Read Slow Pt. 4 - Pray

The Bible is meant to be prayed and lived, not just studied and understood. Every single page is God’s way of initiating a conversation. Since the Bible consists of many different types of literature, it can lead us to many different types of prayer. The trick is very simply to take whatever you’re reading and turn it into conversation. A Psalm might move me very naturally into worship. A promise might provoke me to pray for its fulfillment in my life. Some bits might make me pray, "Lord, help me make sense of this!" But praying the scriptures is not just a helpful prompt conversationally; it can also be a powerful detonator spiritually because we are in effect praying God’s own words back to him. Jesus says ‘“ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it”’ (John 14:14). God’s character and purpose is pre-eminently revealed in his Word! So, praying the Bible is particularly powerful. When you hear stories of prayers being answered by miracles, you may be thinking, "I could never pray and prophesy like that," but the apostle Paul urges us in 1 Corinthians 14:1 to "eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy." And then a little later in verse 3, he explains that ‘"he one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouragement, and comfort." In other words, prophecy is a gift we’re all expected to desire because it's such a powerful way of encouraging others. Psalm 19:13-14 NLT 13 Keep your servant from deliberate sins!     Don’t let them control me. Then I will be free of guilt     and innocent of great sin. 14 May the words of my mouth     and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you,     O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Matthew 6:9-13 NLT 9 Pray like this: Our Father in heaven,     may your name be kept holy. 10 May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth,     as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today the food we need, 12 and forgive us our sins,     as we have forgiven those who sin against us. 13 And don’t let us yield to temptation,     but rescue us from the evil one. Turn what you read into what you pray.