Prayer Before Reading the Bible — sacred illustration
✶ Our Bible Moments No. 267 / 272

Church & Ministry

Prayer Before Reading the Bible

Psalm 119:18

Psalm 119:18 is a one-line prayer from the longest psalm, in which the psalmist, who is not named, asks God to open his eyes to see the wonders in His law.

Lord, open my eyes that I may see wondrous things from Your law. Before I read, quiet the noise in me. I don’t want to skim Your word; I want to meet You in it. Show me who You are, what Jesus has done, and what You would have me do today. Where I don’t understand, teach me; where I am wrong, correct me. Let Your word be my delight, and help me keep it. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Psalm 119:18 is a one-line prayer from the longest psalm, in which the psalmist, who is not named, asks God to open his eyes to see the wonders in His law.

The Scripture

“Open my eyes that I may see wondrous things from Your law.”

— Psalm 119:18

Prayer points from Psalm 119:18

  1. Ask God to open your eyes to see wondrous things in His word.
  2. Ask Him to quiet the distractions before you read.
  3. Pray to see Jesus and what He has done.
  4. Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you where you don’t understand.
  5. Ask Him to show you one thing to obey today.
  6. Thank Him that His testimonies are a delight and a counselor.

About this verse

Psalm 119 is the longest psalm: 176 verses that return again and again to God’s word, His law, statutes, precepts and commandments. It is an alphabetical poem of twenty-two stanzas, eight verses each. Early in it the psalmist stops to ask for help: “Open my eyes that I may see wondrous things from Your law.” Reading is not the same as seeing. The words can be in front of us while our hearts stay closed, so he asks the One who gave the word to open his eyes to it. In the same stanza he calls himself “a stranger on the earth” and ends, “Your testimonies are indeed my delight; they are my counselors.” A short prayer like this before you open your Bible turns reading into listening. This prayer is for anyone about to open the Bible, for a morning quiet time, a reading plan, or a hard passage they want to understand.

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