Pray-Reading is Scriptural

[Raptor]

examples of other non-LC believers sharing/teaching about pray-reading. (not endorsing any group)

10 Ways to Pray the Word of God-Debbie Przybylski, Wesley and Stacey Campbell
https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/pray...rd-of-god.html
I encourage you to start pray-reading the Word of God on a regular basis. You will be amazed at all that God has to say to you from His Word as you dialogue with Him. You will grow in your effectiveness in prayer, as God leads you into thrilling depths and greater heights in your relationship with Him. When we pray-read the Bible, God teaches us in a way that is tailor-made for us personally. The Holy Spirit prays through us and gives us new insights as we pray.

How to Pray-Read the Bible - Benjamin Schäfer
https://yearningheartsjourney.blogsp...rd-of-god.html
One way to significantly increase your time and pleasure with the written Word of God is to start praying it instead of merely reading it. Instead of reading it for information or to fulfill our bible reading plan assignments, we actually take it as God's personal word to us and use it to feed and guide our conversation with Jesus. We take the Word and pray it back to Him. Simply taken, it means having a conversation with God using His Word. This is called "pray-reading" the Word.

The Latent Power of God: Pray-Reading - Armando Rodriguez
https://www.amazon.in/Latent-Power-G.../dp/B00UZFZT88
In the past, it has been my custom to read through the Scripture on a daily basis. I have enjoyed doing so, but when I began to Pray-Read God’s Word, it changed me. As I mingle it with prayer, it has fanned to flame new desires. I have begun to see and hear God more often. My prayers are being answered. I find myself filled with a joy that I had not previously known. The Words of the Bible are being embedded into my thought patterns. I welcome the transformation even though I do not fully understand it. I have discovered a Source of Power that renews, revives, refreshes, fills, comforts, and empowers. This type of prayer has taken the word dull out of my Christian experience and has infused me with peace that surpasses all understanding.

[awareness]

Pray-reading is a way to numb the brain.

[UntoHim]

At times, that's what happened in the Local Church of Witness Lee. For some it was a way to "enjoy" and get something from the Word in a way that transcended common mental comprehension. I personally don't think there is much to gain from this kind of practice in a corporate setting, but I think it can help some in their personal daily devotional time.

[Sons to Glory!]

Originally Posted by UntoHim

At times, that's what happened in the Local Church of Witness Lee. For some it was a way to "enjoy" and get something from the Word in a way that transcended common mental comprehension. I personally don't think there is much to gain from this kind of practice in a corporate setting, but I think it can help some in their personal daily devotional time.

Yes! Hey, in the morning when I approach the word, I'm pretty "brain numbed" already! If done in a spontaneous way to reach out and talk to Jesus, I find it a very good, enriching and profitable way to be nourished in spirit!

So yes, Awareness, I can see why you'd think that from some of the corporate "one-up-manship" type of corporate pray-reading sessions I've experienced in the LC.

[countmeworthy]

Originally Posted by awareness

Pray-reading is a way to numb the brain.

perhaps the LC method..perhaps your experience numbed your brain. it did not numb mine or many others. For me, I liken my experience as to when I was learning to write. I learned how to print a certain way. I learned to write cursive a certain way. But as I grew up with more practice I developed my own writing style.

I went to grade school and high school with some classmates from first to 12th grade. We all learned how to write using the same method. But by the time we were in high school, no one wrote the same way we were taught. We all had our own writing personalities if you will. Yet we all had the SAME foundation from the same teacher(s)

I liken pray reading in the LC back in 1975 in my locality as a teaching tool to pray God's Word back to Him..

I am sorry "pray reading' has done nothing for your brain. It has had a very positive effect on me an on many others.
Also..I just don't call it 'pray reading'..the LC term nor do I recite God's Word as we were taught back in the day.

Hope you are doing well.

[Ohio]

Originally Posted by Raptor

examples of other non-LC believers sharing/teaching about pray-reading. (not endorsing any group)

10 Ways to Pray the Word of God-Debbie Przybylski, Wesley and Stacey Campbell
https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/pray...rd-of-god.html
I encourage you to start pray-reading the Word of God on a regular basis. You will be amazed at all that God has to say to you from His Word as you dialogue with Him. You will grow in your effectiveness in prayer, as God leads you into thrilling depths and greater heights in your relationship with Him. When we pray-read the Bible, God teaches us in a way that is tailor-made for us personally. The Holy Spirit prays through us and gives us new insights as we pray.

How to Pray-Read the Bible - Benjamin Schäfer
https://yearningheartsjourney.blogsp...rd-of-god.html
One way to significantly increase your time and pleasure with the written Word of God is to start praying it instead of merely reading it. Instead of reading it for information or to fulfill our bible reading plan assignments, we actually take it as God's personal word to us and use it to feed and guide our conversation with Jesus. We take the Word and pray it back to Him. Simply taken, it means having a conversation with God using His Word. This is called "pray-reading" the Word.

The Latent Power of God: Pray-Reading - Armando Rodriguez
https://www.amazon.in/Latent-Power-G.../dp/B00UZFZT88
In the past, it has been my custom to read through the Scripture on a daily basis. I have enjoyed doing so, but when I began to Pray-Read God’s Word, it changed me. As I mingle it with prayer, it has fanned to flame new desires. I have begun to see and hear God more often. My prayers are being answered. I find myself filled with a joy that I had not previously known. The Words of the Bible are being embedded into my thought patterns. I welcome the transformation even though I do not fully understand it. I have discovered a Source of Power that renews, revives, refreshes, fills, comforts, and empowers. This type of prayer has taken the word dull out of my Christian experience and has infused me with peace that surpasses all understanding.

