“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Colossians 3:16).

Evoking the word of God into your prayers evokes His power into your life. Praying God’s word will strengthen your prayer life, give you greater confidence in His abilities, and will fortify and bind His word in your heart.

A few ways to pray scripture are as follows:

Pray prayers from the Bible: Praying like God’s children from the Bible is one way you can pray scripture. The Bible is full of prayers like: The Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13), David’s prayer for deliverance (Psalm 3), Jonah’s prayer for salvation (Jonah 2:2-9), Hannah’s prayer of praise (I Samuel 2:1-10), Moses’ prayer for favor (Exodus 33:13), and Paul’s prayer for believers (Philippians 1:9-11). Spend some time and do a search of your own.

Pray by Topic: Find scripture related to a given topic that you may be struggling with. For example, if you are struggling with fear, you may research varying scriptural texts that address the topic of fear and pray those scriptures over your fears.

Personalize and adapt the prayers to suit your current situation. Make it personal. Study the context of the particular passage or text to understand what the writer was experiencing or feeling. Find ways to relate to the passage. Then make the prayer your own.

Here’s an example of a Scriptural Prayer:

Dear Father, I pray for Your power because I am weak. I have no might, so I am asking You to please increase and be my strength (Isaiah 40:29). You are my portion, Oh God, therefore I put all of my hope in You (Lamentations 3:24). It’s only by Your mercy that I am not consumed (v. 22). Your compassion towards me fail not, as a matter of fact, they are new every morning. Oh how great is Your faithfulness (v. 23).