Prayer and Scripture Saturation (PrayerLife)

Eagles, in Monroe

On Wednesday I'll travel to Clare, Michigan, where I'll have 5 hours to share my Prayer and Spiritual Formation materials with the staff of CapTrust (Holland, Michigan). At the heart of this experience will be giving the participants 30-45 minutes to get alone with God and pray.

When I assign students to pray, I select Scriptures for them to meditate on. My current students are using, for Scripture meditation, Psalm 23 and John chapters 14, 15, and 16. Another favorite of mine is Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7 (Jesus' incredible Sermon on the Mount).

James Houston writes: "Prayer goes hand in hand with discovering the riches of the Bible. As we saturate ourselves in the Bible's teachings and attitudes, we become "biblical people," focusing our lives upon the God revealed in the Bible. Like the writers of the Psalms, we discover that the Bible relates to all the moods, emotions and circumstances of our lives." (Houston, The Transforming Power of Prayer: Deepening Your Friendship with God, 37)



As a pastor, and as a Jesus-follower, what is the most important thing for me to do? What shall I shoot for; what shall I focus on? For me this is:

1. Abide (in Christ)
2. Saturate (in Scripture)
3. Listen
4. Obey

Scripture saturation is also essential in hearing God's voice. To hear God's voice, one should:

1. Abide (in Christ)
2. Saturate (in Scripture)
3. Hang around people who do 1 and 2.

Incorporate Scripture into your prayer times.