Prayers Grounded in the Word
Remember, I beg you, the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, If you trespass, I will scatter you abroad among the peoples:but if you return to me, and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts were in the uttermost part of the heavens, yet will I gather them from there, and will bring them to the place that I have chosen, to cause my name to dwell there. — Nehemiah 1:8-9
And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. — Matthew 15:27
Author
Dr. Roberto Miranda
Summary: When we pray, we should ground our requests in God’s Word, promises, and works, ensuring that what we ask for is in harmony with Scripture. In this way, we can come before the Father as one presenting an appeal based on already established principles, with greater authority and confidence. Jehoshaphat serves as an example by recalling God’s promises and mighty acts in Israel’s history. This way of praying applies the principle of precedent: God’s previous actions provide a firm basis for expecting consistent action in similar situations. Therefore, we need to know and study the Bible carefully, trusting in God’s constancy and faithfulness.
When we pray, we must base our petitions on the Word, on the specific actions and promises that God has recorded in it. This way of approaching prayer—praising God and reminding Him of His promises and His deeds of old—has a unique virtue.
One of the things we must do when we are incubating and cultivating a miracle is to pray rooted in the specific word of God. We must make sure that what we are asking for fits and flows in harmony with the declarations of Scripture. This is important.
When we base our petitions on the Word and on the promises of God, we are actually making a formal, judicial appeal before His throne. We are like lawyers coming before a judge and saying to him, “Your Honor, the law says such and such, and I base my appeal on that established legal principle.” And God submits to His law! He submits to His principles. Therefore, when we are thoroughly familiar with the Word of God and know the principles of spiritual life well, we can come before the Father with greater authority and confidence.
That is why it is important to know and study the Bible, the declared Word of God. If you study this prayer carefully, you will see how many times Jehoshaphat reminds God of His Word, His promises, and His mighty acts throughout the history of Israel. He is employing what is known in the judicial world as the principle of precedent. According to this legal principle, the previous formal acts and decisions of a government or judicial system establish an unshakable basis for future actions in similar situations. It is assumed that a government will always act consistently. And God, as we well know, is the most consistent and faithful Being in the entire Universe.