Though Scripture contains many written prayers, like those found in the book of Psalms, and many teachings on how to pray, like the parables and sermons in Jesus’s ministry, this reading plan focuses on the prayers offered to God in the narratives of Scripture. Each day we’ll read a narrative that includes a prayer from an individual or group. Their prayers vary in length, type, posture, purpose, and God’s response. The secondary passages explore how the rest of Scripture speaks to the themes demonstrated in the main reading.
While each account is different, every prayer recorded in Scripture teaches us about the unchanging God who invites us to speak to and hear from Him. These prayers model for us what it can look like to be in conversation with God. As you read, notice the posture and emotions present each day.
Reading Scripture together is the centerpiece of what we do at She Reads Truth. As we spend time as a community reading Prayers in Scripture together, we encourage you to start by reading the daily Scripture on your own. Then join us here to engage and encourage one another as we respond to what we’ve read in the comments.
How does the image of a God who resurrects shape your understanding of prayer?
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79 thoughts on "The God Who Resurrects"
Oh that I would pray with such bold faith in Jesus!
He is a God who is all powerful that we can trust. He’s so much bigger than anything we face. We can trust in Him always and he will answer our prayers always for our good and his Glory!
Our sin gives death victory. Obedience to God takes the victory away and glorifies God
He is alive!! May we step aside and obey His calling so we can partake with him in these miracles! Thank you God.
Jesus can do anything at any time. No matter how grim the situation looks. I believe him❤️
That anything is possible for the one who beliefs in the Name of Jesus. And that our God is a God Who can do anything.
I know He can do all things. He hears my prayers and can and will answer. Power in prayer. There is nothing He can’t do.
Through our prayers, God can show His might
There is power in prayer and God always hears you.
God is so faithful, nothing is finished before he says it is
He has defeated death! There is no battle or struggle that we may face that can be greater than the power of the Lord.
It’s a reminder of the God’s power and what He is capable of doing, making me pray bigger prayers. It brings me to my knees with confidence and also hopeful expectation of what He can do.
That you find everything you need in the earthly/materialistic things. Because God’s love and plan for you is never ending. He overcame death. He conquers everything. Faithfulness is never ending.
this reading reminds me that we should always give the glory to God because it is not the disciples raising people it is God doing it through them!
Today’s reading reminds me that not only can I pray for physical healing, but I can also pray for life to conquer death spiritually in the lives of unbelievers. If God can raise the physically dead back to life with a breath, why would I doubt He can’t do the same with those who are dead in Christ?
I know that my God, who conquers everything, even our biggest fear as the perishable which is death, he defeats. This gives me peace and joy!
Nothing is too difficult for the Lord
The fact that God resurrects makes me dare to pray bolder prayers. God can overcome the natural laws by which our fallen planet functions- things die. What other natural laws can He overcome? What goes up must come down, an object at rest tends to stay at rest, the harder I work the more I earn.
Jesus died and rose again for our sake. And as I read these passages I saw that there’s come to the sides of the weak and dead and on behalf of Jesus spoke life back into them. So I see this as not only literal resurrection like Jesus but also spirit…that we need one another to congregate and support while we are dying or dead because of our flesh. I see God in all aspects that we need him when we are dead and we need him when we are alive but dead in our spirit. So my prayer is Lord awaken my sole, make me only focus on you and lead me to a community that we can sink into and pour life over, pray over, love with and do your works and being other souls alive to you
That God is over all, and nothing should be off-limits when asking Him to help us
God will always make a way
Knowing that God resurrects shapes my understanding of prayer as something that is powerful and limitless. It shows me that when I have faith in the Lord and ask of something with a pure heart, He hears me and brings dead things back to life. There are so many mysteries about God and I don’t think I fully understand or even believe just how powerful He is. Christ was risen for a purpose, to give us a new life and for us to be forgiven. But know that God sees and has purpose for even the most jacked up people like me, and will still resurrect me, my dreams, His purpose for me even though all else seems dead….it amazes me and I’m left in awe.
Let’s me know we are pray to an all powerful God
I don’t know. This one is painful today. God is still sovereign and good no matter how he responds to prayer. I also appreciated being reminded in week 1 of prayer during the podcast that God’s heart also breaks with our heart. There are mysteries that are for the Lord and secrets that he reveals. This one feels more mysterious. I trust God but that doesn’t make untimely death in this life less sad. Thank you God for the ultimate victory against death! Singing “O death where is your sting? Oh hell where is your victory?” Brought me to tears on Sunday thinking of all the non Christians. It’s a difficult thing.
