Praying the Bible

by Donald S. Whitney

There are some people who seem to have a gift for prayer.  They don’t have any problems keeping focused or keeping their requests fresh.  These people enjoy their times of prayer with the Lord.  It’s like they are having an enriching conversation with a dear friend. There are other people, like me, who find prayer to be challenging at times.  Some might even call their prayer lives “boring.”

In the book Praying the Bible, Donald Whitney attacks the problem of a boring prayer life head on.  He acknowledges the fact that prayer is a struggle for so many people.  He then presents a solution.  This solution is something that all Christians have – the Word and the Spirit.  Essentially, he urges that we pray the Word of God directed by the Spirit of God.  He then provides multiple examples of what that might look like as people pray for themselves or for others.  He carefully and thoughtfully outlines the method of praying Scripture and then proceeds to explain how that can be done using the Psalms primarily and then also other parts of the Bible.

Regarding praying the Psalms, Whitney included in the book a chart that helps to guide how one can systematically pray through the Psalms by choosing a Psalm based on the day of the month.  He then urges that you read/pray each verse of the Psalm – continuing until either the Psalm is finished or your allotted time is up. By way of example, as I write this, it’s the 12th of March.  In my time of prayer this morning I skimmed Psalm 12, 42, 72, 102, 132.  The first Psalm relates to the day of the month.  Each subsequent Psalm that I considered was in included in the list because they are 30 away from the number before them (I’ve included a chart below that explains this method).  I ended up sticking with praying through Psalm 12.

As someone who has struggled with prayer, I found this to be an encouraging and challenging read.  Over the last few days I have tried to put this into practice.  It’s certainly still a work in progress, but I have found that prayers take on a clearer direction.  For example, as I prayed through Psalm 12 this morning, I came across the verse “May the Lord cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that makes great boasts…” (verse 3).  In meditating on that I prayed for some of the people on my list who are surrounded by people who perpetuate falsehood, praying and asking God to remove the lies and grant discernment that these people might be able to discern the truth from fiction.

If prayer is a struggle for you like it is for me, then I’d love to encourage you to consider this little book.  It won’t take a long time to read.  It also won’t take a long time to put into practice.

If you decide to put some of this into practice, please share a testimony in the comments below, so that others might be able to benefit.

Your brother in Christ,

Joel

 

Adapted from Appendix 1 of the book (pgs. 91-92)

“Psalms of the Day” Chart

When the day of the month is… The Psalms of the Day are…
1 1; 31; 61; 91; 121
2 2; 32; 62; 92; 122
3 3; 33; 63; 93; 123
4 4; 34; 64; 94; 124
5 5; 35; 65; 95; 125
6 6; 36; 66; 96; 126
7 7; 37; 67; 97; 127
8 8; 38; 68; 98; 128
9 9; 39; 69; 99; 129
10 10; 40; 70; 100; 130
11 11; 41; 71; 101; 131
12 12; 42; 72; 102; 132
13 13; 43; 73; 103; 133
14 14; 44; 74; 104; 134
15 15; 45; 75; 105; 135
16 16; 46; 76; 106; 136
17 17; 47; 77; 107; 137
18 18; 48; 78; 108; 138
19 19; 49; 79; 109; 139
20 20; 50; 80; 110; 140
21 21; 51; 81; 111; 141
22 22; 52; 82; 112; 142
23 23; 53; 83; 113; 1
24 24; 54; 84; 114; 144
25 25; 55; 85; 115; 145
26 26; 56; 86; 116; 146
27 27; 57; 87; 117; 147
28 28; 58; 88; 118; 148
29 29; 59; 89; 119; 149
30 30; 60; 90; 120; 150
31 119
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