Talking with God

 Psalm 144 – a prayer of David

 

How blessed You are, my Lord, my Rock,

for You prepare me for every conflict

and strengthen me to take on whatever comes.

 

You are my fortress – loving and kind,

my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield,

and the One in Whom I take refuge

as You subdue everyone who’s against me.

 

O, Lord, who are we that You

take note of us?

 

What is humankind that You

give us any thought?

 

We’re like a mere breath

with our days like a passing shadow.

 

Come down from Your heavens, O Lord.

Touch the mountains. Flash forth lightning.

 

Scatter Your enemies. Send out arrows

and confuse them.

 

Stretch forth Your hand from on high.

 

Rescue me! Deliver me from deep waters,

from the hands of deceitful people.

I don’t know them or why they do what they do!

 

To You, I’ll sing a new song, O God.

 

With stringed instruments, I’ll sing praises to You –

Savior of leaders,

Rescuer of Your servants.

Rescue me now! Deliver me from the hands

of deceitful people, who behave falsely,

but let our young people be like growing plants,

like beautiful pillars fashioned for a palace.

 

Give us a plentiful harvest with every kind of produce.

Let our flocks multiple and cover our fields.

Let our cattle be healthy and free of mishaps.

Let there be no reason to cry in the streets!

 

How blessed are Your people!

How blessed are those whose God is You, Lord!

From the Book of Bible Prayers – actual prayers of the Bible collected from a variety of translations researched on Bible Gateway then paraphrased into everyday English by Mary Harwell Sayler, ©2019. If you prefer prayers from the King James Version, see the Book of KJV Prayers. 

 

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Moses intercedes for God’s people

During the season of Lent, God’s people often take time to draw closer to the Lord through personal confession and prayer for forgiveness. However, Moses confessed for the hundreds of thousands whom God had asked him to lead out of slavery.

As soon as their leader was out of sight, the people committed the most offensive act against the very God Who had rescued them! When Moses saw what was going on, he mediated for them, confessed their wrong-doing, pleaded with the Lord God on their behalf, and even put his own life on the line, knowing God could be trusted to do what was right.

Exodus 32:31-32 – a prayer of Moses

And Moses returned unto the Lord,

and said, Oh, this people have sinned

a great sin, and have made them gods of gold.

Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin;

and if not, blot me, I pray thee,

out of thy book which thou hast written.

From the Book of KJV Prayers - actual prayers from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV) collected by Mary Harwell Sayler, ©2019 

Exodus 32:31-32 – a prayer of Moses

(Now I see)

what terrible sins

these people have committed!

They have fashioned themselves

gods of gold!

Oh, Lord, please forgive them!

And, if that just is not possible,

please take me off Your list!

From the Book of Bible Prayers – actual prayers of the Bible collected from a variety of translations and paraphrased into everyday English by Mary Harwell Sayler, ©2019

Today, praise God, we have Jesus Christ to intercede for us and reconcile us to our Heavenly Father and His.

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Praying Bible prayers and Bible promises

For several years, the Bible Prayers blog has focused on actual prayers in the Bible – prayers that have been prayer-a-phrased (prayerfully paraphrased) into contemporary language after comparing many of the translations found in my home and also on the Bible Gateway website.

If you’ve followed this blog (thank you very much and God bless you!) you’ve probably noticed long gaps between posts, which I pray will be only temporary.

Meanwhile, I’ve been collecting and paraphrasing Bible prayers for a book, which, Lord willing, will soon be available because I believe so strongly in its importance – first as a means of providing an up-to-date version of actual Bible prayers in one easy-to-read book - and also because praying those prayers means we automatically have prayer partners from the past, present, or future, who agree with us in prayer as two or more of us gather in Jesus’ Name.

In addition to that goal, a thought recently came to remind me that powerful, timeless, and relevant prayers are also available as we appropriately claim God’s promises in the Bible. Lord willing, this blog will soon include those prayers too.

For example, consider Psalm 119:165 in the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible: “Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.” Or, according to the Amplified Bible (AMP), “Those who love Your law have great peace; Nothing makes them stumble.” Or, the Contemporary English Version (CEV) says, “You give peace of mind to all who love your Law. Nothing can make them fall.”

With those translations and others in mind, a prayer that claims this biblical promise might go like this:

Oh, Lord, we praise You for Your encouraging Word to us through scripture. Thank You for promising to give us great peace of mind if we take Your will to heart, mind, and spirit. Thank You for showing us Your will in the instructions and commandments You’ve given us in the Bible. Praise You for the guidance of Your Holy Spirit, for the strength of Your Word, and for Jesus Christ, Who keeps us from falling away from You. In His Name we pray, amen.