I can pray big prayers because I’m praying to a powerful God!!!
it makes prayer have no thing we shouldn’t pray for. it shows that prayer is powerful in every since.
Prayer is limitless!
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Lainie, I used to work in healthcare and saw many times where God interviened in situations that were hopeless. I will share two stories (Sorry it’s a bit long):
The first is a little girl who had a very bad case of meningitis. She was in a persistant vegatative state from the effects of her illness. Our Neuropsych said her brain was pretty much fried and that she would never walk, talk or have any sort of quality of life. Her family was devastated, but her family was Christian and a praying family. I worked as a recreation therapist before, and I would bring sensory stimulation toys, music, anything to get a response. She was with us for three months and her family persistently prayed. One day, she started making eye contact when you called her name. Then, she started moving. Then talking. Then walking. But not really interacting, echoing everything we said. Astonished, the doctors released her. 6 months later she came back in, running and dancing asking for all of us. She remembered everything she had gone through in the hospital, wanted to thank us. She ran up to that same doctor who said she’d be a vegetable, hugged him and called him by name. He was floored. The parents graciously told him that they understood he was a doctor and was very knowledgeable but they knew God better. Prayer works. I will never forget that girl or her family.
Second story is similar. Kid with menigitis. His mom is a praying mom. He recovers pretty quickly, has some gait and balance issues. We did outtings at my hospital with the kids before they were discharged home, just so the families could get used to having their kid out with their current limitations. As we’re leaving to attend one of our outings, our psychiatrist runs up as we are loading the bus, apologizes for the last minute add on, but asks if we can add this patient to our outing. I throw together the paperwork, the NP gets the order and we’re off. He’s three at the time and we were on a shopping trip with teens so he got bored very quickly. Anyway, myself and his OT leave with him and his mother to get him some food. As we’re sitting on the bus ready to go, a man appears. I tell him that we are not the city bus, and point him to the bus stop. He tells me that he was told by God that someone on this bus was in need of money. The kids mom, raises her hand and he hands her a check. She thanks him. She looks at the check and starts crying; she had asked God for 600 dollars to pay her rent, and because her kid was in the hospital and could not work, she only had 140 dollars. God is awesome. That kid wasn’t supposed to be on that outing, and God arranged all that so that family could attend that outing to get the help they needed. I told our psychiatrist when we got back; he was floored. I worked with a lot of unbelievers and it was so cool to see God prove His goodness and existence through these things. Prayer works y’all!
Hello Shes…Because Lazarus emerged from the tomb, we can emerge from our entombment. Of…Depression, doubt & despair. Pain, panic & paralysis. Aches, anxiety & anger. Brokenness, bitterness & bewilderment. Jesus confers what none other can conceive, comprehend or convey. He calls us to the newness of life. He converts us.
G.K. Chesterton described this experience in a poem called “The Convert”:
“The sages have a hundred maps to give
That trace their crawling cosmos like a tree,
They rattle reason out through many a sieve
That stores the sand and lets the gold go free:
And all these things are less than dust to me
Because my name is Lazarus and I live.”
Thanks be to God.
♥️
“How does the image of a God who resurrects shape your understanding of prayer?” We’re always on the winning side with prayer!
Through prayer we are assured of community not just with ourselves, family, friends, and strangers, but also with our Lord. We are communing with the highest power asking for forgiveness, sending our praises, and questioning our paths not with an expectation but an assurance through our faith of having a place in His Kingdom. Whether through life or death, he holds us in the palm of his hand. Through prayer we reaffirm that we are His, and when the time comes, we will all be together in His Kingdom.
@gramsieSue praying for Steve! I work with oncology patients so I know how deeply this can hurt not only him but you as well. I am not sure if Steve has ever tried Optune therapy but I have seen success in that with patients. Praying his pain lessens for him.
