Guide to Praying the Scriptures

Tomorrow, (Wednesday, August 26th), First Hattiesburg begins a 40 Day Prayer Emphasis that will lead up to our permanent move to the Lincoln Road campus.  Each day we will pray through the Scriptures that emphasize the different core practices of our church.  Here is a short guide that will help you pray through the Scriptures.  You might want to bookmark this page, or print it and keep it by your computer as a guide for the coming weeks.

Prayer is simply talking to God
When we read God’s Word, the Bible, it is Him speaking to us.  Prayer is when we speak back to Him.  Using His own Words to guide our prayers is a great way to connect with God’s heart and what He wants to do in our lives and our church.

Read through the passage
These passages won’t be very long, so read them through in their entirety.  Each one of them will fit the theme of Christ as Center, Bring In, Build With, Train Up, or Send Out.  Read slowly and let the words of the author soak in as you pick up on the main theme.

What does the passage say about God?
Is their something about the character of God, or the example of Jesus that you can see in the verses?  What is that characteristic or behavior?  Praise and thank God for who He is and/or what He has done/is doing as the passage describes it.  Pray that you will be marked by this character and behavior.  Pray that our church will be full of people who are marked by this character and behavior.  Pray that God will show you specific ways that you and our church as a whole can live out these characteristics and behaviors.

Is there a specific sin that the passage mentions?
Just as there may be a positive trait of God’s character, there may also be the negative behavior of sin.  As you read the passage, what sin is mentioned?  Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you whether this sin is present in your life.  If it is, then first confess it to God, or agree with God that it is sin.  Secondly, make up your mind that you will turn away from this sin, believing that God can empower you to do it.  Now, pray that the people in our church will avoid this specific sin.  Also pray that people who are currently struggling with this sin will find repentance and forgiveness through the preaching and teaching of our church.

Have you already seen the things in this passage happening in our church?
What does God promise to do in this passage?  Have you already seen these things happening in your life or in our church?  If so, thank God and pray that this work continues.  If you have not seen or experienced these specific things, pray that God will make them happen.

What needs does God promise to fulfill in this passage?
As you notice needs in our church, do you see these needs addressed specifically in this passage?  What needs does God promise to fulfill?  How can we depend on him to meet these needs?  Pray that he will supply the things He promises in these particular verses to the people in our church and to others through our church.  Especially pray that as we move into our new location and begin a new chapter in our church’s story, that we will receive these promises and help fulfill them to the community around us.

When we begin our prayer emphasis tomorrow, an example of one way to pray through that particular passage will be included in case you need help getting started.  Most of all, we hope you’ll use this next 40 days of prayer to connect you with God and His mission for our church.

Please feel free to share your prayers and comments each day on the passages of Scripture.  It’s always better when you add to the conversation.