Praying Scripture Back To God (repost)
I have reached such a difficult place in life, full of anxiety and depression and hopelessness, that I don’t know what to do anymore. I don’t know how to fix it. But something that I have been curious about, but never tried, was the idea of praying scripture back to God. It’s taking the promises that He has given us in His Word and praying them to Him, basically telling Him which promises we are grabbing onto and trusting Him to fulfill.
I have tried just about everything else I can think of to get through my anxiety (except medication and therapy, which isn’t out of the question). But the things I have tried only seem to help on a surface-y level. And I can tell that my soul needs something more. And so what I did was look up the verses that speak the most to me and put them into prayers. And I am going to try praying these back to God. Even just reading His promises is comforting to my soul. Here are some of the ones I have written up so far. (I’ll add more as I write them and probably repost them individually.) I hope they help you, if you need it.
(Update: Since writing this post, I have learned that praying Scripture and speaking it out loud when needed is very effective in our emotional struggles and spiritual battles. In fact, it's far more effective than any of the other techniques I've tried to calm myself down. When you are struggling badly, go to the Word for some verses that speak to your need and situation, and turn them into prayers and then pray them out loud. And write them down, too. Keep a record of them. Trust me, it helps in a way nothing else does.)
Prayer for Peace in the Face of Fear
2 Corinthians 4:8-9: “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned, struck down, but not destroyed.”
Isaiah 41:10: “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
2 Timothy 1:7: “For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and of a sound mind.”
Isaiah 26:3: “You will keep in perfect peace he whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”
Jeremiah 29:11: “’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”
Lord, I feel completely hard pressed, perplexed, persecuted, and struck down. Life is bearing down on me, and it’s too much for me to handle alone. I need You. Every moment. I need You to keep me from going under all the way. I feel so broken, and I can’t fix it on my own. Please, help me. You say that You will be my strength, that I don’t have to be afraid because You are with me. Well, I need to feel Your presence right now. I need to sense that You are with me … before I crack completely.
Lord, this spirit of fear that I am living under is not from You. I know that. But my own mind has become an enemy. It terrifies me. Please, Lord, help me. I know that I cannot fight this fear in my own strength, and so I lean on Your strength right now. You say that You give us a spirit of power, of love, and of a sound mind. Well, I need that power, love, and a sound mind right now. And so, Lord, I am making a trade with You. I am giving You my fear and anxiety and heartbreak and unanswered questions, and I am asking You to give me Your peace and power and love and sound mind in their place.
I cannot seem to make my mind do what I want it to do. But Your Word, Lord, says that You will keep in perfect peace the person whose mind is set on You. I can’t keep myself in peace; I need You to do it for me. I do not have the energy to worry about my concerns anymore, so I will trust You to worry about them for me. Help me to set my mind on You. Help me to block out the enemy’s whispers, the enemy who wants me to believe that You can't be trusted, that You have abandoned me, that I am helpless and hopeless, and that nothing good can ever come out of my life. Help me to hear only You, to trust in You, and to feel Your peace. When life hurts, I will trust that You are with me, that You have good plans for me, that You offer me hope and a future. I will trust just because You said so. And even though life is a mess, someday You will make everything good and perfect again. And until then, I will cling to You and Your promises. Lord, I need You and I trust You. My hope is in You alone!
In Jesus’s name, Amen
Prayer for When Anxiety Strikes
James 4:8: “Come near to God, and he will come near to you.”
Psalm 55:16-17, 22: “But I call to God, and the Lord saves me. Evening, morning, and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice…. Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.”
Philippians 4:6-7: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
John 14:27: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you…. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
2 Corinthians 12:9: “But [the Lord] said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in [your] weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”
Psalm 62:5: “Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.”
Lord, You say that we can present to You all of our concerns and needs, that we can cry out to You in our distress. You say that You will never let us fall, that You will sustain us, that we will be filled with Your peace if we pray with thanksgiving. Well, I am pouring out my fears, doubts, and concerns to You right now. I am weak and scared and don’t know what to do. I need You. I am casting my cares on You because they are too heavy for me. I am putting them in Your hands and letting them go because they are crushing me. (Maybe list your concerns one by one and pray them over to God.) You say that when we are weak, Your power shines. When we are weak, You are strong. Please be my strength right now.
