nature, Truths To Believe, or How to Live. As you come across phrases in the Bible passage from one of those three themes, pause and pray it back to God using the prayer prompts below as a starting point.

Donald Whitney gives great advice on praying verses of Scripture. When you feel like you’ve prayed everything on your heart from a verse, move on to the next one. If there’s nothing to pray in a verse or you don’t understand what a verse means at that moment, just skip it and go to the next verse.

Every Bible passage may not have all these categories in it and that’s okay; it depends on the content of what you’re reading. But these prompts will give you hints of what themes to look for and how you might pray them. Here’s how I approach this in my life, and I would encourage you to remember these two key words about how to pray a Bible verse–agree and ask. I agree with the truth in that verse, ask God to do something based on the truth of that verse, and then pray whatever else I’m prompted to pray as I reflect on that verse.

> God’s Nature (God’s character, His emotions, and His actions)

• Thank and praise God for that attribute of His character and ask Him for more understanding.
• Pray the verse over any relevant personal or intercessory prayer needs that come to mind.
• Pray whatever else comes to mind as you read and meditate on that verse.

Examples of God’s Nature: Merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry (Psalm 145:8). The Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth (Ephesians 3:15).

> Truths to Believe (theological truths, promises from God, words of encouragement)

• Thank God for the truth and ask Him for more understanding.
• Pray the verse over any relevant personal or intercessory prayer needs that come to mind.
• Pray whatever else comes to mind as you read and meditate on that verse.

Examples of Truths: He will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory (Philippians 4:19). He will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5).

> How to Live (commands/exhortations to obey, sins to avoid)

• Commit to obey that command. Confess sin if needed. Ask God for help to obey it (to give you wisdom and power to walk it out).
• Pray the verse over any relevant personal or intercessory prayer needs that come to mind.
• Pray whatever else comes to mind as you read and meditate on that verse.

Examples of Commands: Pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Encourage each other and build each other up (1 Thessalonians 5:11). Let no corrupt word come from your mouth (Ephesians 4:29). Be strong and courageous (Joshua 1:9).

I want to encourage you not to rush this process. Go slowly; take time to linger in God’s presence and connect with Him. It’s okay if you don’t pray through the whole passage. Do what God leads and what you have time for. As you pray, take time to listen for what God may be speaking back to you. Briefly journal phrases you hear from God or sentences you pray that you want to remember.

This process works really well with the New Testament letters and Psalms. If you’re reading a narrative portion of Scripture (like Acts, the Gospels, or the Old Testament stories) you’ll likely need to read the entire story in the passage, grasp the main idea, and then pray based on the main idea.

2. Pray the Bible over your prayer list and in prayer meetings.

Just like you can pray Bible truths over personal and intercessory prayer requests during your daily Bible reading, you can pray Scripture in prayer times outside of your Bible reading time as well. Praying the Bible in your devotional reading time is actually a great way to get familiar with Scripture and start hiding God’s Word in your heart so He can bring it to mind in your other prayer times.

You can do this praying over needs on your personal prayer list, when you’re praying over another believer in a time of fellowship or prayer ministry, or praying out loud in a prayer meeting or church service. When you’re praying for a particular person, need, or topic, pray Bible verses that relate to that prayer request. Let the truth of Scripture inform what you are asking God to do in those situations and how you express your prayer to God. 

***If you want to learn more about praying the Bible in prayers of petition and intercession in private devotion times or corporate prayer gatherings:

• Read my blogs How To Get Better At Prayer  and Does Prayer Really Change Things to learn how to make a prayer list
• Download my free guide How to Pray the New Testament Prayers for a list of Scripture passages and tips how to pray them over different topics

This doesn’t mean you can only pray Scripture verbatim (although you can) or that you can’t honestly pour out your heart to God in prayer. It’s simply using the words of Scripture to ground your prayers in truth and to help give you language to express your requests to God. 

3. Pray the psalm of the day.

The psalms are a great resource for prayer because they’re the songs and prayers of God’s people, Israel, that were recorded in Scripture. The psalms speak to every type of need, situation, and emotion. In this blog post and in his book, Praying the Bible, Donald S. Whitney explains the psalm of the day method.

There are five psalms assigned to each day of the month. You take a few minutes to skim the five psalms and then choose one of them to pray through that day. You can apply the same prayer prompts in tip #1 to praying the psalms or–as Donald Whitney suggests–simply pray whatever comes to mind as you read each verse. Here’s a free download of the Psalm of the Day Prayer Guide that you can keep in your Bible.

Talk to God Using the Bible

Isn’t it amazing that we get to talk God and He enjoys conversation with us?! (Psalm 27:8) Even further, God hears and answers us when we pray for things that agree with His Word and will. So boldly step into personal conversation with God in prayer. Bring the promises of His Word before Him and ask Him to move. I hope you feel inspired and equipped to start praying the Word!

Let’s Talk: What has your experience been with praying Scripture? If this is new for you, which of these tips are you most excited to try? Discuss this post in the comments below.