Highlight: Praying the scriptures

One of the ways that we can experience the power of prayer is by applying God’s word to it. Scotty Smith describes what it means to incorporate scriptures into our daily prayer life with an example of a prayer that he wrote in the midst of the 2016 Presidential Debates.

“In the midst of this very chaotic, confusing, election year that we’re apart of we should move our hearts heavenward.”

He used the book of Philippians as the basis for this prayer.

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” Philippians 4:6

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.

“Heavenly Father, thank you for catching every care we cast in your direction; taking every burden we offload onto your heart; and for welcoming every worry we leave it at your throne of grace.”

Tell God what you need.

“You know our needs better than we do but here are a couple that stand out: We need to know that You are at work in our country and we need Your spirit to fill our hearts with the fresh sighting of Jesus. After witnessing something more akin to a debacle last night than a debate, our hearts are heavy, sad and greatly concerned. All the rancor and contempt are wearing us out Father.”

Thank Him for all He has done.

“Thank you for what you’ve already done. Thank you for what you’ve done for us in Jesus. You’ve given Him to be our righteousness, holiness and redemption; and our loving Bridegroom, constant advocate, and returning King. No matter how this election plays out, we can say with confidence, Jesus is LORD!”

Scotty reminds us that praying God’s word back to Him will not only increase our prayer life, but allows us to stay focused on the Word of God and His promises for our lives.

“We live in a real world with real concerns and God’s word is so relevant. To pray back to Him what He says to us keeps us on track; we don’t wander into the wilderness of just not knowing the good news that can shape how we worship, how we pray, and even what we do with our worries.”


Scotty Smith is founding pastor of Christ Community Church in Franklin, Tennessee. He is now a teacher in residence at West End Community Church in Nashville, a daughter church of CCC. He is the author of several books including Unveiled Hope with Michael Card, and Restoring Broken Things with Steven Curtis Chapman.

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