I thank You that You always hear my cry, that You are always ready to help me when I call out to You and draw near to You. I thank You for the eternal forgiveness You offer me through Jesus Christ’s death on the cross. Because of His death for my sins, I can go to heaven. [If you haven’t accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior yet, do so now.] I thank You for Your continued forgiveness for the times I fail. We will all continue to stumble throughout life, but You promise that if we confess our sins, You will forgive them (1 John 1:9) and restore our souls. [Confess any known sins to God right now.] I thank You for Your faithfulness in the past, how You have helped me through hard times before, how You pick me up when I fall, how You won’t abandoned anyone who sincerely calls on You. I thank You that You can handle the things I can’t. That You are strong when I am weak and scared. Even now, in the pain and fear, I know You are there for me, protecting me in ways I don’t even know about. And I thank You.
Lord, please, I need Your peace right now, the kind of peace that protects my heart and mind in Christ Jesus. I feel scared and vulnerable and fragile and so broken. I have no peace of my own, no hope, no rest. And I cannot find it in anything in this world. And so I look to You right now for true peace and hope and rest. Please, Lord, give me the peace, hope, and rest that You promise those who seek You and call on You. Surround me with Your heavenly angels to protect me from the evil which seeks to cause me more pain. Thank You for being a God who truly cares about me, who won’t abandon me in my pain. Thank You for being faithful and for being there for me, even if no one else is. You are enough for me. I put my hope in You right now, not in my circumstances or in myself or in other people, and I ask that You grant my soul comfort and rest as I trust in You.
In Jesus’s name, Amen
Prayer for the Brokenhearted and Exhausted
Psalm 34:17-18: “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
Matthew 11:28: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
1 Peter 5:6-7: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
Deuteronomy 31:8: “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”
Philippians 4:13: “I can do everything through him [Christ] who gives me strength.”
Psalm 46:10: “Be still and know that I am God.”
Romans 8:28: “And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
Lord, I am crying out to You right now. I am brokenhearted, and I need You. You promise to save those who are crushed in spirit if we cry out to You. You promise to lighten my burden and to help my soul find rest. I need that right now. I am falling down before You, weary and exhausted. I admit that I have been trying to carry the weight of the world, of my world, on my shoulders, but it’s too much for me. I cannot carry the world’s problems, anyone else’s problems, or even my own anymore. I am not big enough or strong enough. But thankfully You are.
I know that You are a big God. And so I will trust in Your wisdom and Your capable hands to carry all the problems, to help me through my trials, and to make something good out of my life. I am getting off of Your throne and humbling myself at Your feet, asking You to lift me up again when it is time. And until then, I will rest in You. I will trust You to handle the things I can’t handle and to help me with the things I can. Tell me what I need to do to find rest for my soul, give me the strength to do it, and then help me to let go of everything else. Tell me which things I need to give You control over. You are God and I am not. Forgive me for forgetting this sometimes. Teach me how to let You be God of my life.
I believe that You really do care for me, love me, and want the best for me. Even if I don’t feel it sometimes, I will believe it just because You said it. And if You are a God of love, then I know I can trust You. And so I put my life – my concerns, my problems, my circumstances, my future – fully into Your hands right now. I give You all of my fears, depression, and heart wounds, and I trust You to fix them, to heal them, to use them for good, in Your time and in Your way. (Maybe list each one, on paper or out loud, and pray them over to God.) I cannot bear those heavy burdens any longer, and so I am giving them to You to worry about for me. Please, give me Your peace and Your comfort in their place.
Thank You, Lord, for being faithful, for being able to handle the things I can’t, and for promising to turn all the bad into something good, even my sins and mistakes. Please put Your arms around me right now and comfort me. Heal my broken heart. Help me learn to rest in You. Tell me that You are with me and that it will be okay, no matter what comes my way. Because as long as You are with me, I can face the future and do anything You ask me to do. Thank You for being a powerful, loving, good, gracious God.
