Prayreading the Word

Excuse me posters. I have read some comments here more carefully than some others. But I have glanced at most.

I think that it is hard for anyone who loves the Bible to have a compliant with the advice to prayread the Bible. How can a seeker of Bible truth and the Bible's God have much problem with this?

By prayreading you pray with the words of Scripture and gain truth and life. How can any true seeker have much of a complaint with this. We have to trust that God speaks to us personally through His word.

The whole Bible is a prayer book. ThinkOfOne has verses that he often brings to the forum. Though I have some objections to his teachings I have absolutely no objections to prayreading before God those passages he reminds us of from john 8. In stead of doctrinal arguments sometimes try prayreading those disputes passages.

You can hardly lose. Light you get. Truth you got also. Nourishment you obtain, Life and peace you obtain also. Refreshment you get inwardly. Empowering from the Holy Spirit and from the words of the Bible you get also.

Amen ?

Now Rajk999, also has passages he loves. Loves em. His emphasis on some of them I find questionable. But I would spend a half hour prayereading those passages. My, I would go to ANY of Rajk999's favorite verses and mingle together READING them and PRAYING over them. I couldn't lose!

So, prayreading is profitable even on troublesome verses, problematic verses. Do not learn to dislike any passages from the Bible.That is not healthy. It is better to PRAY-READ them to milk them of all the spiritual nutrients God would supply to you in those verses.

Latter I will write out a kind of example of prayreading. The whole Bible is a prayer book. The whole Bible is Godbreathed and inspired - breathed out by God.

Beloveds, you know that the age is getting dark. It is gettiing and darker. The darkness is gathering around.

God has in these last days opened up a way for seekers of the truth to be fortified, empowered, strengthened into the spiritual realm of God's presence. I recommend calling on the name of Jesus and I recommend prayreading the Bible. This thread is on prayreading the Bible.

now let's get all convinced that this is not some strange eastern mantra like mechanical thing. Let's get first encouraged that to pray over the words and with the words of the Bible is taught by the Bible itself. Right here:

" And receive the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which Spirit is the word of God, By means of all prayer and petition, praying and watching unto this in all perseverance and petition concerning all the saints... " (Ephesians 6:17,18) (The Recovery New Testament)

This translation may seem different to some of you. " ... the sword of the Spirit, which Spirit is the word of God" looks unusual. But in the original language the the grammatical construction ties Spirit to the word of God. In other words the verse is saying to receive the Spirit is to receive the word of God - by means of all prayer.

The Spirit is rather abstract. But "the SWORD of the Spirit" puts a practical HANDLE on the mysterious Spirit. The sword of the Spirit is the word of God. We could say that we can grab and hold the Spirit by means of the sword. The sword of the Spirit means by handling the word of God we can handle the abstract Spirit of God.

How do we get out hands on the Spirit? We do so by receiving the word of God by means of prayer. That is by means of "ALL prayer" We exercise our praying innermost being over and with the word of God. By praying with the word of God we handle the Spirit where we can grab Him.

All prayer - means all kinds of prayer. Loud prayer, soft prayer, musing prayer, praising prayer, petitioning prayer, thanksgiving prayer, confessional prayer - ALL PRAYER.

Not only we receive the word of God by "all prayer" . But we can receive the Spirit "at every time". We can prayread with the Bible opened to us. We can prayread the word of God because we have it stored in our good memory.

Checkbaiter already referred to Psalm 119 where David spoke of the young men storing up the word in their hearts that they might not sin against God. Prayreading is good with an opened Bible. Prayereading is good from memory at any time when one simply senses the need to draw close to Christ. By all prayer and at every time is how Paul encourages the Christians to receive the word of God.

Originally posted by sonship
Beloveds, you know that the age is getting dark. It is gettiing and darker. The darkness is gathering around.

Is it?

I can't ever recall you establishing that this assertion is true.

If you have, could you please point to it. I don't mean for you to type it all out again.

How can you be sure that, when you talk about things "getting darker" and the "darkness gathering around", you are not just revealing some kind of personal depression, feelings of political fatalism and impotence, and a profoundly misanthropic pessimism ~ exacerbated by your religion-driven 'doomsday' beliefs ~ rather than a measured and open minded analysis of the human condition and the state of the world?

Originally posted by checkbaiter

But we should know His word because people need to know what is available. Some people pray for things that are not available. There are hundreds of promises in the bible, but most people know very few.
The Psalms are loaded with prayer and requests, and one Psalm in particular, mentions God's word, precepts, in every verse.
Ps 119:9-11

How can a young man cleanse his way?
By taking heed according to Your word.
10 With my whole heart I have sought You;
Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments!
11 Your word I have hidden in my heart,
That I might not sin against You.
NKJV

these are great psalms that encourage the reading and meditating on the word of God.