Mary Sayler, ©2019

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Nehemiah’s Prayer is surely ours

“Great Lord, God of heaven,
Who inspires us to awe,

You always keep Your Word,
Your love, Your promises
with mercy shown
to those who love and obey You.

So now I ask You to open Your eyes,
Your ears to this prayer as I pray -
night and day - for Your servants,
Your children.

Lord, I confess we have sinned
against You,
and so have those before us.

How greatly we have wronged You!

We have failed to obey
Your commandments and laws given
to us through Your servant Moses.
But, Lord, do You remember what
You told us back then? You said,

‘If you are not faithful to Me,
I will scatter you among the nations.

But if you return to Me
and obey My commands - even
if you are as far away as you can go -

I will come and get you.

I will bring you to the place I have chosen
for My Name’.”

Nehemiah 1:5-9

as prayer-a-phrased by Mary Sayler after reading various translations on Bible Gateway

©2018

Praying for Christ to be glorified in you!

And so, with the Apostle Paul:

we’re always praying
for God to make you worthy of His calling,
fulfilling every good purpose
and every work of faith
by His power.

And then, the Name
of Jesus Christ our Lord
will be glorified in you –
and you in Him,
by the grace of God and Christ Jesus.


Mary Harwell Sayler, ©2018, prayer-a-phrased 2 Thessalonians 11-12 using scriptures from various translations provided by Bible Gateway.

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Praying triumphantly with Psalm 20

May the Lord answer us
in times of trouble and distress.

May the Name of the God of Jacob
protect us.

May the Lord send help from His holy place
and sustain us from on high.

May the Lord remember
and graciously accept
all we have to offer.

May He give us the desires of our heart
and fulfill our plans and life purpose.

Let’s sing a song of triumph
and raise our flag in the name of our God!

May the Lord fulfill our requests.

Now this is what we can know for sure:
the Lord gives victory to His anointed.
The Lord answers from a place of holiness
with success in hand.

Some depend on war machines
and others on horses,
but we rely on the Name of the Lord our God.
They collapse and fall,
but we rise and firmly stand.

Give success to our leaders, O Lord.
Answer us on the day we call.

Mary Harwell Sayler, ©2018, prayer-a-phrased today’s Psalm reading in the ecumenical Revised Common Lectionary, with the help of many translations on Bible Gateway.

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Getting grounded in the love of God

I’m asking God to gift us
the riches of His glory,
so we will be given
Inner strength and power
through His Spirit,
and Christ will live in us
through faith.

And I pray our roots will spread
deeply
into His love,
so we - and all of God’s children -
can begin to glimpse

how wide,

how long,

how high,

how deep

is His love for us.

Then we will know
Christ’s love reaches far
beyond our understanding
and fills us wholly
with our Holy God.

Mary Harwell Sayler, ©2018, prayer-a-phrased Ephesians 3:16-19 as found in many translations on Bible Gateway.

One Lord, One Praise, One Power

May our God,
Who encourages us
and empowers us to endure,

help you to hold yourselves in harmony
with one another and
with Christ Jesus,

so that you may praise and glorify
the God and Father of our Lord,
Jesus Christ,

with one voice -
always
on-key.

Mary Harwell Sayler, ©2018, prayer-a-phrased Romans 15:5-6 after referring to these and other translations on Bible Gateway.

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Bible Prayer and Confession for Us Today

O, Lord, God of heaven,
Our great and awesome God,
You keep Your promises and
give mercy
to those who love and obey You.

Please let Your ear be attentive
and Your eyes open to us,
so You may hear our prayer,
which we pray before You,
day and night,
for Your children,
for our children,
for our country.

We confess our sin against You
for we have done wrong.
My family and I have done wrong.
My country and I have done wrong..
We have acted badly toward You
and have not kept Your commandments,
which You gave to Your servant Moses.

Remember what you said to Moses?
‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you,
but if you return to Me
and keep My commandments
and do as I ask -
even though you’ve been cast
as far from Me as you can get -
yet I will gather you and bring you
to the place I have chosen to be.’

We are Your servants and Your people,
whom You have redeemed
by Your great power and strong hand!

O, Lord, please let Your ear be attentive
to this prayer and those of Your servants
who desire to honor Your name.

Give us Your success today.
Grant us Your mercy.