In Jesus’s name, Amen
Prayer about Resting in the Lord
Matthew 6:25-34: “Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? . . . But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”
Psalm 46:1-3, 10: “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though the waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.... Be still and know that I am God, I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
Psalm 25:9, 37:7: “He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way… Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him…”
Lord, You know how easily I give in to worry, to stress, to fear, to feeling like I will make too many mistakes and mess everything up and be too weak to handle things. I can make myself crazy with fear, and it’s hurting me, exhausting me, crushing me. And I can’t do it anymore. You never wanted me to live a fearful life anyway. But I have let myself believe the enemy’s lies that everything rests on me, that I am alone in my struggle, that I will always fail or let You down, that You don’t care about my pain, and that I have to be big enough, strong enough, capable enough, and wise enough to handle everything. And this stresses me because I know I am not big enough, strong enough, capable enough, or wise enough to handle everything.
But it’s ok. I don’t have to be those things… because You are. You are big enough, strong enough, capable enough, and wise enough for both of us. Forgive me for listening to Satan’s lies, to the one who wants to discourage me and destroy me and pull me away from You, from the help, healing, and wholeness You offer. Forgive me, Lord, and help me grab onto Your truth instead.
Lord, most of my fears and concerns are out of my hands anyway. I can’t do anything about them, but I worry over them as if it’s my job to fix them. And this worry has been crushing me. And so right now, I give these concerns over to You. You work it out the way You want it to be. And instead, I will focus on the things You ask me to focus on – living humbly and obediently before You daily, working for Your glory in whatever I do, trusting in You, and drawing near to You daily. You are God and I am not! If You can create this world out of nothing and hang the stars in the sky, You can handle my problems too. And I will trust You enough to let You do it.
And so I am throwing myself on You right now, leaning on You instead of on myself, trusting You to make my path straight, to handle my concerns and comfort my fears. And even when it feels like everything is falling apart, I trust that You are still there. You are still in control, holding it all together, holding onto me, helping me on the journey, and working all things out for good. I don’t have to always know what to do because I know You, and that is enough. And so today I am not going to focus on fixing anything; I’m just going to be still in You and know that You are God. You are my refuge and my strength. You will straighten out my path, in Your time and in Your way, as I walk with You each day. Thank You for being my heavenly Father who cares for me.
In Jesus’s name, Amen
Prayer for When You Feel Like You’re Failing:
Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”
Proverbs 16:3: “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.”
Colossians 3:23-24: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Jesus you are serving.”
1 Corinthians 10:31: “ ... whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
Romans 8:28: “And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
Matthew 6:19-21: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in a steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Matthew 25:21: “… ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’”
Lord, you know how anxious I am, how much I feel like I am failing at everything, like everything is falling down around me and I can’t keep it all together. I need You now, Lord. I need to know that I am doing okay. (And if I'm not - if I am off-track somewhere in my life - then I need to know what You want me to do or to change so that I can get back on-track with You.) Please, Lord, speak words of truth and comfort to my anxious, despairing heart. To the part of me that feels like I’m destined to fail, no matter what I do or how hard I try. To the part of me that just never feels “good enough.”
Lord, You promise to work everything out for good for those who love You. Please take my feeble efforts and use them for Your glory. Make something beautiful out of my mistakes and messes. Sometimes I feel that’s all I am capable of – mistakes and messes. And so I thank You that You are a God who is bigger than any mistake I make and who specializes in turning messes into something beautiful. And so I will trust You to bring something good out of the bad things in my life, just because Your Word says it’s true. Lord, I might not be able to do much, but please take the little that I can do and use it for Your glory and Your purposes.
Lord, You know my heart. You know that I want to please You, that I am trying my best to do my best. Please, be glorified by that. Let it bring a smile to Your face, even if I keep stumbling along the way. Thank You that even though You know I will always stumble, You love me anyway and will turn my stumbles into something good. And even if others see me as a failure, You don’t. You see me as a dearly loved child of Yours, one who You loved enough to die for, even though You know I am so very human. But that’s okay. Because You know we are human. You made us human. And You do not ask us to be superhuman. You just ask us to be real with You, to seek You, need You, trust You, love You, and obey You. And You will make our paths straight. You will turn our futures into something good.
