I want to share with you what I came across many, many years ago. I don’t remember where I found this, but I wrote it down so I could always remember what I had learned that day. I will now re-copy it for your benefit. If anyone knows where this came from, please direct me to the source. In the meantime, I pray it helps you learn to pray God’s Word as it did me.
Early in the ministry I had an experience which completely changed my understanding of prayer. I started going to a prayer meeting – first one I ever attended. In came an elderly Methodist one night. When he prayed, I detected something new. “I have never heard praying like that,” I said to myself. Heaven and earth got together at once, when he prayed. There was a strange immediacy about it. The prayer and the answer were not far apart; in fact they were moving along together. The Holy Spirit was right there giving him assurance of the answer even while he was praying! Conversely, when I prayed, God was “way out there”, somewhere in the distance, listening. The answer, too, was in the distance, in the bye-and-bye.
Eager to learn his secret, I went to see him one day. Everyone called him Uncle Am – a retired blacksmith and lay preacher. “Uncle Am,” I stated, “I would love to pray with you.” At once, he rose, led me outside, across the driveway, into a red barn, up a ladder, into a hay loft. There in some old hay lay two big Bibles, one open. We knelt. I prayed first, pouring out my heart and all I had in me to God. Then he prayed – and there was that “difference” again. So there in that hay, on our knees, at eyeball level, I said to him, “Uncle Am, what is it? You have some kind of secret in praying. Would you mind sharing it with me?”
I was 24, he was 73, and with an eagle look in his eyes, he said, “Young man, learn to plead the promises of God!”
That did it! My praying has never been the same since. That word completely revolutionized my understanding of prayer. I “saw it” as soon as he said it. When I prayed there was fervency, ambition, dedication, etc. But I lacked faith! Prayer is the key to heaven, but faith unlocks the door. There must be faith – from hearing or reading the Word of God, which is the conduit for faith. Uncle Am would plead Scripture after Scripture, reminding God of promise after promise, pleading these like a lawyer pleads a case – the Holy Spirit pouring in His assurance of being heard. This man knew the promises “by the bushel”. He did not seem to need those Bibles in the hay – he prayed through the bible. He taught me the secret of effective intercessory praying. How can I ever thank God enough for leading me to such a prayer warrior and teacher?
I had not yet learned how to make the Bible my prayer book. But this experience gave me a new motivation for Bible study. I began to “dig in!” I would now search Scripture, meditate, mark its many promises, memorize, then memorize some more, and memorize again. There are thousands of promises; I believe there is a promise for every need, burden, problem, and situation that can come at any man on earth. I learned powerful praying that day, and I hope it also helps you to understand the beauty of God’s Word that He has supplied to us. Learn to plead the promises!
Pleading the Promises of God is not changing God’s mind. It is not about twisting God’s arm or forcing a specific outcome. It is about anchoring your heart and faith in His proven character. By standing on His Word, you remind yourself and God of what He has already declared in Scripture and shared with you (e.g., “Lord, You promised that You will never leave me nor forsake me…”) It is the best way to build your faith. Hearing or speaking God’s own words shifts your focus from your fears or problems to His faithfulness and love. Learn to plead God’s promises.
