Philippians 1:9-11 9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
In an earlier devotional I wrote about the power of praying scripture particularly in the context of being able express to God His greatness. We can personalize the words of scripture and they enable us to express what is in our hearts in a way that is Biblically sound. Today I would like us to look at praying scripture for one another.
How often have we struggled in our desire to pray for people over the words to use or over the issue of “What is God’s will for them?” How often do we use words that just express a general positive for someone such as, “Lord, I pray that you will bless so & so.”? Within each of us is a desire for our prayers for others and ourselves to become more faith-filled and effective.
Consider today’s verse which is a prayer by Paul for the Philippians. Pick someone whom you love, care about or are concerned for and personalize these verses – this prayer – for them. I am going to pick Mike Kraynak, our Rector at St. Luke’s and a wonderful family friend:
“Lord Jesus, I pray that Mike’s love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that Mike may be able to discern what is best and that he may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ. I pray that MIke will be filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through You—to the glory and praise of God.”
Not only is that a wonderful and powerful prayer – we also have confidence that it is God’s will for whomever we might pray it for. Let’s pray these verses for ourselves:
“Lord Jesus, I pray that my love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that I may be able to discern what is best and that I may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ. I pray that I will be filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through You—to the glory and praise of God.”
The Bible teaches that the prayers of a righteous man are powerful and effective (James 5:16b). Praying scripture is one tool that we have to help us become such individuals.
Don's Devotionals: Learning to love God 
DS,
Your words about praying scripture is so right-on! Nothing pleases our Lord more than reminding Him of what He has promised and claiming that promise for ourselves and others.
Peace,