Turn a Verse into a Prayer - Church Prayer Leaders Network

By Jonathan Graf

In my life, the #1 method of prayer has been praying Scripture or praying God’s Word back to Him. It brings the most power, the most comfort and peace, and the greatest results.

It is extremely simple to do. While there are multiple ways to insert verses of Scripture into your prayers, here is the simplest way. I demonstrate using Psalm 91, a great prayer to pray for yourself or someone who is in distress.

Let’s Begin

The Psalm begins (I am using New King James Version):

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty
I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust.”

If I want to pray that, I basically flip the personal nouns and pronouns and pray: “I am dwelling in the secret place of the Most High. I will abide in Your shadow, Oh God. I will say of You, Lord, that You are my refuge and my fortress. Father, God, in You will I trust.”

You can use strong declarative statements like “I am . . .” or “I will. . . .” Or if you are not comfortable with that, pray, “Help me to dwell . . .” or “Help me to abide under Your shadow. . . .”

If you are praying this for a friend, simply insert his or her name into the Psalm: “Lord, help Susan to dwell. . . .” You can also feel free to change any wording in the Psalm to fit the specifics of your situation.

I promise that as you pray this way your heart will be infused with strength, comfort, and confidence. You can use this same method with any passage in Scripture.

Keep Praying

Here is the rest of Psalm 91 with nouns and pronouns changed. Why not pray it today for yourself or someone else? If praying for someone else, just insert the person’s name wherever you see “me” or “my.” Then put this into practice using other Psalms or any passage of Scripture.

¹ I will dwell in the secret place of the Most High

I will abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

² I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress;

My God, in Him I will trust.”

³ Surely He shall deliver me from the snare of the fowler, And from the perilous pestilence.
⁴ He shall cover me with His feathers, And under His wings I shall take refuge; His truth shall be my shield and buckler.
⁵ I will not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
⁶ Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.
⁷ A thousand may fall at my side, And ten thousand at my right hand; But it shall not come near me.
⁸ Only with my eyes shall I look, And see the reward of the wicked.
⁹ Because I have made the Lord, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, my dwelling place,
¹⁰ No evil shall befall me, Nor shall any plague come near my dwelling;
¹¹ For He shall give His angels charge over me, To keep me in all my ways.
¹² In their hands they shall bear me up, Lest I dash my foot against a stone.
¹³ I shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, The young lion and the serpent I shall trample underfoot.
¹⁴ “Because I have set my love upon You, therefore You will deliver me; You, O Lord will set me on high, because I know Your name.
¹⁵ I shall call upon You, Lord, and You will answer me; You will be with me in trouble; You will deliver me and honor me.
¹⁶ With long life You will satisfy me, And show me Your salvation.”

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JONATHAN GRAF is the director of Love2Pray and the president of Church Prayer Leaders Network. He has a heart to help individuals connect with Jesus through prayer.