In part one, I challenged you to enlarge the way you pray for yourself, using some biblical prayers as guidelines, and I want to follow up on the power of claiming God’s promises to you in prayer. For example, think about this passage from 2 Peter 1: 3-4:

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

I want to urge you to start praying this passage into your life, something like this:

God, I know you have given me divine power through your Spirit to live a godly life. I know this comes through my knowledge of Jesus and his Word. I pray that you will help me to pursue this knowledge, and I claim your promise that I can participate in the divine nature of Jesus—I can be more and more like Jesus and less and less corrupted by my evil desires.

What if God answered this prayer? Would it make a difference in you of eternal importance? The obvious answer is yes, of course. And here’s the thing—when you sincerely pray this kind of spiritual prayer for yourself or for others and you consistently claim the promises that are yours in Scripture, you will be more and more transformed into the likeness of Jesus, because you can be assured that God will answer that kind of prayer.

I want to encourage you to pray God’s promises into your life. I remember a song I sang as a kid that said, “Every promise in the book is mine, every chapter, every verse, every line.” It’s a good reminder that God’s Word is full of promises you can and should claim as your own. How often do you do that? Are you missing some blessings because you’re not praying those great and precious promises?

For example, in part one, I talked about the promise in James 1:5—if we ask for wisdom, God gives it to us generously. Have you been praying for wisdom? Remember, God’s wisdom keeps you from making poor choices and bad decisions—and just think what a difference that could make.

In Philippians 4:6-7 we read:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

This is a promise with a condition. Presenting your requests to God with thanksgiving—that’s the condition. Here’s the promise: the peace of God will guard your heart and mind. You’re promised peace. Have you been peaceful lately or more stressed-out, discouraged, despondent, or unhappy? Maybe that’s because you haven’t presented your requests to God and claimed the peace that transcends all understanding.

Here’s an incredible promise from Isaiah 58:11:

The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.

Have you ever prayed this Scripture into your life? When you don’t know what to do, claim this promise that the Lord will guide you. When you’re in a desert-like situation and everything seems dry and lifeless and you lack energy or motivation, claim the promise that the Lord will satisfy you even in a dry place. He will strengthen you—physically and spiritually. He promises to turn hard, dry places into gardens whose waters never fail—to give you hope and joy even in a tough place. It’s a promise there for you, so take advantage of God’s goodness.

There are many more promises for you and biblical prayers you can pray for yourself and others. These are prayers we know are in God’s will, and therefore we can claim the promise from 1 John 5:14: This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.