@Lanie Hefferly: to your question about healing testimonies, a friend of mine was raised from the dead. But it didn’t look as dramatic as it sounds. It was a gradual change because our God is very subtle in the way He works. Or else, when He resurrected on the 3rd day, He could have hovered all over the sky of Jerusalem for a show. But He didn’t. He was subtle, modest and only appeared to his closest inner circle. Back to my friend’s story, it’s also a subtle resurrection. When she was 14 y/o, she passed away in the hospital due to heart issue (that failed to pump blood). Her heart stopped, and they needed a machine to help the beating going. It went on very long to no avail. The doctors were about to remove the breathing tube, her parents pleaded to leave it on for another 6 hours, then the pulse returned ever so gentle, and then they prayed (they were non-believers), still weak pulse. Doctors came back saying should we unplug? Parents prayed again, asked to keep it on for 8 hours, and they prayed, and they made a deal with the Lord. This gets interesting, they said if you make her alive, she is yours, and we are yours. The pulse was slightly stronger, and then steady and back. Her parents were business owners at that time, who sold a lot of their business to find a cure of her heart condition, and they were ready to give up on all earthly treasure to have their daughter, and they gave up on their business to keep their vow with the Lord. Three of them are now pastors. I learnt that the Lord wants His will to be done, not our will. Same with Hannah who was barren, who made a deal with the Lord, if I have a son, that son will be yours to do your work, and the remaining children are hers to keep. So the life that could have been lost (to hell b/c they were unbelievers), were saved, right in the hospital bed, resurrected after 2 days, with a personal covenant/contract to fulfil. They didn’t just want to be saved to live their life on the beach, they were saved to serve God and proclaim the gospel and the testimony, which is noble. They are very humble because they were so humbled by that devastating situation. Healing happens, and some cases that might be instant (like limping out of wheelchair after 10 mins praying), and sometimes a slow recovery process. I think God knows the longing and the condition of the heart, and He chooses to do what’s best for the person. If the healing could be so easy, the person can walk away, remember the 9 lepers who were healed not long after Jesus met them, on their way it was done, but didn’t return to find Him. In our modern days, many people could seek healing alone and not salvation, like the 9 lepers, as they rejoice and move on, they forget and deviate from God slowly instead of drawing close-which breaks His heart.
My husband died 15 months ago unexpectedly and having the image of a God who resurrects changes everything! My husband may not be resurrected in this life but in the new life to come I have confidence that he will be! And I have confidence that his spirit is fully alive in Christ right now! Praise Jesus!
GramsieSue I am praying for Steve as I am in my way to a conference about treating brain tumors. I pray we will find better treatments and that God would lead Steve’s medical team to answers
Our God can even raise the dead…what can’t He do!? What is impossible? What is too hard??
The image of a God who resurrects shapes my understanding of prayer by showing me that since He’s the God of making all things good for His glory, I know that none of my prayers are wasted, or pointless because He is using even my prayers for the utmost efficiency of His glory. I just have to trust.
God CAN DO anything!!! If we ask God and Christ in meaningful, humbling, revering prayer God will answer. What we have to realize is two things: God answers prayers ON HIS time table NOT our time table and He MAY NOT always answer it in the way we want. Another thing to remember is God may speaking to us in different ways — by this I mean maybe a friend will make a suggestion or maybe you will read something or maybe you will see or hear something to help with God’s answer. One last thing to remember when it comes to prayer NOTHING is too SMALL or too BIG for our Loving Father to hear and answer.
Sisters please pray for my sister and my relationship, right now it is strained and I’m not quite sure what to do or how to handle it.
Be blessed and pray your troubles away and sing praises for your blessings. Also remember we all have something to be grateful for.
This reminds me that prayer is powerful! We have an almighty God and King who listens and cares for us, praying over these requests today sweet sisters. Thank you for sharing, thank you trusting us and God with your worries and cares- give them ALL to him, he loves and cares for you.
Susan – I pray for you as well. I hope you manage through the holidays. Life can be hard, but also has so much beauty. I have found acceptance to be beautiful thing.
As I’ve read the comments today, I stopped and prayed over the requests. So thankful for the support in prayer with this lovely group.
Meghan Fox – this breaks my heart. Prayers for your son.
GramsieSue7 – Continued prayers for Steve.
I noticed that I miss some of the comments because I always read the study on my computer. When I open the app there are many more comments there. You would think they’d be linked??
Our God is so powerful that we don’t need to fear if our prayers can be answered by him. Nothing is impossible for him. We just have to be faithful in his timing and his response to our prayers.
God listens to our prayer and acts according to His will. He is able to do ALL things.
Thanks be to God!
Good morning sweet SRT sisters, happy Thursday. There is power in the name of Jesus! Our prayers may not always be answered in the way we had hoped or even wanted, BUT our God always knows BEST! I have lots to say, but out of time. BUT GOD!!! I’m so grateful to OUR GOD who has us ALL!
Praying for the Lord’s healing hands to work through my grandmother’s medical team today as she has a pacemaker put in.