Praying over the words of the Bible is an excellent way to store up God's word in the heart in a living way, so that one might not sin against God. David well knew this.

Praying the words of the Bible with a heart turned to Jesus Christ in the morning is like the chess strategy of gaining control of the center of the board.

By praying and reading and mixing the two, in the morning, EARLY in the game of daily life God gets the most strategic center of your life. The first transactions of your day are like the first moves in a chess game.

And by starting your day praying with the Bible's wonderful "God breathed" words of divine inspiration, you give God strategic advantage in your heart. It is profitable for the whole rest of the day.

So I encourage, as David said, to store up the word of God in your heart that latter when tempted to sin, that word you have prayed over can often spontaneously come up and empower you to enjoy God instead of enjoying sin.

Sin is enjoyable.
To overcome sin you must touch a deeper enjoyment - Jesus Christ.

And the way to over come sin and sinning is that you have to find something MORE enjoyable. God is more enjoyable. God we can grasp in prayer and with His word. We can enjoy the inner feeding of God's presence by prayreading His word. The superior enjoyment is the key to having victory over sin and sinning.

The in-flowing of the Holy Spirit in Christ is the superior enjoyment. That is why Jesus told all the sinners that they were really THIRSTY and needed to come to Him and drink.

" Jesus answered and said to her, Everyone who drinks of this water shall thirst again.

But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall by no means thirst forever, but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into eternal life." (John 4:13,14)

Now some objector may say 'Well, that is not what that verse means."

Okay, how about you spend some time and PRAYREAD the verse. Let God speak to you according to your need. And I prayread the verse. If I am off perhaps God will reveal that to me as I enjoy praying with the words of that passage -.

But surely the enjoyment of God's word will persuade one that it is better than falling into other things. By enjoyment of God, sinning is overcome. When you begin to overcome you won't need to argue about whose interpretation is better. The nourishment of the words prayed over will empower you to live Christ.

No argument defeats living Christ.

[b] " In my heart have I treasured up Your word
That I might not sin against You." (Psalm 119:11)

Prayreading is an excellent way to treasure up the living and abiding word of God in our hearts to be empowered to live Christ - to enjoy God as our life.

Originally posted by FMF
Is it?

I can't ever recall you establishing that this assertion is true.

If you have, could you please point to it. I don't mean for you to type it all out again.

How can you be sure that, when you talk about things "getting darker" and the "darkness gathering around", you are not just revealing some kind of personal depression, feelings of political ...[text shortened]... ther than a measured and open minded analysis of the human condition and the state of the world?

Prayreading the word of God is profitable whether one is naturally an optimist or naturally a pessimist.

Prayreading the word of God is good for whatever kind of natural disposition one has. You do not have to agree with a gloomy outlook to gain benefit from exercising your praying "organ" over the word of God.

If you have a bright outlook on things, prayreading the word of God is beneficial.

So your "feedback" here is your usual knee-jerk reaction to any encouragement towards spirituality. Excuse me if I don't spend to much wack-a-mole time dealing with your next 18 complaints.

Maybe latter.

The passage from Ephesians 6 was about spiritual warfare. Some people do not believe there is spiritual warfare.

But there is spiritual warfare often for the Christian, And Paul's excellent way to be a warrior prevailing against "the strategems of the devil" is to pray with the word of God.

" And receive the HELMET of salvation and the SWORD of the Spirit, which Spirit is the word of God, By means of all prayer ..."

For the spiritual warfare the Christian needs the defensive HELMET of salvation to protect the mind. She also needs the offensive weapon - the SWORD of the Holy Spirit - which Holy Spirit is the word of God. We can handle the Sword of the Holy Spirit by means of "all prayer".


As for darkness. Everyone cannot appreciate this. But in the same section Paul says that we the Christians are in a wrestling match with the world rulers of this DARKNESS.

He is speaking of spiritual warfare in the whole passage -

"For our wrestling is not against blood and flesh ... " (v.12)

We Christians have to know WHO the real ENEMY is. It is not a matter of flesh and blood.

" ... but against the rulers against the authorities, against the world -rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenlies."

Prayreading is profitable to those who recognize where the real enemy of mankind is. Praying over the words of the Bible helps the Christian to deal with the world-rulers of the darkness which morally and spiritually are working to keep people from God our salvation.

The rest of the passage uses word pictures to describe a fighting soldier reminiscent probably to a Roman soldier the Apostle Paul was accustomed to seeing.

