Want to grow in your relationship with God? I mean do you want to really grow? The answer probably won’t surprise you: Read the Bible and Pray! But did that answer discourage you because you are already doing that and still think you have a long way to go? I have good news for you. You are not alone. I have been there myself. But as I’ve walked with the Lord, God has used his word and others to help me grow in this very area. I want to share it with you!

Several years ago, I was confronted with a question: How often are your prayers connected to the scripture you are reading? I answered, “Uh, a little, I guess.” That led to another question: Does your reading and prayer life feel more like a conversation or more like two people saying what they have to say even if they never connect to each other? I answered, “The second one.” I would read. I’d ask God to help me apply the word in a five-second request. Then I’d be off in my prayers, listing my own praises, confessions, and requests.

But I learned some good news: Bible reading and prayer can be a conversation! I’d like to challenge you in the same way I was pressed in my prayer life.

Challenge: Let God pick the topic of conversation in your prayer life.

Sounds Good! How do I do that?!

Most of us know that a balanced prayer life includes praise, thanks, confession, and requests. Praise reflects on who God is. Thanksgiving is how we acknowledge what he has done. Confession is the first step in repentance where we acknowledge our need to grow and change. Requests ask God to provide for our needs or ask him for what we want.

When you are meditating on a passage of scripture, you allow God to set the conversation topics when you look to that passage to supply the knowledge and insight for your prayers.

• Praise & Thanks: What does the text say about who God is and what he does that you can praise him or thank him for? Then praise and thank him for those things!
• Confession & Growth: Does the passage point out sin that is in your life? What areas of growth are taught or implied in this passage that you need to apply to your life? Confess as needed and ask God to help you grow and change in those areas.
• Requests: We all have a prayer list. It includes things like your personal plans or concerns in your own life in addition to the list of people you regularly pray for. What truths from that passage could you pray for the people or items of concern? Now do it!

If you are anything like me, the praise, thanks, and confession aspects of this challenge came the most naturally. But I had not thought much about letting the passage direct how I pray through my “list” of petitions. But here’s how it can be. I’ll use a request for a tough job situation and a request for a sick family member as examples.

Let’s say you are meditating on 3 John 4 in which John says that he has no greater joy than to hear that his children are walking in the truth.

• Job situation: Maybe I have a difficult co-worker or a sticky situation that I need to work through. I want to ask God to take away the problem and get me through unscathed. And that’s fine! But here’s how that verse may help me pray: “Lord, I would love for you to intervene and smooth out the situation at work. Please do that. However, I know that your greatest delight is for me to walk in the truth. Help me to respond in Christlike ways to this situation. Give me the boldness to walk in integrity. Make me confident in you and not my own standing at work. This is really hard. It’s really important. But how I walk in your truth in the middle of it is most important.”
• Sick family member: “Lord, I continue to pray that you would heal ________. I know you can, and I’m asking that you will. At the same time, please help her to know your love for her is displayed through Christ. Help her to walk in the truth that you loved her, saved her, are near to the brokenhearted, and eternity of full healing awaits regardless of this situation. Give her the strength to walk in faithfulness in spite of the pain and suffering.

This radically changed the way I pray for the people in my life. God wants us to ask him our requests. But I know when I pray the Bible over people, I’m praying God’s will for them!

I would suggest that if you start praying this way, two things will happen. First, your relationship with God will grow by leaps and bounds. Second, neither your Bible reading nor your prayer life will ever be the same.

At our church, we have provided a simple prayer guide to help you pray through this. I have included it at the end of this post. I hope it will help you in your personal prayer.

There is one more piece of to the guide that I haven’t mentioned yet. On the guide, it’s labeled “Approaching God.” Find a passage on prayer that you will use for a week, month, or even a year at a time every day to open your prayer time. Maybe it’s the Lord’s model prayer in Matthew 6 or Luke 11. Or maybe the call to pray confidently in Hebrews 4:14-16. But read that passage and ask God to guide your time in the word and prayer based on what that passage says.

Great! Where do I start? I’m so glad you asked. Whether it’s your reading plan or a book of the Bible you are studying through, meditate on a passage of scripture. Then allow this passage to be the jump off point for your prayers to God in the areas of praise, thanksgiving, confession, and requests.

I genuinely pray that this will help you grow in grace (2 Peter 3:18). And I believe that God will answer it, because that’s how he works in our lives through his word (John 17:17).

If you want to join us as a church, we are going through a Bible reading plan in 2026. I encourage you to take up the challenge, and maybe use your reading in one of the four reading sections as your passage for daily prayer. Physical copies of the reading plan are available at the church. But you can also join us on the Bible app. Just follow this link: https://bible.com/reading-plans/155/together/77633873/invitation?token=6f1JNoDghMxXPzj1i-GnGQ&source=share

I am indebted to some authors who wrote some really good books that helped me get here:

• Timothy Keller’s Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God
• Donald Whitney’s Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life and Praying the Bible.

The Guide:

Prayer Guide – Date: _______________

Approaching God: Pray through a text about God to focus mind and prayer. Text: _________________________

Scripture Meditation: Use as a guide to pray scripture in all 3 areas
Passage: ________________________________

• Attributes to praise & Actions for which to give thanks:

• Calls to confess and grow:

• Requests: Biblical key thought –
  • Plans

  • Concerns

• Specific People: Biblical key thought –
  • Family immediate:

  • Friends:

• Others:

(Update 3/19/20)

Plan for Church Services

The following is our plan to cooperate with community, state, and national efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19:

– We have canceled all services, including Sunday morning.
– We will be live streaming a service at 11:00.  
– Please see below for a worship guide that will help you prepare to worship with us at 11:00 Sunday. 
– Lord willing, we will be live on Facebook & YouTube Sunday morning. The links will be posted here, on the main page and on Facebook. 
– We will update you on a week-by-week basis going forward. 
– Please watch the message above from Pastor David explaining the decisions.
– We understand that many are hurting financially due to the crisis. For those who are able and willing to continue to worship through giving, we encourage giving online. (Click here to learn more about e-giving.)

May the Lord bless you,
Your Pastors

Worship Guide: Worship Guide_032220

Pastor David Johns preaches on the principle from Psalm 37:4 by comparing two biblical mothers. One of them had godly desires for her son, while the other had selfish desires for hers. 

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