COME EXPERIENCE THE LORD
Prayer is a wonderful gift given to us by God. Throughout the centuries, it has been described in a multitude of ways. Some defined it as crying out to God in a time of need and others as praising God for His goodness. Prayer encompasses many facets: speaking to God, being silent before God, listening for the Holy Spirit's guidance to understand Scripture, pleading for help, asking for forgiveness, interceding for others in their time of need, and worshiping God.
Prayer is a deeply personal conversation with God in which—the Bible assures us—He listens and responds (Ps. 91:15; Jer. 33:3).
Because prayer is key to our walk with God, we want to do it regularly, effectively, and passionately. However, we are not always confident about our prayer lives. It's why we are glad to offer this edition. The Prayer Bible is designed to help you engage more deeply and confidently in prayer. Inside, you’ll find prayer prompts located alongside every chapter of the Bible. By combining your daily Bible reading with your prayer life, your prayer life will find its direction from the Scripture.
But what does it mean to pray Scripture?
It can either mean saying the prayers of the Bible word for word as our own prayers, personalizing portions of the Scriptures in prayer, or praying through the different topics of the Bible.
How to Use this Edition:
- Read the Bible passage first. We are happy to provide the Scripture engagement prompts, but they are always secondary to God's Word.
- Read the Praying Scripture prompt slowly. It will give a brief insight into the passage that can enlighten your understanding and guide you to deeper study of the passage.
- Use the Praying Scripture prompt to guide your prayer time. The prompt gives you one way to pray according to the content of the passage. These prompts offer different types of guidance that will encourage deeper introspection, inspire you to worship, offer hope, or motivate you to pray about an action to take.
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Pray with the words of Scripture. Whether at a loss for words or not, allow the words of the Bible to fill your prayers before God. Be confident and filled with hope. God gave us the practice of prayer because He desires a close relationship with us.
It’s our hope that as you engage God’s Word through prayer that you will increasingly know its Author, become rooted in His unshakable truth, and bear much fruit for His glory.
As part of the Abide Initiative, this Bible edition falls in line with the other Abide resources of Bibles, Scripture journals, and studies. Through Abide, there is a grand opportunity that awaits: to meet the God of the Word. These resources allow you to move into Bible reading and study with the assurance that you will encounter the Lord. To that end, the Scripture engagement practices offered in the Abide line will aid you to grow ever deeper in your walk with Christ.