Please, Lord, I am leaning on You now. Guide me in straightening out the areas of my life that need to be straightened out. I don’t always know the right step to take, so I need You to straighten the path as I walk. I need You to lead me clearly in the ways I should walk. And when I don’t have the strength to keep walking, I need You to carry me. And when I don’t even have the strength to stand, Lord, please just hold me for awhile and let me know that it’s going to be okay.
Help me remember that it’s not my job to always know what to do or to be “strong enough,” but that my job is simply to let You be God, to let You lead and to follow You in daily obedience, to work at whatever I do with all my heart for Your glory and to let You work it all out for good and for Your purposes.
Help me to remember that it’s okay if You only give me small jobs that no one else sees or appreciates. As long as I am faithful in doing those small things, for Your glory, then You are pleased and consider it valuable and will reward my faithfulness in the end. No task is insignificant if You ask me to do it. Help me to be faithful in the little things as well as the big things.
The Bible says that if I commit my plans to You, Lord, they will succeed. Well, I am committing my plans to You. I am giving You the right to alter my plans, to mold my future, to change me into what You want me to be. I want to live for Your glory, Your purposes, and Your kingdom. But I need Your help to do that. Help me remember to do my best simply because it matters to You, because You see what I do and why I am doing it. And what I do matters to You, even if no one else sees it. Guide me along as I go, as I do what You call me to do each day. Lead me in the direction You want me to go. Use my efforts as You want to, whether they appear successful to the world or not.
I know that I might not see the rewards of my work and my efforts here on earth or on this side of eternity. But that’s okay. Because I just want to be successful in Your eyes, Lord, in the heavenly realms. Help me to glorify You in all I do. Help me to work for eternity, for the things that will last, not for temporary pleasures and treasures that won’t last. Help me build up treasures in heaven as I wait to hear those words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” For Your glory and Your kingdom.
In Jesus’s name, Amen.
Prayer for Forgiveness and Healing:
John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”
1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
Psalm 32:5: “Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord’ – and you forgave the guilt of my sin.”
Acts 3:19: “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.”
Psalm 103:11-12: “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”
Romans 3:22-24: “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ.”
2 Corinthians 5:17: “… if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.”
Romans 8:1: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…”
Matthew 6:14-15: “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
Luke 6:27: “… Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”
Lord, I know that sin affects my eternity and my relationship with You, with myself, and with others. And in order to have the best life possible, in eternity and on earth, I need Your forgiveness for my sins and I need to forgive others for their sins against me, as You have forgiven me.
Lord, I thank You that Jesus died for my sins on the cross so that I could be saved from hell and go to heaven. I thank You for Your promise to forgive my sins if I confess them to You. I want to be forgiven. I want to be cleansed from my sins and to experience the healing and times of refreshing that You promise. And so right now, I confess my sins to You. (Specifically confess any known sins to God right now.) Reveal to me any sins that I am hiding or that I have forgotten but that I need to confess to You. (Take some time to listen for His answer throughout the week. When He reveals any, confess them.) I thank You, Lord, that You paid for all these sins on the cross. They are already forgiven. And we don’t have to earn or work for Your forgiveness. In fact, no one can earn Your forgiveness. All we have to do, all we can do, is reach out and accept it as the free gift it is. If I have made You my Lord and Savior, I don’t have to pay for my sins eternally or be beaten down by them on earth anymore.
[If you haven’t yet accepted Jesus as Lord as Savior, do so now with a prayer that’s as simple as “Lord, I admit that I am a sinner and I can’t save myself. I need You. Thank You for dying for my sins so that I could go to heaven and for rising again to prove You are God. I accept Your sacrifice for my sins right now. Forgive me and cleanse me. I am putting my faith in You right now and choosing You as my Lord and Savior. And I want to live the rest of my life for You. Help me do that. Make me who You want me to be. Thank You for Your amazing grace, mercy, and love. In Jesus’s name, Amen.”]
Lord, I thank You that You have made me a new creation, that You have taken the old away, removing my sins as far as the east is from the west. I thank You that even though I may still have to face the consequences of my sins on earth, You are with me and will help me face it. I thank You that I am not condemned for my sins anymore in Your eyes because of what You did for me on the cross. Because of Jesus’s death, You now see me as righteous. He took my sins away. Help me to live in gratitude for that precious truth, for Jesus’s amazing sacrifice.