The breastplate of righteousness is a word picture to express the fighting by shielding the heart with righteous living in Christ (v.14)

The shield of faith is a defensing piece of the armor in spiritual warfare to protect against "the flaming darts of the evil one". That is like the flaming darts of doubt hurled at Christians from worldly people being utilized by the world-rulers of this darkness.

Then we come to the helmet of salvation to protect the mind.
And the sword of the Spirit to thrust through the Devil and slash his lies to pieces.

So I refer to these verses in discussing prayreading the word of God.

Originally posted by sonship
Prayreading the word of God is profitable whether one is naturally an optimist or naturally a pessimist.

Prayreading the word of God is good for whatever kind of natural disposition one has. You do not have to agree with a gloomy outlook to gain benefit from exercising your praying "organ" over the word of God.

If you have a bright outlook on things, ...[text shortened]... e SWORD of the Spirit, which Spirit is the word of God, By means of all prayer ..." [/quote][/b]

Good grief. Talk about dodging the simplest of questions. Maybe I said too many things in my post?

Here is what I was responding to:

Beloveds, you know that the age is getting dark. It is gettiing and darker. The darkness is gathering around.

My question is: is it?

Originally posted by sonship
So your "feedback" here is your usual knee-jerk reaction to any encouragement towards spirituality.

I don't see you as providing any "encouragement towards spirituality" at all.

Like I said, I see you as broadcasting some form of personal depression, propagating a sense of political fatalism and impotence, and I find it to be a profoundly misanthropic pessimism which I believe is exacerbated by your spiritually corrosive 'doomsday' beliefs. I see you as offering "encouragement" to share in your jaundiced view of the world, and that's all. I see it as "spirituality" collapsing in on itself.

Originally posted by FMF

I don't see you as providing any "encouragement towards spirituality" at all.

Prayer is an exercise of the spirit - the human spirit. I bet you do not know what the human spirit is.

I bet also that you do not want to know ... what the human spirit is. You don't want me to tell you about it.

Like I said, I see you as broadcasting some form of personal depression,

Prayreading is good for people who suffer from depression, even clinical depression

If I broadcast person severe depression according to your pseudo professional diagnosisise (which it isn't the case) , prayreading is profitable for people who you pronounce your diagnosis of depression.

By the way, it is also excellent for people with reading comprehension problems too.

propagating a sense of political fatalism and impotence, and I find it to be a profoundly misanthropic pessimism which I believe is exacerbated by your spiritually corrosive 'doomsday' beliefs.

I am not expecting doom for me.
I might be expecting doom for you if you don't turn to Christ.

But the thread is on the practice of prayreading.

But for the second coming of Christ I have nothing but exultant expectation and joy.
There is no depression concerning my seeing my beloved Lord. And He is called in the Bible "the desire of nations".

Sorry. I'm not depressed.

And if I mourn for the state of sinking society, over on the thread I started on the Constitution of the kingdom" I addressed one of the articles of that "constitution"

" Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted." (Matt. 5:3)

That is the second article of this so-called constitution of the kingdom of the heavens. Those who mourn over the state of the sinful society and the corrupted world, will be comforted.

We know that we are with the Victor and on the winning side -

Oh, you remind me of an excellent verse to prayread sometime - John 16:33

" These things I have spoken to you that in Me you may have peace, In the world you have affliction, but take courage, I have overcome the world."

Jesus Christ has overcome the world. How can be be depressed ?

I see you as offering "encouragement" to share in your jaundiced view of the world, and that's all. I see it as "spirituality" collapsing in on itself.

I see that the word of God is filled with not one or two but hundreds of thousands of wonderful passages, inspired by God and profitable to pray to words of exercising the regenerated praying spirit.

I see many different passages for every conceivable mood people may find themselves in. So prayreading is profitable and the Bible is such a feast.

Here is another good passage to prayread for example, when encountering those who cannot believe in the Son of God -

" Jesus answered and said to them, Do not murmur among yourselves.

No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise Him up in the last day." (JOhn 6:44)

We might prayread this passage like this:

" No one Amen Lord . No one. Thank You Lord Jesus you said No one ... Amen! No one can come to Me ...". Lord we praise You. We only came come to You because the Father draws us. Amen Lord Jesus. ... No one can come to Me ... ... Amen Lord. We want to COME to You. To You we want to come Lord. Thankyou.

Amen. No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me ..." amen. Thankyou Lord Jesus. We praise You that the Father sent You. Lord the Father sent You.

Amen. [b]no once can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him ...."

Draw us Father. O Father we love You. Thankyou Father that you do DRAW us to Jesus. Lord, have mercy on this man here. O Lord Jesus DRAW him to you also. Praise you Lord. Lord we DO need the drawing of God. Lord Jesus we ask You to draw us. Draw our friends to You Lord. Draw even our enemies to You Lord.

