BY CLIFTON JONES
The concept of praying the Word, is not by any means new. It has been neglected in many circles. Praying according to the word is simply discovering God’s promises and lifting them up before Him in prayer.
He doesn’t need to be reminded, it is our faith that needs to be raised to reach His requirement. God’s will is already settled in heaven, Psalms 119:89 “For ever, 0 LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.”
The more we know about the reliability of the one whom we pray to, the more assurance we should have in receiving an answer. We should know that our God cannot lie.
Titus 1:2 “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;”
Any thing that our God promises, He is able to perform.
The question he asked Abraham comes into play anytime you have a difficult challenge.
Genesis 18:14 “Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.”
There is nothing God cannot do, the question is always, “Can I believe Him to do it for me.” His credentials for not changing are incredible.
Hebrews 6:17,18 ‘Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Consequently, to focus your prayer upon His word is to get the approval of heaven and an answer according to his will.”
There is absolutely nothing that feeds your faith like God’s word. When you rest upon what is written, it gives you confidence. The kind of confidence you receive from knowing what God’s word has said will do
more for your praying than anything else.
I John 5:14,15 “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the
petitions that we desired of him.”
Daniel was a typical example of praying in agreement with God’s word. In Daniel 6: 1 0, he stood on the prayer that Solomon had prayed in I Kings 8:46-48:
“If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near; Yet
if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness; And so return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, which led them away captive, and pray unto thee toward their land,
which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name:”
Daniel met all the qualifications. He had been taken captive. And according to the promise, he opened his window and looked toward the Holy city. He not only prayed, but he stood on what was written, and
acted with confidence believing God would answer. Anytime you can find a specific promise from God’s word your faith has something to stand on.
When faith stands on the word of God it never stands alone.
Since faith is of God it will attract His presence, and that means everything He is, will be there to sustain you.
When King Hezekiah was threatened by Sennacherib, he took the letter into the house of God, laid it out before the Lord, and addressed Him according to His word;
Isaiah 37:16 “O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven and earth. He presented Sinnacherib’s
indictment to the living God;”
Isaiah 37:17 “Incline thine ear, 0 LORD, and hear; open thine eyes, 0 LORD, and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the living God.” The Lord said in.”
Jeremiah 1:12 “Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.”
Again praying in agreement with God’s word, stabilizes your faith. King Jehoshaphat found himself surrounded and grossly outnumbered by an enemy army. Nevertheless, he refused to surrender in spirit or in person. Instead, he prayed according to God’s promises.
II Chronicles 20:5-9 “And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court, And said, 0 LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? And
rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? And in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee? Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever? And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying, If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name is in this
house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help.”
This promise package was sufficient for him to deposit his faith, hope and future into it. Never feel that holding God’s word up before Him compels Him to do what He is unwilling to do nor can you hold God
captive by quoting His word. However, the closest you can get to knowing that you are praying according to the will of God is to pray His word.
The prophet Elijah understood well, that praying according to God’s word gets God involved. After he called the people together, he took the stones, built the altar in the name of the Lord, put the wood in
order, and proceeded to act in harmony with God’s word. He then prayed in line with the word.
I Kings 18.36,37 “And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day
that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. Hear me, 0 LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.”
We need to learn from the following examples, then fill our hearts with the promises of God, and claim them for our very own.
Genesis 32:9 “And Jacob said, 0 God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the LORD which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee:”
Genesis 32:10-12 “I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands.
Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children. And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and
make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.”
Psalms 19:7 “The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.”
Psalms 34:1 0 “The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.” Psalms 34:15 “The yes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.”
Psalms 34:17 “The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.”
Psalms 34:19 “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.”
Psalms 37:23-25 “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand. I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.”
Psalms 119:105 “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”
Psalms 119:130 “The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.”
Proverbs 6:23 “For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:” Isaiah 41:10 “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will
strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”
Isaiah 54:17 “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their
righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.”
Daniel 9:3,4 “And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, 0 Lord, the
great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;”
Ephesians 1:15-19 “Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; That the God of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,”
Ephesians 3:14-16 “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory,
to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;”
I John 5:14,15 “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.”
John 15:7 “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” Habakkuk 3:17-19 “Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither [shall] fruit [be] in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and [there shall be] no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God [is] my strength, and he will make my feet Re hinds’ [feet], and he will make me to walk
upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.”
Prayer is somewhat like an airplane; it must have somewhere from which to take off and to land. The Word of God provides pray-ers with the platform for launching into, and landing from the flight of prayer.
ONE OF THE GREAT BLESSINGS OF PRAYING THE WORD, IS THAT IT WILL CAUSE YOU TO LOVE THE WORD.
The more time you spend in His word, the more like His word you become.
Psalms 37:4 “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”
God’s word in your heart gives you a God-like heart. This makes fellowship sweeter and coming into His presence easier. This is called ministering to the Lord, not asking only, but also appreciating, adoring, worshipping, and exalting Him. Just allow the spirit to flow freely in you. May I say, short prayers do not allow this kind of fellowship. Occasional praying can never produce this kind, and selfish praying is a perfect stranger to this kind of praying. Only time can develop this kind of relationship. Say in your heart, “God said it, therefore I will pray it.”
THE ABOVE MATERIAL WAS TAKEN FROM PRAYER CLINIC II, 1990, PAGES 95-101. THIS MATERIAL IS COPYRIGHTED AND MAY BE USED FOR STUDY & RESEARCH PURPOSES ONLY.