Mary Harwell Sayler, ©2018, prayer-a-phrased Nehemiah 1:5-from many of the numerous translations found on Bible Gateway.


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Bible Prayer for our Nation

Let the peoples of God cry out before the Lord and pray:
Spare us, O Lord!

Help us to be above reproach.
Do not let us be ridiculed among the nations -
nor a mockery among ourselves!

Let us not be ridiculed
nor a joke to unbelievers
anywhere.

Why should anyone ever say,
“Where is their God?”


Mary Harwell Sayler, ©2018, prayer-a-phrased Joel 2:17 from many of the numerous translations on Bible Gateway.

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A Psalm to pray, to sing

Psalm 18:1-2

A psalm of David:
The servant of the Lord
sang this song to the Lord
on the day the Lord rescued him
from his enemies.

I love you, my Lord
You are my strength.
my rock,
my fortress,
my deliverer.

You are solid rock
in Whom
I find protection.
You are my shield,
the power Who saves me.

You are my
safe place.

Prayer-a-phrased by Mary Harwell Sayler, ©2018, with scriptures from Bible Gateway.

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The Bible Prayer of Jesus

“Thou art my father, my God,” Psalm 89:26.
Our Father which art in heaven

“The Lord our God is holy,” Psalm 99:9.
Hallowed be Thy name.

“Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,” Psalm 145:13.
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done

“I will be exalted in the earth,” Psalm 46:10.
in earth, as it is in heaven.

“And the Lord God humbled you, let you hunger, then fed you with manna….to make you know that we do not live by bread alone, but by every word from the mouth of the Lord,” Deuteronomy 8:3.
Give us this day our daily bread.

“Hear in heaven Your dwelling place and forgive! To those whose hearts You know, let it be according to their ways – for You, Lord, You alone, know the hearts of all,” 1 Kings 8:39.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

“Listen, O Shepherd of Israel, You Who lead us like a flock,” Psalm 80:1.
And lead us not into temptation,

“Fear the Lord your God, and God will deliver you from the hands of all your enemies,” 2 Kings 17:39.
But deliver us from evil

“Yours, O Lord is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty! All that is heaven and earth is Yours! Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and You are exalted above all,” 1 Chronicles 29:11.
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.


Bible verses were prayer-a-phrased by Mary Harwell Sayler, ©2017, with scriptures found on Bible Gateway then interwoven with the Lord’s Prayer from the King James Version (KJV) of Matthew 6:9-13.

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May the peace of the Lord be with you

Don’t worry!
Be prayerful.

Ask God
for everything
you need, and
thank God,
even as you pray.

And the peace
of the Lord,
which is too great
to understand,
will keep watch
over your heart
and mind
in Christ Jesus.


Philippians 4:6-7 prayer-a-phrased by Mary Sayler, © 2017, using scripture from various translations on Bible Gateway

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Praying for the media with Psalm 12

As you read Psalm 12, keep the media in mind and prayer. Perhaps our complaints about them and our prayers for them might help them to see the tremendous power they have for good, for healing, and for unity in this country and around the world.

Help, LORD!
Have godly people gone?
Have the faithful disappeared
from the human race?

Who’s lying now? Slick speech
and double-mindedness
make it hard to tell.

LORD, please put a stop to slick talk!
Shut boastful mouths who have said,
“We can say what we like!
Who will stop us?”

LORD, You know how
poor people have been oppressed,
and needy people
from every race and culture
groan.

Help us to stand up for them!
And, please, LORD, provide the help
they’re gasping to get!

Only Your promises
have no self-serving motives.
Your Word is like silver
purified seven times.

You, O LORD, will protect us from all ills.
You will guard us from all jadedness,
even while wickedness struts about,
and people keep lifting up the evils
in the land.


Mary Harwell Sayler, ©2017, prayer-a-phrased Psalm 12, using many of the translations found on Bible Gateway.

Praying with Psalm 11

LORD, I choose to hide myself in You.

Some might say, “Fly like a bird
to the mountains to escape
the bow and evil arrows
ready to shoot in the dark
the upright in heart.
If our foundations
collapse, then what could
a good person do?”

LORD, from Your holy temple –
from Your holy throne in heaven,
surely Your eyes see! Surely
You lift Your eyelids to see
how people are acting, LORD.
You examine each action, but
Your soul hates wicked ways
and violence.

Someday You’ll rain coals of fire
on all evil and fill the cups
of Your enemies with nothing
but a scorching wind!

You alone are righteous, LORD,
and You love what’s done right.
May decent, honest people
see Your face
everywhere.

