“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” 2 Peter 1:3-4 (NIV)
God has given us copious amounts of promises in Scripture. Further, the Apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 1:20: “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ. And so, through Him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God.” Believers have His seal of ownership upon us and He has placed His Holy Spirit within our hearts as a deposit guaranteeing what is to come. We belong to Him. We are His.
We do ourselves a great injustice if we do not know and study the promises of God’s Word, praying them over our lives and the lives of our family. I believe God delights in our praying His Word back to Him – claiming what He has given us in these promises as they are all ours in Jesus. Many of the prayers of Paul are amazing to pray back to the Lord inserting the names of ourselves, our family and our friends in them. There is no greater gift we can give those in our spheres of influence than to pray back God’s truth and promises over their lives. It is a high calling to be sure as there is tremendous blessing in doing this and it is never too late to start.
The one who lives on the promises of God lives by faith and the life of faith is the only safe life. When we pray back His promises we feed our soul with the richest of fare instead of merely praying the earthly dross of common sense and fleshly desires The life of sense is full of troubles and cares but the soul that lives on God’s promises has a perpetual calm. God desires for us to rest secure in the Lord Jesus and His promises remaining in perfect peace.
Knowing God’s Word in our hearts is a wonderful aid in praying rightly. Scripture memory is so undervalued in our time and it is most profitable for the believer. It is saturating our hearts with the Truth of His Word and it will never return void. Whenever we are praying God’s will, we can know we have what we ask of Him.
“Your promises have been thoroughly tested, and your servant loves them.” Psalms 119:140 (NIV)
“Great peace have they who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble.” Psalms 119:165 (NIV)