THE HERALDS DEVOTIONAL

WHEN SCRIPTURE BECOMES YOUR PRAYER PART 6: WHEN THE BLUEPRINT MEETS FAITH Hebrews 11:1 (NIV) “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” So far, we have been building a simple picture. Scripture is God’s written message. Scripture is God’s blueprint. Prayer is our response to the blueprint. Then we moved from reading to praying. But now we come to another important question: What happens when what God has said does not look like what we currently see? This is where faith comes in. Think again about a blueprint. A builder may look at an empty piece of land and see nothing but sand, stones and space. But when the architect looks at that same land, the architect sees something different. The architect sees the building that has been designed. The building is not physically there yet. But the blueprint reveals what is intended to be built. The builder therefore does not build according to what the land looks like. The builder builds acc...

WHEN SCRIPTURE BECOMES YOUR PRAYER PART 5: FROM READING TO PRAYING Philippians 4:6 (NIV) “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God .” In the previous parts, we have been building one simple truth: Scripture is God’s written message. Scripture is God’s blueprint. Prayer is our response. And in Part 4, we looked at the script and the speaker . We said that before we speak a script, we need to understand it. Now, let's take the next step. How do we move from reading Scripture to actually praying Scripture? It can be very simple. When you read the Bible, don't just ask: “What does this verse say?” Also ask: “How can I pray this?” That one question can change the way you read Scripture. For example, Philippians 4:6 says: “Do not be anxious about anything…” You can read that and move on. Or you can turn it into prayer: “ Lord, Your Word tells me not to be anxious. You know the th...

WHEN SCRIPTURE BECOMES YOUR PRAYER PART 4: THE SCRIPT AND THE SPEAKER 2 Timothy 2:15 (NIV) “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” In the first three parts, we have been building a simple picture. Scripture is God’s written message. Scripture is God’s blueprint. Prayer is our response to that blueprint. But there is something important we need to understand. Before you speak a script, you need to understand the script. Imagine an actor receiving a script for a movie or drama. The actor does not simply open the script and start saying every word without understanding what is happening. The actor studies the character. The actor understands the story. The actor understands the meaning behind the words. Why? Because the goal is not merely to say the words . The goal is to communicate the message . The same principle applies when we pray Scripture. Sometimes we find a ver...

WHEN SCRIPTURE BECOMES YOUR PRAYER PART 3: PRAYER — RESPONDING TO THE BLUEPRINT 1 John 5:14 (NIV) “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.”   In the first two parts, we established two important things. Scripture is God's written message. And Scripture is like God's blueprint. But now comes the practical question: What do we do with the blueprint when we pray? The answer is simple: We respond to it.  Think about receiving a letter from someone you love. You read the letter, and the person tells you something important. Maybe they say, “ I will be coming to see you.”  You don't read the letter and simply put it away. You respond. You might say: “ I'm looking forward to seeing you.” Or: “ Thank you for letting me know .” The message came from them, but your response comes from you. That is one way to understand prayer. God speaks through His Word, and prayer is our response to what He h...

WHEN SCRIPTURE BECOMES YOUR PRAYER PART 2: SCRIPTURE — GOD'S BLUEPRINT PSALM 119:105 (NIV) “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.”   In Part 1, we established something important: Scripture is God's written message. But if Scripture is God's message, what does that mean for the way we live and pray? Let me give you a simple picture. Imagine that you want to build a house. You have the land. You have the building materials. You have the workers. You have the money. But there is one problem.  There is no blueprint. Everyone is ready to work, but nobody knows exactly what the architect has in mind. One person says, “ Let's put the kitchen here .” Another says, “ No, let's put it over there.” Someone else says, “I think the bedroom should be bigger.” Everybody has an opinion. And eventually, you may end up with a building, but it may not be the building the architect intended. That is why the blueprint matters. The blueprint gives the bui...

WHEN SCRIPTURE BECOMES YOUR PRAYER PART 1: SCRIPTURE — GOD'S WRITTEN MESSAGE 2 TIMOTHY 3:16–17 (NIV) “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.”   Have you ever thought about what the word Scripture actually means? We use the word all the time. We say, “The Scripture says…” We say, “Let's read some Scripture.” We say, “Let's pray with Scripture.” But what exactly is Scripture? Let me put it in the simplest way possible. A script is a written message prepared by an author to be spoken or acted out. An actor receives a script, studies it, understands what the writer is saying, and then speaks the words. The actor doesn't create the story. The actor doesn't change the author's message because he doesn't like it. He receives what has been written and communicates it. Now, Scripture is not a theatrical script. But the analogy helps us understand something important. Scripture is...