Psalm 11 prayer-a-phrased by Mary Sayler, using many of the translations found on Bible Gateway, ©2017.

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Praying Psalm 7

NOTE: The first half of Psalm 7 prays for God’s rescue from adversaries, which, as Christians, we might think of as the nemesis or archenemy of Christ.


O LORD my God, I want to run and hide
inside You!
Save me! Deliver me from ill will
ready to rip my soul apart like a hungry lion,
tearing it to pieces before help arrives.

O LORD my God, if I have done something wrong
or used my hands for a poor purpose –
if I have repaid good will with ill will
or taken something without cause,
then let me be overtaken!
Let my life be trampled to the ground.
Cover my glory in dust.

Arise, O LORD, with wrath
against the fury of the enemy.
Awake and give Your judgment.
Let Your people gather around You.
Rule us from on high.

Psalm 7:1-7, prayer-a-phrased by Mary Sayler, ©2016, after studying scriptures from the many translations found on Bible Gateway

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Praying with Psalm 6

O LORD, please don’t scold me when You’re angry
or discipline me in fury.
Have mercy, LORD, for I am suffering.
Heal my trembling, troubled bones.
Even my soul feels shaky!
O how long, LORD, will this go on?

Turn back to me, LORD, and rescue me
with Your unfailing love.
It’s hard to remember You
when I feel dead inside.
How can I lift Your Name in praise, LORD,
when grave worries weigh me down?

My sighs tire me. My sobs wear me out!
My pillow swabs my face.
Grief blurs my vision.
My eyes ache with distress.

Get away from me, you evil thoughts!

The LORD hears my cries.
The LORD listens!
The LORD answers all my prayers.

prayer-a-phrased by Mary Harwell Sayler, ©2016, with scriptures from many translations on Bible Gateway

Praying with Psalm 5

Hear my words, O Lord!
Listen to me sigh.
Attend to the sound of my cries,
my King and my God,
for to You do I pray.

In the morning, You hear my voice.
In the morning, I lay my pleas before You
and expectantly await Your answer.

O God, You do not delight in wickedness.
Nothing evil can live in You.

Arrogant people won’t be close to You.
You hate all wrongdoing.
Your truth destroys all lies.
You despise violence and deceit.

But because of Your overflowing love
and kindness, I can enter Your house
to worship You in the sanctuary.

Oh, Lord, I need You to lead me
or my foes and failures will overtake me!
Make Your way clear and obvious.

Let all foul talk, lying mouths, and
flattering tongues be silenced
and driven away
for such sins show
rebellion against You.

But let all who take refuge in You
be glad. Let them celebrate
and sing Your praises.

Spread Your protection
over all who love Your name.
For You bless the righteous, O Lord.
You shield them with Your favor.

prayer-a-phrased by Mary Harwell Sayler, ©2016, with scriptures from many translations on Bible Gateway

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Praying with Psalm 4

Answer us when we call,
O God of our salvation!
Free us from these pressures
and distress!

Show us mercy.
Hear our prayer.

People! People!
How long will our hearts be hard?
How long will we love what is worthless
or chase after lies?

Know this: the Lord takes care
of the faithful.
The Lord God hears our cries.

We can be angry
without sinning.
We can take a rest and really
think about what’s troubling us.
We can do what’s right –
even when it’s hard --
and place ourselves
in God’s hands.

Many say, “I want to see
better times. I want the light
of God’s face to shine.”
But God has filled us
with more gladness
than we’ll ever get
from food and wine.

When we lie down,
we can sleep peacefully,
for You alone, O God
help us to rest in safety.

prayer-a-phrased by Mary Harwell Sayler, ©2016, with scriptures from many translations on Bible Gateway

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A prayer request gets a “no”

Mark 10:35-40

James and John, the sons of Zebedee,
asked Jesus if He would do for them
whatever they asked!

So Jesus said, “And what do you want Me
to do for you?

They told him that, when His kingdom
comes in glory,
they want to sit beside Him – one
on the right, the other on the left.

But Jesus said,
“You do not know what you’re asking,”

and He questioned if they would be able
to drink the cup of suffering He must drink
or be baptized with what He must bear,
and they said, “We can!”

Then Jesus said, “You may drink
the cup I must drink and you may be baptized
with which I Am to be baptized,
but to place you by My right side or My left
is not My place to give.
That is for those
for whom it has been prepared.”


© 2015, Mary Harwell Sayler prayer-a-phrased today’s reading in Mark with the help of translations provided online by Bible Gateway.

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