Sixth Grade Lessons, Block 5—How to Contact the Lord
Week 25
Pray-reading the Word
Reading Reference: Pray-reading (booklet); Eph. 6:17-18; 2 Tim. 3:16; 1 P. 2:2-3; Rev. 22:20
Memory Verse: And receive the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which Spirit is the word of God, By means of all prayer and petition (Eph. 6:17-18a)
Suggested Songs: Reading the Bible
Scripture Reading: Eph. 6:17-18; 2 Tim. 3:16; 1 P. 2:2-3; Rev 22:20
Points to Emphasize:
What is the proper way to come to the Word? We must look at the Word of God as recorded in Ephesians 6:17-18: “Receive…the sword of the Spirit, which Spirit is the Word of God.” It is the Spirit that is the Word of God. Then verse 18 continues: “By means of all prayer and petition.” In what way are we to take the Word of God according to this passage? By means of all prayer and petition. This is what we call pray-reading!
How to Pray-Read
Simply pick up the Word and pray-read a few verses in the morning and in the evening. Just pray with the same words you read. On every page and in every verse there is a living prayer. Eventually, you will see that the whole Bible is a prayer book!
There is no need to close your eyes when you are pray-reading. Keep your eyes on the Word as you pray. For example, in pray-reading John 10:10 simply look at the printed page, which says, “I have come that they may have life.” Then with your eyes still on the Bible you can pray: “‘I have come.’ Amen! ‘I have come.’ Hallelujah! ‘I have come that they may have life.’ Praise the Lord! ‘May have life.’ Hallelujah! ‘Life.’ Amen! ‘Life.’ O Lord, ‘Life.’”
Although you may not understand a certain passage, still you are nourished while pray-reading it, because there is really something of God in His Word; the Word of God is His very breath (2 Tim. 3:16).
Though we may know all about food, yet we still must partake of some food daily. Regardless of how much we know about it, we still must eat it! To know is one thing, but to eat is another. We must not only know food, we must eat it (1 P. 2:2-3).
Pray-Read with Others
When we come together to pray-read with other brothers and sisters, there are four words we must remember: quick, short, real, and fresh. First we need to pray quickly, without hesitating. When we are quick to pray, we have no time to use our mind and to consider. Then our prayers must be short, because long prayers need some composition. We must forget about composing a long prayer and just utter a phrase or a sentence. Do it in a quick and short way. And we also need to be real, not pretending. Say something in a real way. Finally, our prayers must be fresh, not old. The best way to be fresh is not to pray with our own words, but with the words of the Bible. Every part and every line of this book can be used as a prayer, and it will be the freshest prayer!