Session 4
Synopsis
When you pray the Word of God:
- Your mind has a place to focus. Praying Scripture holds your attention because you are looking at and reading the Word as you pray.
- Your prayers will not be repetitious. The Word will prompt you to pray about things you normally wouldn’t think to pray. Your prayers will be richer and more varied as you pray the Word.
- Your prayers will be more God-centered. When your prayers are centered on the Word, they become more focused on God- his character, his ways, his will for you.
- How to Pray the Word
Pray the Word as an outflow of meditation. As you meditate on the implications and applications of God’s Word, your soul, by the work of the Holy Spirit, will be led to confession, praise, thanksgiving, intercession, and petition. As God speaks to you through His Word and you speak to him in response, your prayers will be filled with His words and thoughts.
Pray the Psalms. The Psalms are Spirit-inspired words, given to us by God, for the purpose of speaking and singing them back to God.
How do we pray the Psalms?
- Some Psalms can be prayed verbatim because they are already written as prayers. Psalm 139 is an example of this- “O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.”
- Paraphrase and personalize the Psalm as you pray. For example, Psalm 59 begins “Deliver me from my enemies, O God”. You probably don’t have any enemies seeking to destroy you, like David did. But you can pray to be delivered from the enemy or pray for strength to fight temptations.
- Pray through a Psalm responsively, responding to the truth of the text with praise, confession, or supplication as you are led by the Holy Spirit.
Pray the prayers of Paul. The prayers of Paul will help you to pray God-honoring, spiritually minded prayers for yourself and others.
Quiet Times and Journaling
Quiet times – Spending time with the Lord involves reading the Word, perhaps using Bible study tools, meditating on the Word, and praying in response to the truths of the Word.
Devotional Journaling – Journaling is a means by which you can reflect upon God’s Word by writing out your observations, insights, meditations, and prayers. It can also be a way to document the works and ways of God in your life.
Homework
- Read and Study Chapter 3 of Colossians. Use the reading strategies and bible study tools that we have talked about. Compiling information from the text into lists or a chart might be a helpful tool to use in this chapter. It might also be helpful to look up the definition of words where you are unsure of their meanings.
- Meditate on part or all of the chapter using one of the methods we discussed last week. This chapter is full of instructions so it might be more fruitful to meditate only on the verses that really seem to speak to you.
- Pray as you meditate; responding to the Word with praise, confession, and supplication, as the spirit leads you.
- Try journaling your observations and reflections on Chapter Three.
- Review your memory verse from last week. Start memorizing another verse if you are ready.
*Extra credit: Pray through a Psalm this week or pray Paul’s prayer in chapter one over yourself or a loved one.
Other sessions in this series.
Resources
Books
- Praying the Bible by Donald S. Whitney
- Praying with Paul: A Call to Spiritual Reformation by D.A. Carson
Commentaries
- Captivated by Christ – Seeing Jesus Clearly in the Book of Colossians by Richard Chin
- The MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Colossians and Philemon by John MacArthur
- The Letters to the Colossians and to Philemon by Douglas J. Moo
Resources
- Illuminated Scripture Journal series by Crossway
