Praying to God in His Own Words

Posted on Jun 11, 2020 Topic : Inspirational/Devotional, Men's Christian Living, Women's Christian Living

Toward the end of our church planting endeavor in Southern France, I traveled back to the States to speak at a writers’ conference. There, I signed up to have Brandilyn Collins—a fellow writer known for her astute prayers and keen insights—pray for me. My family had endured nearly every possible spiritual attack while on the mission field—relational, financial, spiritual—and my heart had sunk into weariness.

She began by praying according to Scripture. She would quote or read a verse, then pray its contents over me. While I had prayed for many years up until that point, her prayer for me intrigued me. It became the seed of the first book in my devotional series for Harvest House, titled Jesus Every Day, and then the impetus for my daily podcast Pray Every Day, where I pray for people around the world according to Scripture.

As she sought God on my behalf, she sensed God would soon deliver us from the home we were living in. I attributed her instinct to the fact that we were looking at another home, a larger one that would suit our family. Perhaps in this new home, we would be able to shelter ourselves from the very present trauma and the continued onslaught of spiritual warfare.

I came back to France with that hunch of promise tucked into my heart as well as a new direction to pray—to read Scripture, then pray its words back to the Lord as stress overwhelmed me.

Two and a half months after my friend’s prayer, we were delivered from our little French house, but not in the way I expected. We did not get the approval to rent the new house, and my husband was offered a job stateside. Since our children were not flourishing in our situation, and after much prayer, we decided to return to the States and rebuild.

That was thirteen years ago. In the aftermath, God has reestablished us, healed us from many traumas, and set our feet upon a rock, making our footsteps firm. The lessons we learned in France are the soil that sprouted nearly every book I’ve written.

This month I release a devotional in the Every Day series that is so close to my heart. It’s appropriately titled Pray Every Day (like the podcast), and, in it, I look at nearly every prayer prayed in the Bible. What a treasure those prayers were to me as I researched them, then prayed them. If you’re languishing in your prayer life, I believe this new book will encourage you, teaching you how to do just as my friend Brandilyn did for me—to pray according to Scripture.