Praying from God’s Word… In “Piercing Heaven: Prayers of the Puritans” there’s a prayer titled “Show me the Way from your Word.”
Puritan prayers and hymns were driven by Scripture though they didn’t generally note the texts. This was true of so many devotions by Charles Spurgeon. The more I read him the more I see how reliant he was on God’s written Word.
The prayer below, by Philip Doddridge, is atypical in that it provides some examples of the verses inspiring his prayer. It is a good guideline of how we ought to pray, and how I should pray!
The prayer:
Blessed God, I humbly adore you as the great Father of lights, and the giver of every good and perfect gift (James 1:17).
I seek every blessing from you, and especially those which may lead me to yourself, and prepare me for the eternal enjoyment of you.
I adore you as the God who searches the hearts and tries the reins of the children of men (Jeremiah 17:10).
Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my thoughts. See if there’s any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting (Psalm 139:23-24).
May I be renewed in the spirit of my mind (Ephesians 4:24).
You give me a new heart, and place a new spirit within me (Ezekiel 34:26).
Make me a partaker of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4), and as he who has called me is holy, may I be holy in all I say (1 Peter 1:15).
May the same mind be in me which was also in Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:5), and may I walk even as he walked (1 John 2:6).
Deliver me from being carnally-minded, which is death; and make me spiritually-minded, since that is life and peace (Romans 8:6).
And may I, while I pass through this world, walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7) and be strong in faith, giving glory to God (Romans 4:20).
May your grace teach me to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly (Titus 2:11-12).
Work in my heart the kind of godliness which is profitable for all things (1Timothy 4:8).
Teach me by the influence of your blessed spirit, to love you with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30).
May I yield myself to you, as alive from the dead (Romans 6:13) and present my body as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable in your sight, which is the most reasonable service (Romans 12:1)! Amen
Philip Doddridge.
Sharing is caring!
