Written by: LaVonda McCullough, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
"So is my word that goes from my mouth; it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." — Isaiah 55:11
I was a special education teacher prior to moving overseas. I have learned that consistency was key to success in the classroom. I must follow through on the consequences and rewards that I tell my students. If I don't, my students can't trust me. They can't rely or depend on the things that I say. I am so thankful that this is not something I have to worry about with God.
God is Faithful, Honorable, And Consistent
Whatever he says he will do, he does it. Every word that he speaks comes to pass. He is reliable.
This is extremely important to remember when praying scripture.
In Isaiah 55, God says that his word will not return to Him void. That literally means that when you pray his words back to him, something has to happen. It will, of course, all be in his timing, but you are guaranteed to see fruit from these prayers.
I want to challenge you to take your prayer life to the next level and begin to pray scripture, and I promise you will see the fruit of these prayers.
How can you take your prayer life to the next level?
1. Find Scriptures That Speak To Your Circumstance
The first step to praying scriptures is to find them! Finding the scriptures is quite easy. You can read the Bible, ask a godly friend or pastor on the internet or join our Impact Community.
What did people do before the internet? I can’t even imagine!
You can use any search engine to find scriptures for prayer. I recommend typing in “scriptures for warfare”, “scriptures for anxiety”, or “scriptures for (Healing, strength, etc.)” These will pull up an ample amount of scriptures that you can use in your prayer time.
If you find more than you need at the moment (as I’m sure you will ), you can bookmark them or copy and paste them into a doc/email for later use.
Seek out a friend or Spiritual leader
Have your friend look up one topic, and you look up a different topic. Then, swap verses. A different method is to look up the same topic and see if you have any different verses between the two of you. You can also go talk to a spiritual leader.
They are full of wisdom and know many scriptures that will be applicable. I recommend bringing a paper and pen or taking notes on your smartphone. Be sure to be a good steward of their time and think of specific questions to ask beforehand.
Some great questions to ask are: What are good scriptures for? How have you used scripture in prayer?
Turn your phone on silent and focus your mind on listening to all of their wisdom!
2. Read the Bible
This is the most obvious answer.
When I find a scripture that I think I should use in my prayer life, I will highlight it and go back to my usual Bible study. In my bible, I have a system of highlighting my scriptures to pray in purple and my Thanksgiving/Praise scriptures in Pink. I highly recommend this.
Begin to search the word and compile scriptures that you can use in your prayer life. Start off by choosing just one category to focus on, such as praise & thanksgiving.
Each week rotate topics, and you will have a good scripture foundation in no time.
You should make the scripture personal to you by inserting your name and
circumstance into your prayer. Here are a few examples.
“Submit yourselves, then to God. Resist the devil, and he will come near to you.” —James 4:7
"God, according to your word, help me submit to you. Help me to resist the devil and come near to me. In Jesus' Name, Amen."
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.” —Isaiah 43:1-2
"God, according to your word, help me to not fear, for you have redeemed me. You have summoned me by name; I am yours. When I pass through the waters, you will be with me; and when I pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over me. When I walk through the fire, I will not be burned; the flames will not set me ablaze. In Jesus' Name, Amen."
When you personalize the scripture, you are putting yourself in place to receive the blessing. It makes your prayer more specific. If it is a scripture where God is speaking, change the I’s to you’d.
If it is a scripture where someone else is speaking, and you don’t need to change the words, just make sure your mind and heart are focused on God as you pray the scripture. Many of the Psalms are good examples of this.
“Hasten, O God, to save me; Oh Lord, come quickly to help me. May those who seek my life be put to shame and confusion; may all who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace.” —Psalm 79:1-2
In this verse, you don’t have to personalize the words. Instead of the heart behind the scripture is what becomes personalized.
You have to speak the scripture as if you believe God will be true to his word.
3. Make A Scripture Journal
A prayer journal is a way to record scripture. If you take the time to begin journaling out scripture and your prayers, this book will be full of ready-made personalized scriptures and ready for warfare.
There are two different types of journals that I suggest—one for home and the other a mini-on that you can have on the go. The one for the home can be divided into topics. So you can have one section of your journal for healing, strength, depression, etc.
You will use the structure mentioned above for each prayer. Each page will contain a different scripture that was already written for you to read in your prayer time.
The second kind of journal is a mini scripture prayer journal. You never know when you may encounter a person who you need to pray for on the spot or when you get in your car.
I can't count the number of times this has happened to me while out shopping or on an errand to the grocery store. We all get those mass emergency prayer texts because someone has been in an accident, etc. In those situations, you can just pull out your journal and pray God’s own promises back to him.
I don't believe it's necessary to divide into sections, but hey, grab yourself some colorful stickie notes, and you're ready!
I hope you feel a lot more equipped to add scripture to your prayer life.
A great way to start is just to keep 2 scripture prayers near where you get dressed or in the bathroom to just get in the habit of praying scripture. Just start small.
Maybe each night, write one scripture prayer down and pray it.
Soon you will have many recorded and memorized to use at any time!
LaVonda McCullough, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Dr. LaVonda McCullough is a Christian Life Coach that uses her proven strategies to coach women leaders to overcome mindset limitations and emotional overwhelm to walk in their God-given purpose boldly and confidently. She has dedicated her life to helping countless women walk to freedom over shame, anxiety, depression, and unforgiveness. She travels internationally speaking on mindset renewal through prayer. She is the founder of Joyful Journey, LLC, and her signature RefresHER Women’s Retreat is consistently attended by women worldwide who are seeking to reach the divine power within to become confident in their calling. She is the author of “21 Days of Fasting & Praying: The Beginner’s Guide to a Disciplined Life” and the newly released online course “Rekindled: Igniting an Intimate Relationship with God through restoration and renewal.”
