One spiritual discipline that has deeply shaped my prayer life is praying the Scriptures. It is helpful when I don’t know what to pray, when my words feel thin or distracted. This practice gives me a simple place to start: if I don’t know what to say to God, I can pray what God has already said.

This practice has been encouraged by teachers like John Piper, who often points out that Scripture doesn’t just inform our prayers—it forms them. Instead of coming to God trying to generate meaningful language, we let God set the agenda. Prayer becomes a response rather than a performance.

Praying Scripture is not new. It is woven throughout the Bible itself. Psalm 119 is essentially one long prayer built from God’s instruction. Daniel’s prayer in Daniel 9 is rooted directly in God’s covenant promises. Even Jesus, in His moment of deepest suffering, prays Scripture from the cross: “My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46; Psalm 22:1). When Jesus suffers, He prays the Word. That alone tells us something about how Scripture is meant to function in our lives.

Practically, praying the Scriptures helps us as disciples in a few key ways. It gives us words when we don’t have any. It keeps prayer God-centered instead of self-centered. And over time, it reshapes our desires, because we are constantly rehearsing God’s priorities back to Him.

This doesn’t need to be complicated. It is simply reading through a section of scripture verse by verse and praying about what God lays on your mind and heart. If you don’t know what a verse means or you don’t know what to say, just keep reading. This is most commonly done in the book of psalms, but I have had great success praying through Jesus’ teachings, narratives, the Torah, and wisdom literature, nothing is off limits for this discipline. Here’s a simple example using a few verses from Psalm 23.

“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.”
You might pray: Lord, You are my shepherd. Help me trust that You truly provide what I need. Show me where I am tempted to believe I lack something You have promised.

“He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.”
You might pray: God, You are the one who gives rest. Teach me to receive rest instead of resisting it. Lead me into Your peace, not my own striving.

“He restores my soul.”
You might pray: Restore what feels worn down in me. Bring renewal where I am tired, discouraged, or distracted.

Notice what’s happening. You’re not inventing spiritual language. You’re slowing down, listening, and responding. Scripture becomes conversation, not just content.

Over time, this practice teaches us that prayer is less about finding the right words and more about aligning ourselves with the God who has already spoken. When we pray His words, we learn to hear His voice more clearly and follow Him more faithfully.

So when you don’t know what to pray, don’t stop praying. Open the Scriptures—and pray His words back to Him.