Praying Scripture: Luke 8:48

It's been a while since our last praying Scripture post, but I think this one is too good not to share!

The story of the woman with the issue of blood is so encouraging. Twelve years of struggle, countless visits to doctors, spending her life savings to try and find a solution, nothing that helped, no beneficial remedy, so much frustration...and it's fixed as soon as she comes in contact with the Messiah.

Who doesn't need to be reminded of this story? Maybe what you need healing for isn't an issue with blood, or even a physical ailment. Maybe you've struggled with depression or anxiety. Perhaps there is addiction or an ongoing battle with a specific sin in your life. Have you been plagued by doubt or fear? Is there a family history of heart disease that worries you? No matter how resigned you may be feeling to whatever struggle you have, contact with the Messiah can bring healing and transformation to you!

I wonder about the rest of this woman's story. We know she was desperate for healing, to the point where she had spent everything she had trying to get help from doctors. Did the people in her life realize her desperation? When they learned of her plan to touch Yahusha, were they supportive or did they think it was yet another waste of time? Maybe they even tried to talk her out of going to see him that day. Did they tell her she just needed to accept this issue and get used to it? I'm sure they had a long list of reasons why the Messiah wouldn't help her. Nevertheless she persisted. And Yahusha healed her that day.

And he said to her, "Take courage, daughter. Your belief has healed you. Go in peace." -Luke 8:48

There can't be a lot of sentences more beautiful than that. When the Messiah calls you daughter and tells you that you can have peace and that you're healed...there's not a lot more you could ask. I find myself wanting that kind of faith, the kinds that heals. We all need that.

A prayer from Luke 8:48 (along with other Scripture):

YHWH, thank you for the incredible honor and gift of being called your child! Help me to live out of the courage that comes from knowing I belong to you. I ask that you would transform my mind by changing the way I think, so that I might have the kind of faith and beliefs that are healing - not only to myself but to those in my life as well. Thank you that all things are possible with you, and that just a touch from you is healing. Help me to be persistent in getting to you, no matter what anyone else says. Your word says that your garment fills the Temple. Thank you that it is plenty wide enough for each of us to grab onto for healing. Let your peace rule my heart and help me to live in the wholeness you have for me.

Praying Scripture: Ephesians 3

We've talked before about Praying Scripture as a way to speak the promises of YHWH over your life. Prayer is miraculous in and of itself but mix in the very words of the One you're talking to? That's something extra special indeed. Reading Ephesians yesterday I was struck by the beauty Paul's words, particularly in 3:16-19. Pray them for you and yours today.

A prayer from Ephesians 3:16-19.

YHWH, according to the riches of your glory strengthen us with might by Your Spirit. Restore our inner selves and the health of our physical bodies. Let Your Messiah dwell in us; give us the faith to live as Yeshua did. Let our roots go deep into the soil of your unfathomable love; give us a strong foundation in understanding of Your word. Let us and all the Set Apart believers experience the height, depth, length, and breadth of Your love. Let us experience who You are. Let us know the love of Yeshua so that we can be filled with Your truth. By Your almighty power do in us and through us more than we can ask or imagine, according to Your power that works in us. To You, YHWH be all the glory, in us and in all of your people, in all generations forever and ever.

Praying Scripure: Tehillim 1

In Isaiah 55:11 YHWH says that his words aren't empty and he accomplishes what he intends through them. So praying his words is a pretty genius idea, right?

I've broken down the first Psalm and added corresponding prayers to each verse. You definitely don't need to use my words verbatim but I wanted to give you an idea of what I meant by, "praying Scripture." Give it a try and you will find it deeply meaningful. Not to mention, simple to do. Feel free make this a prayer for your family or someone else.

Tehillim/Psalm 1

Verse 1: How blessed are those who reject the advice of the wicked, don't stand on the way of sin, or sit where scoffers sit!

Verse 1 prayer: YHWH, don't let me listen to the wicked or take ungodly advice, and don't let me live my life in sin.

Verse 2: The blessed delight in YHWH's Torah; on his Torah they meditate day and night.

Verse 2 prayer: For I want to delight in your Torah. Give me understanding of your words and write them on my heart.

Verse 3: Like trees planted by streams they bear their fruit in season. Their leaves never wither, everything they do succeeds.

Verse 3 prayer: Plant me like a tree beside your living water. Prune me to bring forth fruit in season, for I want to be pleasing in your site. Thank you that you won't leave me to wither; and thank you for blessing my life.

Verse 4: Not so the wicked, who are like chaff driven by the wind.

Verse 4 prayer:You do not bless those who choose wickedness; they are like chaff that the wind blows away. YHWH, drive wickedness out of me and out of my life.

Verse 5: Because of this the wicked won't stand up to the judgment, nor will sinners at the congregation of the righteous.

Verse 5 prayer: For they shall not stand in your family, and there won't be wrongdoing in the congregation of the righteous. Let me be righteous before you so that I belong in your congregation.

Verse 6: YHWH watches over the way of the righteous but the way of the wicked is doomed.

Verse 6 prayer: Thank you that the ways of the wicked will perish but that the righteous will walk in your ways. YHWH, teach me to walk in your ways so that I may be considered righteous in your eyes.

Shabbat shalom!