@ LANIE HEFFERLY
I remember a time when I was about 9 years old and my mom was going through testing for a cancer diagnosis. This was in the 1980s. I didn’t understand a lot that was going on, but I knew it was a big deal. The Sunday before my mom went in for the biopsy to determine whether her tumor was benign or malignant, my mom and dad went to the front of the church to have the elders in our church pray for her healing. They anointed her head with oil and laid their hands on her and prayed for healing for her body. The next day, mom went in for her biopsy. My dad was able to be in the room where they take the pictures because the technician there knew him. While the biopsy was being performed, they could clearly see the tumor in my mom. Then, they saw it shrink and disappear. The technician looked at my dad and said, “I’m not supposed to say anything like this, but that was a miracle. Things like that don’t happen.” When I read that James verse, I think about this miracle in my mom’s life and how the Lord used the prayers of the elders in our church to bring about that miracle. Although mom died of cancer two years ago, the Lord gave us at least thirty more years with her than we otherwise may not have had.
Today would have been my mom’s 86 birthday. She passed away in 2019 from Parkinson’s. My dad passed away a year later. I miss my mom and dad every day, but I am especially missing her today. I find great comfort in knowing that she is with Jesus and her faith is now her sight.
Also, I have a praise to share. Several weeks ago I shared with y’all that the wife of a former student in our youth group had been diagnosed with cancer. They thought it was ovarian, but we found out yesterday that it’s not ovarian and they believe it can be taken care of with surgery. The surgery is pretty intense, but that will be all they have to do – no chemo or radiation.
Thank you all for your prayers.
Ladies, this has been a rough few weeks for Steve. He is in constant pain in every joint. I have read that Glioblastoma (brain cancer) has tendrils in his brain and that this cancer sends messages to attack your own body (autoimmune disease) so that your body doesn’t attack the cancer. It’s really a beastly cancer. So even if Steve has clear MRI’s, he still suffers from these other side effects. We have three different doctors working on his case to find some relief from the pain. I have prayed, and cried, and my adult children want to take Steve to a local church that has healing services of prayer. I have been encouraged so many times by the Scripture that God gives me. Yesterday it was from the book of Daniel where the Son of Man walked in the fire with them and they were’t scorched. I know He is walking through this valley with me. I would appreciate all your prayers.
Hugs to you all ❤️
1 Corinthians 15:55-58
The last thing my dad underlined and dated in his Bible before passing away so suddenly this past June. I got up this morning struggling with my grief and loss and living farther away from my mom than I want. Then this scripture in the reading today. Thankful for God’s promise and knowing dad is with Him but the grief is hurting today.
I’m asking for prayers for my 11 year old son who is dealing with some unkind kids at school. We’re teaching him to not let the words they speak tear him down. He knows who he is and Whose he is. He is a great kid and it hurts me so much to see him so defeated when he comes home from school. I pray that the Spirit guides him in his words and his actions. That he will be led to other groups of kids who will treat him with kindness.
Traci, I’m praying for you today. Grief does mess with thoughts and concentration. I also prefer the devotions. B
Grief is so all encompassing that its hard for anything else to get in. When our grandson died almost a year ago, my daughter described it this way…in grief we have one really big emotion and just don’t have room for anything else. My son’s death has been the hardest thing I’ve ever walked through. One moment at a time, one day at a time. Praying for all who have losses…
What a beautiful reminder that our Lord Christ is sovereign. He has victory over death. Ruby I so agree that Jesus can heal from all sin. I needed this reminder today. Thank you Jesus that we are resurrection people!
Repentance comes before resurrection in our lives. Faith comes before freedom. “The prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up; if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.” (James 5:15). We are called to confess our sins to one another; to pray for each other; SO THAT we may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect (v 16). I feel my spirit rising to action in light of God’s calling. Come out of the shadows of sin and unbelief. Release the hold of anything in this world that binds and restricts us. Walk free in forgiveness and put every hope in our Lord. Only He can save us. Only He can fulfill us. Only He can heal us and make us whole. Prayer changes things. It is one of the ways we partner with our Father. It is through prayer that we rely on what we cannot see, on Who we cannot see, our faith and confidence will grow. I want my prayers to be powerful and effective, to help bring healing and goodness to the world around me. Jesus said, “ all things are possible for the one who believes…” “I believe! Help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:23-24). Yes and amen. Until… Maranatha.
“God…who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist” Romans 4:17b.
When I really see him, my God takes my breath away!
