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Scripture-Based Prayer (Psalm 119:58)

I sought Your favor with all my heart; be gracious to me according to Your word.
Psalm 119:58

The first phrase could be translated I sought Your face. It is relational. The psalmist had hope in the goodness and grace of the covenant keeping God.

With all my heart is instructional. You cannot do more than “with all your heart.” When the Bible speaks of loving God, it says with “all your heart.” This means that there is nothing that should compete with your desire to please God.

We are all very blessed to be beneficiaries of God’s word. It is in God’s word that we learn of God’s character and purposes. It is hard to imagine what life would be like without such a precious resource. One of the amazing benefits of having God’s word is that we can pray according to God’s will. That is the essence of what the psalmist is doing in this verse. He has learned of God’s grace from God’s word and is simply asking God to extend that same grace to him.

Notice how the psalmist connects his prayers to the word of God:

May Your lovingkindnesses also come to me, O Lord, Your salvation according to Your word;
Psalm 119:41

You have dealt well with Your servant, O Lord, according to Your word.
Psalm 119:65

O may Your lovingkindness comfort me, dccording to Your word to Your servant.
Psalm 119:76

Let my supplication come before You; deliver me according to Your word.
Psalm 119:170

What better way to pray than according to God’s word. When we meditate on God’s word, our prayers will be grounded in the truths that are so powerfully revealed in His word. The result will be prayers that are consistent with the will of God.

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Rocky Wyatt

Rocky Wyatt came to know the Lord as a young teenager and began working in youth ministry when in college. After serving in churches in Utah, California and Colorado, Rocky moved to Texas to serve as Youth Pastor at Countryside Bible Church. He served there for 26 years where he eventually moved from youth ministry to serve as an Associate Pastor.

Over the course of his ministry, Rocky has always had a desire to train men for pastoral ministry in the context of the local church. In 1992 he started XL Ministries, an organization that is committed to helping churches establish intensive internships for pastoral training. In 2020 he left his position at Countryside Bible Church to become the Executive Director of XL Ministries and now works full time assisting churches in training men for ministry.

He is co-author of The Youth Ministry Training Manual, a textbook for training youth pastors, and has also written multiple other resources for use in various local church ministries. He is currently working on a book to encourage churches to take the primary responsibility to train pastors.

Rocky is married to Pamela, has two sons and daughters-in-law, and ten grandchildren. 

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.1 Corinthians 15:58