Paul Bankson
“And as for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the LORD: “My Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children’s offspring,” says the LORD, “from this time forth and forevermore.” Isaiah 59:21
One of the things I try to do in my personal prayer time is to use Scripture to shape the content and language of my prayers. One such Scripture I try to pray most days is the passage above from Isaiah. I suppose it has taken on even more special meaning with the coming of a grandson. I pray that God’s Word and His gospel would take root in the lives of my children, their spouses (current and future), and their children.
This passage not only encourages me how to pray it simply offers encouragement. It is part of God’s covenant promise. The fact that God relates to us and deals with us in a covenantal way is one of the most helpful things in all of the Bible. Understanding this Biblical truth is of immense blessing.
I encourage you to use the Bible to shape the content of your prayer life as well. Really, most any passage can be used for prayer. Perhaps you ask God to convict you of a sin described or to work a particular grace into your life that is called for in Scripture? The Psalms are tremendous helps to a prayer life. They give us the language of lament as well as praise. In essence, when we pray the Bible we are praying God’s words back to Him.
Let the Bible be your prayer book. Let it guide you in how to pray and what to pray. Not only can the Lord’s Prayer, as we often call it, be a model prayer for us but in many ways the whole of Scripture can guide us. I think you’ll find a refreshed prayer life as you use God’s Word in prayer.