Habakkuk quoted snippets of psalms and proverbs as he spoke with God: “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?”(Hab. 1:13).

The large window at Baltimore-Washington International Airport framed a gray afternoon. Our flight was late, and the seats in the waiting area were full. Judy and Bunny stood beside me to pray–something we often do before and after flights.

I was down about a number of things, including the news that we lacked funds to launch an outreach to disabled children in several Eastern European orphanages. Reading the sadness in my eyes, Bunny reached for my hands and Judy’s. After praise and thanksgiving, she prayed in a soft voice laced with confidence: “Lord, send forth the corn and the wine and the oil. Send forth the early rains . . . the late rains . . . and produce a wonderful crop of blessings.” I recognized the strains of Joel 2:19: “The Lord will reply to them: ‘I am sending you grain, new wine and oil, enough to satisfy you fully.'”

Just as Bunny was repeating the part about corn, oil, and wine, I sensed the presence of a fourth person who edged between Judy and me. Then a fifth person crowded in with us, and together the newcomers punctuated my friend’s prayer with “amens.”

When we finished, we hardly had time to exchange names with our unexpected prayer partners–a married couple. Before rushing to catch their flight, the husband folded a $100 bill into Bunny’s hand. Bunny waved the bill in the air like a flag of victory. “Yea, even while I was speaking in prayer, the angel came with the answer!”

“Joni,” she continued as she tucked the bill in my coat pocket, “this is the firstfruits of what God will supply!”

She was right. And it didn’t surprise me. When Bunny prays, things happen. I’ve learned, through years of interceding with her, that Bunny’s prayers have power with God.

God’s Accent
I believe that Bunny’s effectiveness in prayer is, at least in part, because she has learned to pray in the language of the Father. Bunny even responds using God’s language: Her “yea, even while I was speaking in prayer” was a paraphrase of Dan. 9:21.

I have learned to follow Bunny’s lead and season my prayers with the Word of God. It’s a way of talking to God in His language–speaking His dialect, using His vernacular, employing His idioms. (I’ve often teased Bunny that I hear God’s accent when she prays.)

If praying “in the name of Jesus” comes as naturally as breathing, we need to pray “in the Word” just as naturally. The Bible underscores that there are two things God honors above all else: His name and His Word. “For you have exalted above all things your name and your word,” wrote David in Ps. 138:2. Prayer spiced with God’s Word is prayer exalted.

This is not a matter simply of divine vocabulary. It’s a matter of power. When we bring God’s Word directly into our praying, we are bringing God’s power into our praying. Hebrews 4:12 declares, “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword.” God’s Word is living, and so it infuses our prayers with life and vitality. God’s Word is also active, injecting energy and power into our prayer. Listen to how God described His words to Jeremiah: “Is not my word like fire . . . and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?” (Jer. 23:29). Scripture gives muscle and might to our prayers.

Your Prayer Book
I’m convinced God enjoys it when we consciously employ His Word in our prayers. It shows Him the importance we attach to our requests. It demonstrates we have thought through our petitions and praises and lined them up against the plumb line of Scripture.

It underscores to Him the high regard and appreciation we attach to His Word and demonstrates that we sincerely seek His heart in the matter for which we pray. Using God’s Word in prayer–Scripture praying, as it is sometimes called–gives a divine familiarity to our words, earmarking us as servants who possess a working knowledge of the most powerful prayer book ever written: the Bible.

Saints in Scripture practiced this type of praying. The prophet Habakkuk appealed to God on the basis of His Word during a time of deep national distress: The ruthless Babylonian army was poised to sweep across the country like water from a ruptured dam. Yes, the prophet agreed with the Lord that Judah was deserving of His judgment. But how could God use a people even more evil than they as His rod of discipline?

Habakkuk quoted snippets of psalms and proverbs as he spoke with God: “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?”(Hab. 1:13).

David pleaded with God in prayer based on what he knew to be true about the Lord from Scripture: “Remember, O Lord, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. . . . According to your love remember me, for you are good, O Lord” (Ps. 25:6-7).
Does it sound cheeky to remind God of His character and His promises? Does it seem presumptuous? Perhaps, if you are unfamiliar with the prayer habits of saints such as Habakkuk and David. Nevertheless, the Lord would have us claim His love, plead His holiness, remind Him of His goodness, recount His longsuffering, present to Him His steadfastness, and pray in His power. In Is. 1:18, God invites us: “Come now, let us reason together.” He encourages our discourse.

Word-woven Prayers
Often I attend prayer meetings where various requests for healing, finances, safety in travel, or job promotions are divvied out. Naturally, we desire prayer for such things.

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