I have a confession; prayer bores me. When I pray, I either feel sleepy, or my mind wanders to other things. Often, I do not know what to say and repeat the exact phrases every time, like reading a script. All these have contributed to my having a dry praying life. Whereas I dash to read my Bible, I drag my feet to pray. It should not be so.
Prayer should be a thrilling experience where we get to talk to the most exciting and wonderful being in the world. So I began a quest to revive my prayer life and got a few books about it. The first on the list is Praying the Bible by Donald S. Whitney.
In this book, Whitney explains why many Christians struggle with prayer. It is because we say the same old things about the same old things, and it gets boring.
He says, “The problem is not that we pray about the same old things; rather, it’s that we say the same old things about the same old things. It seems that virtually everyone begins to pray this way sooner and later, and it is boring. And when prayer is boring, we do not feel like praying. When we do not feel like praying, it is hard, at least in any sort of focused, heartfelt way.”
Having realized this problem is familiar to almost all Christians, Whitney wrote this book to provide us with a simple solution that will transform our prayer life—praying the Bible.
Praying the Bible is merely praying God’s words back at Him. It is “taking words that originated in the heart and mind of God and circulating them through your heart and mind back to God.” It is not a new practice, and throughout the ages, many saints, like the puritans, have used it with great success.
Although all Scripture is profitable for prayer, this book is primarily about praying the Psalms. Why? Because as Gordon Wenham said, “Psalms are designed to be prayed.” So Whitney explains at length how to pray the Psalms, tells the benefits, pitfalls, common objections (e.g., using the Lord’s prayer), and provides a “Psalm of the Day” chart. Whitney also explains how to pray other books of the Bible.
Praying the Bible is a short book ( you can finish it in one sitting); nevertheless, it is powerful. Whitney gives clear and practical tips that will undoubtedly improve and transform your prayer life. When I prayed the Psalms for the first time, I noticed several remarkable changes.
First, I did not get bored or sleepy. Second, I did not run out of words; I ran out of time. Third, even when I prayed about the same old things, it was not in the same old way; the psalm inspired different wordings. Fourth, my prayers felt more biblical, and I included all the crucial prayer elements—adoration, confession, petition, and thanksgiving without thinking about it. Fifth, I prayed about things I did not expect to pray. And sixth, my prayers had more heartfelt adoration than my automatic praises.
I highly recommend Praying the Bible even if you have a vibrant prayer life. Praying God’s Word back at Him is an incredible experience that will enrich your time with the Lord and deepen your intimacy with Him. And this little book is an excellent guide.
I will end with a favorite quote from the book, “By this means. The Spirit of God will use the Word of God to help the people of God pray increasingly according to the will of God.”