Raptor, thanks for posting this.

The real danger people face with WL and today's Blendeds is their use and misuse of Biblical semantics -- they take spiritual realities and distort their meanings for personal gains. "Pray-reading" the Bible is just one of a long list.

Another example is their abuse and distortion of the "oneness" of the believers.

[Raptor]

more examples of other non-LC believers sharing/teaching about pray-reading. (not endorsing any group)

How to Pray-Read the Word - Mike Bickle
https://tinyurl.com/y5j9wvm3
https://www.ihopkc.org/resources/ass..._MB/auto/true/ VIDEO
When I moved from a purely “study mode” to a “dialogue mode” when reading the Bible, it changed my spiritual life. I began my journey into what I term “pray-reading” the Word. I could feel His presence in a greater way. I began to love God’s Word. When I look back on over forty years of walking with Jesus, I realize that pray-reading the Word—using the Bible as the “conversational material” in my prayer life—has been the single most significant activity in my spiritual life. This simple activity is essential to abiding in Christ.

Teaching Kids to Pray When Reading the Bible
https://www.futureflyingsaucers.com/...reading-bible/
Encourage your kids to pray asking God to give them understanding of the verses they are about to see. Have them pray that the Holy Spirit would help them to focus on the insights he will reveal. Then have your children read for their quiet time. Even better, if they are situated in a prayer place, ask them to whisper the scripture out loud. That way they are seeing AND hearing the words. As the Holy Spirit works, he will cause the words to come alive and, at times, be sharper than a two-edged sword. If you have Bible reading at the same time, when it ends, have everyone gather together. Lead your children to pray that they will obey what they read and that the Holy Spirit will remind them of the scriptures when needed. Pray as a group until the habit is formed.

Praying the Bible – Samuel Whitefield
https://samuelwhitefield.com/239/praying-the-bible
Pray reading is where, as you read, you turn phrases and verses into prayer and basically dialog with the Lord over the Scripture. This is much slower than just reading the passage, but also helps bring real life into the passage and helps apply it deeper to your heart. (But) What I mean by “Praying the Scriptures” is extracting key phrases, promises of rewards, commands, warnings, and blessings from a book of the Bible or a passage of Scripture and creating a prayer list from these verses.

[Raptor]

Here are the last 3 references about pray-reading outside the LC that I found in a simple Google search. I think we can reasonably conclude that pray-reading is scriptural, it has a rich history both in the Bible and in christian practice.


How to Pray-Read Scripture – Gary Wiens (video and article)
https://thekeyofdavid.wordpress.com/...ead-scripture/
Jesus called us to abide in Him. The foundation of this reality means talking with Him. We do this best as we pray-read the Word, which is simply speaking its truths back to Him as we read it. Learning how to dialogue with God in the scriptures is like opening your mouth under the waterfall. When you learn how to take the word of God and pray it back to Him, in a conversational way, that word begins to live inside and begins to ignite your heart in a powerful way.

Scripture prayer for our children (audio)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zpEv0JZNyI
Praying the scriptures is POWERFUL. The WORD of GOD will not return to HIM void. We must intercede and speak the WORD of GOD over our children. The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy. But JESUS has come that we may have life; and have it more abundantly. Speak LIFE over our children.

ENGAGING GOD IN THE WORD: PRAY-READING THE WORD – Jeff Mootz
http://www.uhopsf.com/sermons/engagi...reading-bible/
Jesus corrected the leaders of his day and told them that their bible study life was not enough to connect with His heart. They needed to take the scriptures and engage in a Holy Spirit dialogue with God as a Person in order to receive life. God’s life is imparted to us as we prayerfully speak His Words to Him. The truths of the actual passages are imparted to us as we talk to Him about them.

[micah6v8]

My view is that scripture can be used as a basis for conversation with God since scripture is God's spoken word.

But simply plucking one verse to pray-read (e.g. just selecting the one or two bible verses that appear in the daily portion of a Morning Revival book) probably might not be helpful unless you already are familiar with the verse and its context.

[Sons to Glory!]

Originally Posted by micah6v8

My view is that scripture can be used as a basis for conversation with God since scripture is God's spoken word.

But simply plucking one verse to pray-read (e.g. just selecting the one or two bible verses that appear in the daily portion of a Morning Revival book) probably might not be helpful unless you already are familiar with the verse and its context.

Of course we need to know the context. And it depends on the particular verse too. How many times is John 3:16 quoted by itself, but the meaning is fully contained in that verse? The main thing is God giving light and life through any verse - apart from getting His light and understanding, all of it is just dead to us anyway! Pray-reading is just another way to take it to Him in prayer and to be nourished thereby in our spirit.

And I second Raptor's motion regarding the dead-horse-beating on this subject!
I move to affirm that it's a good and scriptural practice (again, of course not in the mechanical/mindless LC way of doing it).

[UntoHim]

Many thanks to Raptor for all the good references that show what "Pray-Reading" should really look like. I would note that virtually all of the references given show this to be an INDIVIDUAL practice, and not something for use in a corporate setting, such as is done in the Local Church of Witness Lee.

Christians have been practicing pray reading since the beginning as part of any mature Christians daily divisional time. Many different words and terms have been used, but the basic concept is exactly the same - praying the Word of God back to the Lord.

I must be honest and point out that none of the references provided look anything like the pray reading that is practiced in the Local Church...not even close really. And again, none of them reference practicing pray reading in a corporate setting, which is a bread and butter practice in the Local Church.

So is "Pray Reading" as it is outlined in the various references given on this thread scriptural? Absolutely!
Is "Pray Reading" as it is practiced in the Local Church of Witness Lee scriptural? Absolutely Not!
Ok, now we can conclude
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