But Lord, even though I know this is the truth, I still sometimes feel ashamed and guilty. And I know this is from the enemy, the one who wants to hurt me, to make me ashamed, and to ruin my relationship with You and my future. In the name of Jesus, I resist the devil and his attempts to hurt me, to make me feel ashamed, unforgiven, hopeless, helpless, or unloved. (“Submit yourself, then, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Come near to God and He will come near to you.” James 4:7-8)
I am a child of Yours, Lord. You love me. You are my hope and my help. You forgave my sins. I matter to You just because I am Yours. And since I am Your child, the devil doesn’t have any power over me anymore, other than the power I let him have when I give in to him, his lies, and to sin. But right now, I am confessing my sins to You and drawing near to You. I am resisting the devil’s lies, in Jesus’s name. And according to Your Word, the devil has to flee. Greater is the Holy Spirit who is in me than the devil who is in the world (1 John 4:4). Thank You, Lord, for Your presence, power, and help. Thank You for Your victory over evil. Help me to understand what it truly means to be a child of God, how I should live in this world and do battle in the spiritual world.
Lord, I will trust You when You say that You forgave my sins, that You love me, that You made me a new creation, that You do not condemn me anymore, and that I am righteous in Your eyes because of what Jesus did for me. Please, Lord, surround me with Your heavenly angels to keep the enemy away. Surround me with Your truth and Your healing love, to help me to feel the forgiveness and love and grace and mercy that You pour out on me.
Lord, I know that part of living as Your child is forgiving other people for what they did to me. If we want Your forgiveness, we have to forgive others. This is going to be hard for me, Lord, so please help me do it. You don’t say that we have to feel like forgiving them or that we have to want to forgive them; You just say that we have to do it. And so even if I don’t feel like forgiving them, I’m going to do it anyway. Just because You said I have to. After all, if You died on the cross to forgive me for what I did wrong, then surely I can forgive others for what they did wrong.
And so right now, I am going to forgive other people for what they did to me. (Name each person you’re forgiving and what you’re forgiving them for. Tell the Lord that you forgive that person and won’t hold their offenses against them anymore. Ask Him to give you a tender heart for them, to help you see them and love them as He does, even if you never see them anymore or have to stay away from them. It’s okay if you have to love someone from a distance.)
Lord, I put these people and the hurts they caused me in Your hands right now. Forgive me for the bitterness I’ve had towards them, for the anger that kept me prisoner, and for the things I’ve done in revenge for what they did. I give up my “right” to hold their sins against them anymore. I give up the bitterness I feel and the desire for revenge. I trust You to deal justly with their sins, in Your time and in Your way. But, please, heal the hurt they caused me and the heart-wounds they’ve given me. Turn it into something good, for Your glory and Your purposes and my future.
In fact, You even say that we should pray for those who mistreat us. And so right now I pray for the people who hurt me. I pray that You would guide them to You, meet their needs, and help them find healing too. (Pray for each individual person by name, if you can.)
And help me, Lord, to live in forgiveness from here on out, in the forgiveness I gave others and in the forgiveness You gave me. Help me to see those other people the way You see them and to see myself the way You see me. Help me to feel for them what You feel for them. Help me to understand how You feel about me. Help me to remember that I am Your child, that I am forgiven, that I am loved, and that You have a future full of hope and purpose planned for me. And even if it’s not the future I thought it would be, You can still make it into something good and useful for Your kingdom. Help me learn to follow as You lead me.
Lord, I know I will continue to stumble, and so I ask You to help keep my heart sensitive to anything I need to confess to You in the future, to anyone I need to seek forgiveness from, or to anyone else I need to forgive. Thank You that You always forgive us when we confess our sins to You and that You will always comfort us and restore our souls when we cry out to You, no matter what we do. Fill me with the hope and peace and healing that is found in You alone. Thank You for Your amazing grace. Because of what You have done for me, I can be whole and healed and live a meaningful life for You. Help me to do that. Make me the person You want me to be. And help me to share Your grace, love, and truth with others who need it too.
In Jesus’s name, Amen
