Praying

A friend and I are going to facilitate a Bible study on the Armor of God using Priscilla Schirer's book Armor of God.  It will be starting in a couple of weeks.  As I was praying about it I felt impressed to write out a prayer to begin praying over the women who'll be in the study. I also felt impressed to reference the prayer to the Word. Here's the prayer:

Oh heavenly Father may this be so much more than just another Bible study.  May this be a time when we come to You, abide in You, and have You change us.  May we know, after this study is over, that we have encountered the great, almighty God.  May we see changes within that we know could only come from You.

May we be women who are present, alert, and thoughtful in our daily lives. Open our eyes to see and recognize the spiritual sources of the challenges that come our way.  Empower us to stand firm in You each day. (A) 

May we be women who are strengthened with Your truth in our innermost being. Draw us to You and Your Word. Stir up within us a desire to diligently study Your Word and learn Your truth. Enable us to keep Your truth ever present in our thoughts.  Create in us hearts that recognize Your many blessings and live a lifestyle of thankfulness. Keep us from acting on lies. Produce in us the fruit of self discipline. (B)

May we be women who are firm in our right standing with You through Christ.  Help us guard our hearts from those things that distract and entrap us. Increase our application of Your truth in our lives.  Empower us to be women who live rightly. (C)

May we be women who walk in Your peace. Permeate within us a sense of wholeness, of everything coming together for good. Settle us down deep within our spirits.  Unite us together to spread Your peace everywhere we go. Take us where You want us to go.  Use us to touch the lives of the people You bring our way. (D)

May we be women who put our faith in Your faithfulness. Open our spiritual eyes and make us aware of what is really going on around us.  Teach us how to trust You deeper than we ever have before.  Bring back to our minds Your truth. Cause our lips to speak out Your truth.  Empower us to see and believe what You want for us in every situation.   When we feel like we just can’t deal with those things that come our way in life, rise up trust in You within us. (E)

May we be women who protect our minds.  Create in us a deep assurance of Your salvation. Grow us in understanding of Your salvation. Produce in us lives that are entrenched in the reality of what You’ve done for us. Make us mighty warriors who trust in Your salvation and do not give in to discouragement and doubt. (F)

May we be women who use Your Word to go on the offensive against the devil. Draw us to Your Word. Empower us to study, learn and memorize it.  Teach us to speak Your Word.  Give us the self discipline to practice Your word. (G)

May we be women of prayer. Energize us to spend time in intercession. Empower us to do battle on behalf of ourselves and the ones we love. (H)

A. Ephesians 6:12-13

2 Corinthians 10:3-6

Galatians 5:16-18

1 Thessalonians 5:4-8

1 Peter 5:8-9

B. Ephesians 6:14a

Psalm 106;13-15

John 8:31

John 17:13-19; especially verse 17

Galatians 5:22-26; especially verse 23b

C. Ephesians 6:14b

Romans 8:1-4

Proverbs 4:23

2 Corinthians 5:17-21; especially verse 21

1 Corinthians 15:30-34; read in both KJV & The Message paraphrase and note verse 34

D. Ephesians 6:15

Romans 10:11-15; especially verse 15b

Philippians 4:4-7; especially out of The Message paraphrase

Ephesians 4:1-16

Acts 20:22-24

John 14:27

E. Ephesians 6:16

Hebrews 11:1-2

2 Timothy 2:11-13

Romans 1:11-17

Romans 4:16-25

Ephesians 2:8-9

1 John 5:1-5; especially verse 4

Psalm 33:20-22

F. Ephesians 6:17

John 10:22-30

Ephesians 1;3-14

2 Corinthians 10:5

Romans 12:1-2

G. Ephesians 6:18

2 Timothy 2:15

Romans 15:4

2 Timothy 5:10-17

H. Ephesians 6:19  

1 Timothy 2:1-3

1 John 5:14-16

Matthew 6:6

Colossians 4:2