Lord Jesus no one can come to You unless the Father Who sent you DRAWS him. Amen Lord! DRAW my friends. Lord have mercy and even DRAW them that have enmity with me. Draw them as You drew Saul of Tarsus.

Amen Lord Jesus. Draw us dear Lord. " ... and I will raise him up in the last day." Amen Lord. We believe You are the resurrection and the life. Even today raise us up Lord. Amen. If You can raise us on the last day, Lord we believe Your resurrection power can work in us today.

Thankyou Lord. You will indeed raise us up on the last day. Amen.

This is an illustration of how I might prayread one of hundreds of thousands of wonderful verses in the Bible. I feel glorious. I feel victorious.

Originally posted by sonship
I am not expecting doom for me.
I might be expecting doom for you if you don't turn to Christ. [...]
I feel glorious. I feel victorious.

Ah yes, your torture ideology raises it's head again. Everything you say is tainted by it. Are you expecting doom/torture for all the non-Christians who live down my street too?

Originally posted by sonship
Prayreading is good for people who suffer from depression, even clinical depression.

What effect does the attempted emotional blackmail of your Lake of Fire stuff have on people with clinical depression?

Originally posted by sonship
But for the second coming of Christ I have nothing but exultant expectation and joy. There is no depression concerning my seeing my beloved Lord.

You have told yourself that you personally are going to be OK, then, have you? And does this feeling of "exultant expectation and joy" continue even as you circulate and interact with "doomed" non-believer family and friends?

As you can see from my little example, i mixed the reading of that passage with prayer. And I mixed it with ["all prayer" as Paul exhorts. I mean all kinds of prayer.

There was praise and petition, confession and thanksgiving. The way is very personal and not mechanical or rote.

We are to take the word of God -

"... by means of all prayer and petition"

The petition is informed by the word.
The praise or thankgsgiving are inspired by that very word you read.

You may tailor your prayer to your personal situation.
You may even come together with a few other Christians and tailor your petition to the needs of the group.

Prayreading, you may tailor to your specific situation and concerns.
I encourage this exercise of the spirit with the Holy Spirit.
If you do not know what your spirit it, by prayreading will eventually discover -

"Oh, that is my spirit. Oh, now I see that that is MY spirit. The Lord is with MY spirit. Grace is with MY spirit. God is with MY spirit. I want to pray everytime is the Holy Spirit with my enlivened spirit."

I like the word exercise because it is both biblical and practical. Exercise entails that we do not just passively wait to grow in the Lord. We can exercise to touch the Lord. One way to exercise to contact the Lord is by praying with the word, over the word, even praying the word itself.

Prayreading is so useful in this dark age.
Prayreading fills us with God's light.

Some people think the darkness in them IS light. Jesus warned us not to count the inner darkness as light. I think he means wisdom that is really not.

" Watch out therefore that the light which is in you is not darkness." (Luke 11:35)

Jesus had nothing to eat in the wilderness for forty days and forty nights. When the tempter came to Him trying to get Him to leave the position of a man and instead do something for Himself as the Son of God, Jesus told about EATING the word of God.

" And when He has fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He became hungry.

And the tempter came and said to Him, If You are the Son of God, speak that these stones may become loaves of bread.

But He answered and said, It is written, 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out through the mouth of God.' " (Matt. 3:3,4)

Surely, Jesus was musing, praying, praying over, praying with the word of God. In saying this verse Jesus was quoting the book of Deuteronomy. That word was stored up in His heart,

He was eating spiritually the word of God. He reminded Satan that MAN, proper human men and women, proper boys and girls need to live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Man cannot live just on physical food. He must live also on the word of God.

Prayreading helps us to live on the word of God. And I am sure Jesus as God's Son showed how a proper MAN needs to live on God's speaking. In fact his need for God's word may exceed his need for a miracle, like turning stones into bread.

Originally posted by roigam
(Acts 5:42) And every day in the temple and..... from house to house..... they continued without letup teaching and declaring the good news about the Christ, Jesus.

(Acts 20:20) while I did not hold back from telling you any of the things that were profitable nor from teaching you publicly and from..... house to house.

They did not have the internet in ...[text shortened]... as to go.

That was just the start.


Of course today we have the internet too. See JW.org

I don't think going house to house in the book of Acts meant the same thing as today's knocking on doors.
The church met in homes. There were church meetings in homes, not like today's mega church buildings.
The church had established leaders, etc., who taught small groups in their own homes.
You will see the remark in Acts about the "church in their house."
Rom 16:5
Likewise greet the church that is in their house.
NKJV

Church is ekkleesías, which means a group "called out", not a building.