Consider: Reflecting on the Words of Scripture – A Year of Focused Prayer
By: Terri Prahl
In 2020-2021, at the height of the Covid pandemic and lockdowns, God pressed upon me to start sharing Sunday prayers on my Instagram and Facebook writing pages. In a time when nothing made sense and people were unsure about everything, few words could adequately describe the frustrations most of us were feeling.
There had been other times of deep grief and loss in my life when prayer seemed too heavy — when even trying to form a coherent sentence overwhelmed me. While God knows our hearts and Jesus intercedes for us, He desires for us to draw near in relationship. It’s in those times when the words in Scripture started to form my desires to seek God’s will as an expression of the words I lacked.
Over this time, the Bible directed my prayers, aligning my heart, mind, and will to the Father’s. From Genesis to Revelation, the character of God was revealed. Once I paid attention, reflecting and pondering who He really is, talking to God grew authentic and rich. My conversations with God, led by truth, grounded me in ways I had never known before.
Each weekly prayer gave concrete words to ask for hope restored, joy renewed, peace sustained, and promises realized. I never lacked for physical needs to be met, but the greater spiritual needs weren’t even on my radar most of the time previous to this new practice. I think I believed the Spirit would just increase these things without asking, but Scripture tells us to pray about everything.
When God says that the truth will set you free, it’s absolutely true — not only in an eternal sense, but in practical everyday ways that lead to flourishing.
So began my journey to create a beautiful book of prayers that showed others how to pray Scriptures and not just talk about the importance of it. I wanted to highlight the beauty of Scripture and not only focus on passages where we can insert our name (names of kids, etc.) into them as formulaic prayer. We can look for the heart of God. We can behold His likeness. We can witness the will of God. And then we can organically pray for the Spirit to transform us in those ways.
Another unique detail about this book is that all the stunning interior photos were taken by my husband, Jason Prahl. Photography is a hobby he enjoys, but he is very gifted at it. From cover to cover, you are invited into both the beauty of Scripture and the beauty of God’s world. It is enjoyable to look at!
What readers are saying about Consider!
The book as a whole is amazing. Great pictures throughout the book and the layout is easy to follow and enticing. The best part of the book is the content that brings you closer to God through praying scripture.
April – 5 Star Amazon Review
This book is beautifully made and full of encouragement. Provides 52 prayers based on scripture. An excellent resource that shows us how praying scripture helps us to discern the will of God and model our desires after His heart.
Amy – 5 Star Amazon Review