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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Last prayer in the Bible

Revelation 22:20-21

Marana tha—

Our Lord, come!

May the grace

of our Lord Jesus Christ

be with you all.

Amen.

prayer-a-phrased by Mary Harwell Sayler, (c) 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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