12/14/2021 – “Praying the Bible” by Donald L. Whitney
Carl and I exchanged “favorite books” back on the end of November. This is one of the books that Carl recommended; Thanks again Carl! I have started each morning by praying the Psalms, for as Whitney points out, Psalms are prayers given to us through His Word! This method just interjects reflections and questions to Abba / Yeshua (Jesus) / Holy Spirit as we slowly read the scripture.
In Chapter eight or thereabouts, I really like how Whitney stops his book for practical application. He instructs us not to read the book any further before picking a Psalm and trying it for just seven minutes on a timer. He is insistent for he notes that experience has shown him that those who just read through this short book, never seem to apply the tool that God gave us. And sure enough, I immediately resonated with the common immediate feedback from participants that he has received over the years:
- “My mind did not wonder.”
- “My prayer was more about God and less about me.”
- “The Psalms spoke directly to the life situation I am in right now.”
- “I thought more deeply what the Bible says than previous readings that were not interspersed with my prayer.”
- “I have a greater assurance that I was praying God’s will.”
- “I prayed about things I normally don’t pray about.”
- “I prayed about things in new and different ways.”
- “I didn’t say the same old things about the same old things.”
The devil beat us up once again as the accuser that he is: “My prayer is so dry and rote, I must be a bad christian.” This method helps us to realize we have wings of a butterfly, we aren’t caterpillars anymore.
I will be expanding my prayer to the new testament as well. The psalms are powerful for the readings provide natural flowing transitions through “ACTS”: Adoration; Confession; Thanksgiving and Supplication.
Soli Deo Gloria!; Always connected by His grace and through prayer….
Blessings!