Thoughts for Life: #69 Bathe Your Soul in Scripture to Increase Your Faith

Dr. Wesley L. Duewel- 4. Bathe your soul in Scripture to increase your faith. "Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ" (Rom. 10:17). This is not only true for unsaved people; it is true for the nurture and growth of your faith also. Your faith will never grow without immersing yourself in God's Word. The more you saturate your soul in God's Word, the stronger your faith will become.

5. Memorize verses of Scripture which will be useful in payer. It is so important to memorize Scripture to be used in witnessing and prayer. By all means memorize the Lord's Prayer. You will want to pay this in your private devotional times again and again. (Google image, Unfolding Scripture)

In the next points you may find several verses to memorize, if you have not already done so. They will bless your heart as the Holy Spirit brings them to your memory.

6. Use Scripture in praising and worshiping the Lord. The role of praise is discussed in chapter 18. Here are some good sample passages to use in prayer: 1 Chronicles 29:10-13; Nehemiah 9:5-6; Psalm 8; 27:4; 36:5-9; 40:5; 71:14-19; 73:23-25; 103:1-5, 20-22; 108:1-5; 115:1; 118:28-29; 139:17-18; 145:1-21; Isiah 25:1; Jeremiah 32:17-21; Romans 11:34-36; Revelation 1:5-6; 4:8, 11; 5:12-13; 7:12; 15:3-4.

7. Use Scripture to confess your unworthiness. It is such a blessing to tell the Lord how unworthy you are of having your prayer answered! In the following verses you may find phrases and passages of great prayer value, especially as you adapt them to your situation: Genesis 32:10; 2 Samuel 7:18; 1 Kings 3:7; 1 Chronicles 29:14-16; Jeremiah 1:6; Luke 7:6-7; Acts 20:19; Ephesians 3:8.

8. Use Scripture prayers and prayer expressions. Often you will want to use phrases or whole verses of Scripture in praying for needs. These will say just what you want to say. You will not have time to look up the verses each time you pray.

But if some of these are hidden in your heart, God will make them a great blessing to you. In your reading, adapt these sample passages to your personal prayer:

Prayer for cleansing: Psalm 19:12-13; 51:1-10
Prayer for blessing on your Scripture reading: Psalm 119:15-16, 18, 97, 103-105
Prayer for blessing on your work: Psalm 90:16-17
Prayer for fulfillment of God's promise: 2 Samuel 7:25-26, 28; Psalm 119:81-82, 162
Prayer for guidance: Psalm 5:8; 25:4-5; 31:3; 43:3; 86:11
Prayer of heart searching: Psalm 26:2-3; 139:1-10, 23-24
Prayer of hunger for God: Psalm 42:1-2; 61:1-5; 63:1-8: 84:1-2; 123:1-2; 130:5-6; 143:5-8
Prayer for God to listen and help: Nehemiah 1:5-6; Psalm 5:1-2; 17:1; 19:14; 27:8-9; 69:16-17; 70:1, 5; 121:1-2; 130:1-2; 142:5-6
Prayer of love for God: Psalm 18:1; 139:17-18
Prayer for personal growth: Romans 12:1-2; Ephesians 3:16-21; 4:12-16; Philippians 1:10-11; 3:12-15; 4:4-8; Colossians 1:9-12; 3;12-17; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24; 2 Peter 1:5-8
Prayer for revival: Psalm 85:6-7; Isiah 43:18-19; 44:2-3; 51:9; 54:2-4; 55:6-13; 57:14-15; 59:12-13; 62:1, 10; 64:1-5
prayer for assistance in prayer warfare: Ephesians 6:10-18

9. Claim the Bible promises when you pray. Oh, what a wealth of promises can be found in God's Word! We have already discussed how you can make them your own.

10. Use Scripture to rebuke Satan. God's Word is the sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:17). Jesus quoted Scripture to defeat Satan and drive him away (Matt. 4:1-11). You have full authority to do the same. Do not be flippant when confronting Satan, but do not fear him. Use Scripture facts and promises to resist him. God's angels will enforce your use of Scripture and send him running (James 4:7).

(Chapter 19, pp. 149-151, italics added for emphasis)

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Let's pray-

As faith comes from hearing Your Word shared in our churches, in small groups or online, we need to allow our faith to grow, to build strong faith within us by taking heed to what Your Word tells us.

Our memorizing verses of Your Word will prove useful in our prayer times and in the witnessing of our faith to others. Knowing the "Lord's Prayer," is very important too, as it covers it all, and makes us ready to receive from Your Spirit in us.

Dr. Duewel gives us many verses to investigate and to choose from. Hopefully, my readers will take note of special ones they believe will help them in their prayer time to become more effective pray-ers. We are then encouraged to do the following:

Use Scripture in praising and worshiping the Lord
Use Scripture to confess our unworthiness
Use Scripture prayers and prayer expressions
Claim the Bible promises when we pray
Use Scripture to rebuke Satan

As Your Word is the sword of the Spirit, Jesus quoted Scripture to defeat Satan and to drive him away. We have authority to do the same. Thank You that we do not have to fear Satan, for with Christ's promises we will resist him!

In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen

Today's Bible verses-

James 1:17 (NIV) "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."

Philippians 4:19 (NLT) "And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from His glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus."

Romans 8:1 (NKJV) "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit."

Our quote for today-

~ Harry A. Ironside- "A lukewarm church is a powerless church. There is nothing about it to make unsaved men believe its testimony is worthwhile. But a church characterized by fervent love for Christ, and energetically reaching out after the lost makes an impression even upon the most ungodly that it is hard to ignore. When the churches themselves heed the command to repent and get right with God, we may expect to see repentant sinners flocking to their alters."

Herald of His Coming

Vol. 79 No. 5 (941/942) May/June 2020, p. 3

Words of wisdom-

~ Sometimes we have an irritant that's causing us inner pain and emotional discomfort. If we'll ask the Lord for His advice in finding the root of it, He'll reveal the problem and help us deal with it before it can cause serious damage to our souls. He waits on us to ask for His help.

My answer for my post on Saturday, The Mark of the Beast

This message is so important to Christians and non-Christians alike, as the Rapture will happen in the not-too-distant future, and we have a lot of "work" to do to win souls to Christ before then. He wants us to make it clear, that if they don't accept Him as their Lord and Savior before the Rapture, they'll have to have enough faith to stand against the Devil's plan to make them obey him, rather than to trust in Jesus for their souls.

It was reported years ago that guillotines have been set up all over our country for that time, just to behead those who refuse the mark because of their faith in the Lord. It will be a dreaded time for sure. The faith they do have, will be greatly tested by the beast's offer, as they'll not be able to sell or buy anything if they refuse to take the mark. If they do allow the implant, it seals their souls to hell for eternity. Pray for those you know to receive Christ as Savior before that time comes!