Use the Best Prayer Book

"A change came when I learned to use the Scriptures as a prayer book, and to turn what I read, especially the Psalms, into prayer," J. Oswald Sanders said telling of a lasting transformation in his prayer life. God promises, "I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled" (Jeremiah 1:12). I've written that promise at the top of a sheet of typed Scriptures that I like to pray.

Because God personally sees that His Word will be fulfilled, why not use His Word in our prayers? We can reverently quote it back to Him, confident that His Word always achieves what He has purposed.

I've been delighted to discover a literal fulfillment of some of the verses I have prayed. One person asked me to pray Paul's prayer for Philemon: "I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith" (Philemon 6). After I began regularly praying that prayer, he told me of remarkable opportunities to witness-one time to nearly 70 people in one setting.

At times, it seems that Spirit-inspired Words take us into His presence quickly and easily. When we feel too distressed or too distracted to find the right words to take to God, we can open our Bibles and find it marvelously satisfying to call to Him using His own words.

I praise You, Lord, because the Word cannot fail to accomplish what You send it to do.

"I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished" (Matthew 5:18).