A Powerful Way To Pray

This is Chris Hughes with the Christian Perspective Podcast with Chris Hughes, where we encourage our listeners to engage the culture with Jesus Christ. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just a few seconds, so enjoy it, share it.

But most of all, thank you for listening to the Truth Podcast Network. Well, today on Encouraging Prayer, we're going to talk about a very powerful way to pray. That's right. And we know this is a special way to pray, Ravi, because not only did Jesus do it, he did it on Good Friday. He did it from the cross, but he did it so naturally that sometimes we're not even aware that this is going on until we go a little deeper and look at what he's really saying. So what you're talking about is praying the Word of God, and not only God's Word, but really prayers from God's Word. Jesus did it on several occasions during Easter week, and on one occasion we've talked about before, and that is at the Last Supper?

That's right. Scripture tells us in Matthew and Mark at the end of the Last Supper, after they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. So we know it was a Passover meal they were sharing, and we also know what hymns were sung at the Passover at that time, Psalms 113 through 118, called the Hallel, and many scholars believe that it was the last Psalm 118 because it was the end of their Passover meal. And in that Psalm are these words, the stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes. Now this is where it really gets interesting because Jesus quoted those words about himself in Mark 12, but what you see here is Jesus singing and praying the Word of God, and this is in the most vital moments of his life where he's fulfilling the very reason why he came, and he's just getting started.

Wow, what you mean? Well of course Jesus came to set us free from our sins, and you see him indicating several times that he was destined for the cross, and of course the disciples don't understand that, but when you see him there on the cross, you see him praying not only the Word of God, but in the moments where he's in his greatest anguish, you see him actually praying prayers from God's Word. Wow, and that really is the best reason for learning how to pray God's Word, and to pray prayers from it, because you know Jesus did it, and we're called to follow him. It also shows, you know, really how much he treasured Scripture. That is so true, and where he did it, the way he did it, are both surprising, like when he prays, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? He's actually praying Psalm 22, verse 1, and I'd really encourage our listeners to sit down and read through that entire Psalm, because there's so much in it. Yeah, and David talks about people mocking him and saying he trusts in the Lord and let the Lord deliver him. All that was happening to Jesus.

I find it amazing. Before I knew that, I used to think it was just a cry of despair and abandonment, but really, Jesus knows exactly what he's doing, and it seems to me that he's quoting it prophetically, you know, showing how it's being fulfilled in the very moment he's actually being crucified. Yeah, and you see that elsewhere in Scripture, you know. For example, later in Luke, Jesus opens the Scriptures to them, both on the walk to Emmaus and later, you know, in the upper room where the disciples are, to show them from the Scripture that they have, which is Moses and the Psalms, and you know, it's just amazing. And again, Psalm 22 is a Psalm that ends in a note of triumph, where it says, future generations will serve the Lord, for he has done it.

And to me, that sounds a lot like it is finished, you know. And there's another Psalm that he prays from the cross as well, Psalm 31, specifically where he says, into your hands, I commit my spirit. That's in Psalm 31 5. Oh, you're right. And that's another one that happens so fast. We can miss it, but it's really there.

Yeah, it is. And the point of all this for our listeners is to show how much comfort there was for Jesus in praying God's Word in those moments that were so difficult, because God's Spirit moves through his Word, and when we read it and take it to heart and pray it, then he helps us so much. And this is something any of us can learn to do. It's not about just memorizing stuff and quoting it back to God. Again, it's about taking it to heart. It's especially good to just sit down with the Psalms and just be with God in them. Yesterday, I read Psalm 145, just the beginning, where David writes, I will exalt you, my God the King. I will praise your name forever and ever.

Every day, I will praise you and extol your name forever and ever. And I thought, what a great reminder that is. You know, I need to learn that, and I need to say that as a way of putting my heart on the right track. Yeah, that's so good. And so again, whether it's a passage where you sense God may be speaking to you or a prayer like the Psalms, whatever it is that jumps out at you, note it and pray it.

Yeah, it really can be as simple as that. And the more we do this, the more time we spend in this Word, again, taking it to heart, the more I think we will find God bringing Scripture to mind that we can pray, and it'll just, you know, come to us. You know, one of the things I really like about this is it helps us be that much more aware of God, right?

To let him into our lives that much more instead of just praying about things we want or need. I mean, this can help us think about him more, praise him more, and really just let him into the moment. Yeah, yeah, like again, as I was reading in Psalm 145, you know, every day I will praise you.

It's that reminder. And when we turn the Scriptures into prayer, as the Scott pastor R. Murray McCheyne said, praying God's Word and prayers from it, not just for ourselves but also for others, it's a beautiful, powerful thing. The other day, you know, a mutual pastor friend of ours, David Beatty, was praying for me, and he knew I wasn't feeling well, and he began praying the Word of God, again, one of the Psalms, and it's clear he had memorized it. And let me tell you, I just so felt the Lord's presence in that moment, because it wasn't just David praying, it was the Spirit of God moving through his Word. Wow, that's really powerful, because, you know, Jesus set the example for us in this.

It helps us see why it matters so much. And we can start small, right? Like the beginning of Psalm 145, I will exalt you, and just pray it through the day until we know it, and then take another phrase the next day. Yeah, Robbie, one of the things I know you've been doing is memorizing Psalm 119, the longest Psalm in the Bible, and I know you've been praying it as well. Oh my, yes, praying the 119 Psalm has been so powerful in my life. So, James, why don't you wrap things up with a prayer that we really take God's Word to heart and learn how much it helps to pray it?

Let's pray. Abba, Father, your Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path, and we praise you for it, for our risen Savior, your Son. Bless us, Lord, help us to just draw close to you by praying your Word and loving you back with it in Jesus' name. Amen. You can hear more from Pastor James by visiting his website, jamesbanks.org, or by visiting Peace Church in Durham, North Carolina. May God bless you and encourage you as you pray.