Prophetically Praying Through the Bible
By Steve Backlund
“The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Revelation 19:10).
Every testimony we hear has a prophetic spirit that prophesies what God will do again in our lives and others. The best testimonies are the ones we find in the Bible. As we identify what the testimony says about God and His promises, we can prophesy these to ourselves, others, our cities, and our nation. It is a powerful way to pray through the Bible.
Let me use the story of the paralytic in Mark 2 as an example of how to do this. I will first present the verse, and then write what I could prophetically release in prayer.
“And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He (Jesus) was in the house. Immediately many gathered together, so there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door” (vs 1-2).
“Thank you, Father, that it will be heard that Jesus is in our homes. Thank You that our neighbors and others will gather in our homes to encounter You.”
“There will be enough room for all the people who hear what God is doing and come to our homes and houses of worship. It will be standing room only.”
“Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men” (vs 3).
“This is an hour where paralyzed people (both physical and spiritual) are being brought to Jesus to be healed.”
“Right now there are divine connections happening that are bringing miracles into the lives of others.”
“Thank you, Jesus, for bringing the right people around me to bring me closer to Jesus so I can be healed of any kind of paralysis I have.”
“And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying” (vs 4).
“Today, God is releasing grace to tenaciously find solutions where there does not seem to be a solution.”
“Thank You, Father, that I and people all around me are ‘breaking through” barriers, limitations, obstacles, and ceilings.”
“When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you” (vs 5).
“God is seeing the corporate faith of groups of people and it is leading to massive miracles and forgiveness to be released.”
“People all around me are hearing Jesus speak forgiveness to them.”
“People in my region are getting a revelation of the power of forgiveness and it is leading to great miracles.”
“There is an incredible grace being experienced by many to practice the discipline of intentional forgiveness.”
“And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, ‘Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?’” (vs 6-7).
“Thank You, Father, that you are freeing Your people from human reasoning and launching us into kingdom perspectives.”
“Thank You that the “scribe leaders” in this region are being delivered from self-protectionism, resistance to what God is doing now, and land-locked thinking. Thank You that You are raising up multitudes of kingdom-minded leaders who are more concerned about God’s purposes than they are about their own security.”
There is so much more in this story, but I hope you are catching the heart of what I am showing you. It is exciting to allow the testimonies of Scripture to ignite prophecy to us and others. Also, what I am showing you here will take our preaching and teaching to another level. As we are able to increasingly detect the testimonies in biblical passages, our ministry will be increasingly prophetic and powerful.
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