I too wonder at how/if prayers like Peter’s and Elijah’s are answered in the same way today. I think the mystery is okay. The HOPE of the 1 Corinthians passage blows me away. No matter what types of miracles we see in our current circumstances, we have the sure and certain promise of our coming RESURRECTION, the ultimate defeat of all sin and death in our lives. This reminder infuses my prayers with hope and faith as I remember WHO I am praying to!
It reminds me that I can never ask God for too much. His power is unlimited!
He can resurrect life in all things touched by sin, not just ultimate death! Marriage, trauma, anxiety, pain, relationships. It’s encouraging to remember
@kathy my mid went to the EXACT same place. Working in healthcare I’ve seen dozens of miracles, where my pts say the Dr. Said I shouldn’t have lived but I did, but I have never seen or heard of an instantaneous healing like in the scripture today, like someone prays and miraculously they are healed immediately. So I immediately started to wonder, do we still have the power to do that today? So question she’s, if any of you has a story like that I would love to hear!!
If we believe, according to his will, great things can happen in Jesus’ name!
Angie Mills, thank you very much for your thoughts. Have a blessed Thursday ladies!
Death has been defeated and we can approach the throne boldly because God has resurrected us into new life. He is not a distant God but one who we can draw close to and cry out “Abba, Father” and I know he will listen like the loving father he is.
Because we know we serve a God who is powerful enough to raise people from the dead, we can approach His throne of grace with bold prayers for things that seem impossible to us, for nothing is impossible with God!
As God is the one who can resurrect, then He is all powerful and I should have no worries or fear in taking anything to him. He turns graves into gardens. He is mighty.
There is so much more than this life. God did not leave us to an empty death in sin, but to be renewed by His forgiveness.
Lord I pray for my daughter complete healing for her anxiety- which steals her joy and her sleep.
Lord with these women I pray for my two friends with breast cancer! I pray for complete healing this side of heaven!
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Praying to God, knowing that He resurrects, shapes my understanding of prayer in these ways:
1. We have assurance in knowing that we are praying to the all-powerful God.
2. We have hope because He has conquered His enemies of sin and death; and one day, they will be completely conquered.
3. We can have an eternal perspective because this is not the only life we know. Believers will one day be resurrected to live with Him.
4. We can also have confidence in knowing that the prayers of righteous people are helping to advance His kingdom and glorify His name.
Resurrection demonstrates that there was, is, and ALWAYS will be hope through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior! ALWAYS!!! Praise the Lord!
It makes me think of the song “Resurrecting” by Elevation. We have resurrection power living inside of us! By your spirit I will rise from the ashes of defeat, the resurrected King is resurrecting me. Father resurrect my marriage, restore my joy, renew my mind. Remind me of the power that I inherited! You can do all! Amen.
My first thought after reading these passages was to wonder why God doesn’t resurrect people today. But He does! Every time someone comes into a relationship with Christ a resurrection occurs. He didn’t come to make bad people good. He came to make dead people alive!!!
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Knowing our God as a resurrecting God, a God who can suspend the “natural” order of things, who can breathe life into dry bones, the very breath of life into dirt, reminds me that He is a God who can do anything. That all things are truly possible with Him. And that confidence inspires boldness in my requests when I come to God on His throne.
He is the God who performs miracles and is ushering in an unshakable kingdom and pushing us toward restoration; and my prayers and conversations with Him are part of that process. What an amazing realization indeed!
1 Cor. 15:19 “If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone”
God is mightier than even death. It is He we run to in prayer. It is He we should give control of every area of our lives to.
I think of the Valley of Dry Bones and the seemingly loss of all hope, BUT GOD…
Amen
Knowing that our God resurrects also gives our prayers urgency. If Christ hadn’t risen, death would be the end for us. We should be pitied more than anyone. Our prayers would just be about this world. Let us eat and drink because tomorrow we will die. But now our prayers have an eternal perspective. We don’t only have to pray for things here and now. Our prayers can change eternity. Let us pray for those who don’t know Jesus as their Saviour yet, for boldness to share the gospel, for all missionaries, for our hearts to be changed so that already here we will be more like God, for ways to bring Gods kingdom on earth. Our prayers wont be fruitless, for Christ is alive. Our God resurrects, he hears our prayers!
If our God listens to the cries of his servants and even raises the dead, then He can certainly deal with my small problems!
It also struck me today that Elijah’s first prayer went unanswered. He cried out to the Lord three times. We must keep praying!
As someone mentioned a couple of days ago, ask Him again.
How can one not believe that God listens to your prayers when He has raised people from the dead? This is a sure sign of God’s love for us and proof He hears us.