LORD, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel.
I recently read Peter Adam’s book Prayerfulness – the fruit of a minister’s lifetime reflection on prayer – and have found it a real refresher.
One thing he encourages us to do is to follow our Bible reading with prayer based on the passage (as Nehemiah seems to have done, in the verses at the top of this post). Many of us are used to doing this in Bible study groups, but what I found illuminating were his worked examples of how to do this.
Take, for instance, how he tells us he’d pray, having read Romans 5:1-5:
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (NIV)
- Thank you, Lord God, for justification and for peace with you through our Lord Jesus.
- We praise you for sending your Son, Jesus.
- Please teach and encourage all new believers that they might know they’ve been justified by grace and have peace with you.
- Gracious Father, please help us not just to know we have peace with you, but to boast in the hope of sharing your glory. May this hope shape our lives, words, actions and message.
- Forgive us for thinking that sufferings aren’t something we can glory in, imagining that only what we think what makes us happy is a gift from you. Help us to see our sufferings as you see them here.
- We lament for all those who think of themselves as Christians but don’t know the assurance they can have, and ask for them to know the wonderful truths of this passage.
- We pray for all believers experiencing persecution, discrimination or opposition and ask you to reassure them that they have peace with you through Jesus Christ.
That’s just an example. As Peter Adam puts it, pray the Bible. Here is a way to freshen your Bible reading and your prayer life, in one go!
