Closer to God with 1-Minute Prayer
Relationships require communication to flourish, and our relationship with our Heavenly Father is no different. God speaks to us through his word (i.e., the Bible) and we speak to God through prayer. Can something as simple as a 1-minute prayer make us feel closer to God? An experiment was ran to find out. The results suggested that, yes, even praying for just 1 minute can increase our feelings of closeness to God.
This document discusses praying with scripture.
The Bible is filled with wisdom and guidance on how to pray to approach Jesus. Consider using a passage from the Bible as a guide for your prayer. You might choose a verse that speaks to your current situation or one that provides encouragement and inspiration. By using Scripture as a guide, you can feel more connected to Jesus and His teachings.
Using Scripture When You Don’t Know What to Pray
When we use God’s own words by praying Scripture, we’re aligning ourselves with His heart and praying according to His will.
The German martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer reminds us that when we pray Scripture, we are praying with Jesus: All prayers of the Bible are such prayers which we pray together with Jesus Christ, in which he accompanies us, and through which he brings us into the presence of God. Otherwise there are no true prayers, for only in and with Jesus Christ can we truly pray. If we want to read and to pray the prayers of the Bible and especially the Psalms, therefore, we must not ask first what they have to do with us, but what they have to do with Jesus Christ.³
Begin by praying a Scripture that prepares your heart for connecting intimately with God.
- “Gracious God, I come boldly to Your throne. I need Your mercy and grace in my life” (Based on Hebrews 4:16).
- “Lord, I need you. Please open my eyes to see the wonderful truths in your instructions” (Based on Psalm 119:18).
Ask the Holy Spirit to help you pray.
God knows your heart! And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. — Romans 8:26-27 (NLT)
Praying Scripture teaches us what to pray.
Praying God’s Word gives you the exact words to say. Sometimes it’s nothing like what you thought you should be praying! Sharper than any two-edged sword, these words pierce to the heart of the matter better than our own words ever could. God’s Word “discerns the thoughts and intents of our hearts,” not only giving us the words to pray but also giving clarity to the situation and shifting our perspective (Heb. 4:12).
Praying Scripture aligns your requests with God’s heart.
When we start praying God’s words instead of our own, our prayers tend to change. We begin to ask Him to help us not “lean on our own understanding” (Prov. 3:5) and to search for His “thoughts [that are] higher than [our] thoughts” (Isa. 55:9). Not only does this elevate our prayers to a higher perspective, but it also allows us to remain peaceful and confident. We know that we are praying for the right things and that God hears us. The rest we can leave at Jesus’ feet.
Praying Scripture changes our heart’s posture.
The benefits of praying Scripture are not limited to the answers we receive. As most of us probably know by now, we don’t always like the answers we get. Praying Scripture doesn’t always change the situation like we want, but it always changes the situation of our heart. And that is a change that will stay with us forever and affect every future difficult decision we must make.
- Praying Scripture allows us to recognize when God answers our prayers.
When you ask for something specific, you are more aware of receiving it. Remember when you were a kid wishing for a puppy and you’d look for any possible clue that your parents were getting one? You’d pick up on things that you’d not have paid attention to otherwise, because your mind was more attentive to them. The same goes with asking for specific things in prayer. As you pray the same scriptures again and again, your mind becomes more conscious of those requests, and you begin to see God’s fingerprints where you may have missed them otherwise.
- Praying Scripture empowers you to leave your requests with the Lord.
So far, we’ve said that praying Scripture gives us the exact words to pray and the confidence that we are praying for the right things; it changes our perspective on the situations we’re facing; and it allows us to see God’s answers more clearly as He gives them. All of these benefits work together to enable us to fully cast all our cares on Jesus while our heart and mind are protected by the “peace of God, which surpasses all understanding” (Phil. 4:7). We no longer must feel like it’s all up to us to make things work out. As the old hymn goes, we can “take our burdens to the Lord and leave them there.”
Five verses to pray
Psalm 143:8
Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.
Each time we pray this verse, it reminds us of God’s steadfast love and trustworthiness, even though we don’t yet know how everything will play out. It shifts our perspective from figuring things out on our own to relying on God’s providence.
Psalm 84:11
For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.
Not only does this verse remind us of the light and protection God provides, but it also reminds us that God will not hold back any good thing from us. Even in this big decision we’re wrestling with, God’s desire is to give us good things.
Psalm 3:6
In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
By our continued prayer, we are already acknowledging God in our big decisions. By praying this verse, we are asking Him to make the way clear and straight before us while reminding our hearts that He has already promised to do so.
Isaiah 30:21
And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.
This is the exact scenario we want, isn’t it? And here it is, already in God’s Word and already a desire of His heart. As we pray God’s precise words and then listen for the Spirit’s prompting, we will be more aware when He whispers in our ear which way to go.
Proverbs 16:3
Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established.
The original Hebrew word for commit means “to roll away.” This verse teaches us to roll the decision we make to the Lord and then hold tightly to the promise God made to establish our plans. Praying this verse increases our confidence in our decision-making and encourages our hearts as we wait to see how everything will turn out.
