The longer I walk with the Lord, the more I want to make sure I am praying according to His will. And there’s no better way to ensure that than to pray according to His WORD. The more we read and study the Scriptures, the more we comprehend God’s heart and His ways. That understanding gives us a firm foundation from which to launch our prayers.

I’m not saying that absolutely every request we make must have a “matching” scripture verse, but the thing we’re asking for needs to be within the general scope of God’s will as expressed in His Word. You may have heard the phrase “praying the promises” – and I like the sound of that! But it’s not necessary for us to find an exact promise in the Bible for every request we’re making of God. Psalm 37:4 says: Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart.

One thing that has to be understood about this verse is the prerequisite of “delighting ourselves in the Lord”! When we’re living in that state of mind, then it follows that the things we desire will be in line with God’s will. Another way I’ve understood this verse is that when I delight myself in the Lord, He will place within my heart those desires He wants me to have – not necessarily that He will give me all the things I desire in my own thinking, but He will cause me to desire the right things according to His plan and purposes for my life.

One of the beautiful things about the internet is the ability to quickly search for scriptures that relate to the particular request we’re making of God. For example, I just typed “scriptures about healing” into my computer search engine and came up with tons of results. A few examples:

James 5:
14 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.
15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up.

Psalm 103:
2 Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—
3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,

When we read about the earthly ministry of Jesus, we see that miracles were a DAILY occurrence! And we might be prone to say “well, that was back then, and sure, if Jesus were actually here (of course He IS here, but we seem to ignore that fact!), I’d believe that He could heal me or provide for me or restore that strained relationship . . . ” but all we need to do is stand firmly on Hebrews 13:8, which says: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Our faith, then, should be strengthened – knowing that if Jesus healed and delivered and provided when He walked on earth, He can certainly do it from His position now at the right hand of the Father where He’s ever interceding for us!

So whatever your needs may be, Jesus is able to provide them (Philippians 4:19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.) I suggest making a list of scriptures that you want to stand on when you pray and keeping the list handy to refer to when doubt or skepticism start to creep in. That way, you’ll be sure you’re praying God’s way – according to His Word and His will.

Joyfully serving Him,


Director of Music and Ministries