We’ve all been there - you kneel down to pray, say a few words, and then your mind begins to wander as you rehearse the same few phrases that you’ve prayed for years. It’s so easy to get into a routine in our prayer life. We can pray for the big, new events entering our lives easily, but how do we stay consistent in our daily prayer?
The Word of God is alive and new, and combining it with your prayer time may just be the jolt of energy you’re looking for! There are so many ways to use scripture in prayer. You can insert your name in the verses, personalizing the prayers to you. (“Thou wilt keep [your name here] in perfect peace…” Isaiah 26:3, for example.) Or you can make a list of topical scriptures and pray a handful of specific scriptures over someone battling anxiety or sickness. One model I love is praying for a person head to toe and using scriptures for each part. (You could pray Romans 12:2 over someone’s mind, for instance.)
Below are scriptures to pray over the five senses - sight, sound, taste, smell, and touch. Our senses are how we perceive and interact with the world. If we can use scripture to shape them, we will be blessed! As you read and pray the verses, let God guide and lead you as you personalize them to the situations you or your loved ones are facing.
Sight
“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” Philippians 4:8
“I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.” Psalm 101:3
“Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.” John 4:35
Sound
“And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee.” Exodus 15:26
“And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.” Isaiah 30:21
Taste
“O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.” Psalm 34:8
“Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.” Psalm 19:14
“Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.” Ephesians 4:29
Smell
“And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.” Ephesians 5:2
“And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.” Daniel 3:27
Touch
“Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.” Psalm 24:3-4
“And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment: For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole.” Matthew 9:20-21
