Why Pray Scripture? (An Interview with Jenn Soehnlin)
What a near divorce, a special needs parent, and a discovery of authentic community all have in common
Last year one of my writer friends,
, reached out to ask me for feedback on a chapter about justice. She was finishing her book, On the Same Page with God, which is fundamentally all about the practice of praying scripture.Justice is a rare topic to be included in a book about prayer, but it is vital. It is a gift to be able to pray for justice. It helps us lament and process hard things—the worst traumas of the world—with the One who can meet us in them. In addition, the book included author stories many of us can connect to, it provides helpful teaching, and is a great resource as it lists relevant scriptures to pray.
To help Jenn get her book out there I thought it might be cool to actually interview her. Before we get there, though, I wanted to share a story from when I was newlywed on the verge of divorce.
What Saved My Marriage
I felt the sting of pride too acutely to call it quits, but I knew our marriage wouldn’t last long the way it was going. It was in this desperation I picked up a book (among others) off a shelf in a Christian Bookstore, back when these storefronts still existed. It was The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormy O’Martin.1 And every prayer in it was riddled with Bible verses.
There were some aspects of praying scripture I wasn’t sure about. Many of the verses seemed like they might have been taken out of context. Other times the way the prayers were written made me feel manipulative, like I was trying to force God into giving me something I deserved if only I prayed the right thing.
However, these concerns paled to how praying scripture helped me align with the way of Jesus. I’d pick up the book, angry, looking for something to pray over my husband to make God change him! But instead, the verses would confront my own hypocrisy or the bitter root that had grown up within me. I’d end up re-reading prayer at the front of the book—that God would remake me into the wife I needed to be, full of humility, grace, and goodness.2
I honestly believe that praying scripture over our marriage saved our marriage. Not because praying scripture was a magic formula, but at the very least, because it changed me.
As I began reading through On the Same Page With God, it reminded me of my own experiences praying scripture. Some of these were incredible, like the one above. Others were disappointing and frustrating.
One thing I’ve discovered about prayer is that is a a long game, a formation, a winding path of experience that helps us not only to know God, but recalibrate how we relate to Him. I hope the following interview with Jenn meets you where you are on your own prayer journey.
My Interview with Jenn Soehnlin
I love your story about how praying scripture became a powerful part of your life. Why did you go from it being something you personally did to wanting to create a book and resource about it?
When both of my sons received diagnoses, I struggled with questioning if God was good, if He listened to our prayers, and so much more. When I discovered the practice of praying Scripture, I realized that I was often praying for the things I wanted to see happen in my life and my sons’ lives, and then getting mad at God or discouraged with God when it didn’t happen. The practice of Praying Scripture helped me surrender my will to align with God’s will, which feels so clear in His Word.
As I began praying Scripture more often, it restored and then transformed my prayer life. I knew I had to share what I was learning with others.
Here is a prayer dynamic I feel is best displayed through the following conversation:
Journalist, Dan Rather, was purported to have asked Mother Teresa of Calcutta about what she says to God when she prays.
She answers him, “I don’t say anything, I listen.”
He then counters, “Well okay…when God speaks to you, then, what does he say?”
Her response was “He doesn’t say anything. He listens…And if you don’t understand that, I can’t explain it to you.”
For many of us, praying scripture can feel more like talking. I am curious how you bring listening to God into your prayer life when praying scripture. Is this important to you, too?
I love prayer journaling–writing out my prayers to God. When I’m done pouring out my prayers on the page, I like to leave space—both literally and figuratively for God to answer. I sit and listen, and if I feel any whispers I believe are from God, I write them down in my journal so I don’t forget them. Sometimes He answers me later, and when He does, I try to write down what He told me in the space I left for His response.
I also love going for prayer walks or just listening to worship music, and I find those sacred spaces where it’s easier for me to still my thoughts and listen to what God may be saying to me.
Anyone who has been a follower of Jesus more than a minute has experienced unanswered prayers or "no's" from God—even while praying scripture. I’ve heard and given my fair share of platitudes about not getting what was prayed for, which too are also often pulled from scripture:
“God's ways are higher than ours."
“God works for the good of those who love him."
"You must not have enough faith so you need pray, ‘God help my unbelief.’”
What encouragement do you have for those of us cynical, disillusioned, or frustrated by this experience with God (and the people of God) to help us find meaning in trusting God enough to pray again?
My favorite verse about prayer is Psalm 116:1-2:
"I love the Lord because he hears my voice and my prayer for mercy. Because he bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath!" (NLT)
I love the image of God bending down to hear everything we say to Him. He is a good heavenly Father who doesn't want to miss a word, even if we're praying something we've prayed hundreds of times before. That verse helps me persevere in prayer, even if I don’t see God moving in my circumstances like I’d like.
I’ve also come to realize that God is always working in response to our prayers, it just may not always look like how we want it to look. We want Him to move mountains in our circumstances, but sometimes the mountains He wants to move are the ones in our hearts and our mindsets. And those mountains being removed can be just as miraculous as the mountains moving in our circumstances.
I was thrilled by your chapter on praying for justice and thought you did an excellent job with it. What areas of injustice have been praying about recently, using Esther's example?
Oh thank you! It was fun to look at Esther as an example of how to respond to injustice. As a mother of two children with special needs, my heart is for those with disabilities (and their families) to be included in their churches. I find myself not only advocating for that, but praying for that. I recently attended a conference called Disability and the Church and the keynote presentation went through Colossians 1 as a calling for someone in disability ministry. So as a fan of praying Scripture, I was thrilled to find a whole chapter of the Bible I can pray through in regards to growing the disability ministry in churches around the world.
What methods do you make space for solitude, Sabbath, and other spaces to pray scripture and experience God as a busy mom in a busy world?
I think listening to worship music is something we can easily do throughout the day, whether we’re at home or in the car, and is a great way to keep our hearts focused on God as we go about our tasks.
I also love writing out Scriptures I want to pray for the people in my life. I tend to keep these Scriptures in my Bible and pray through them during my daily prayer time, but I think you could easily post these Scriptures where you’ll see them and pray them throughout the day while you’re doing other tasks.
Sometimes we just need to be intentional about carving out time to spend with God, whether it’s early in the morning, during the baby’s naptime, before bed, etc... Figure out what prayer practice works best for you and do that. We’re all different and we all connect with God differently, so discover what helps you connect with God and pursue that during your time with God. But I do encourage you from time to time to mix it up and try a new prayer practice and see if that refreshes your prayer life. If it doesn’t resonate with you, that’s ok.
I know your sons' being special needs has played a huge shaping your life and the way you view God. I know you talk about this in your book, too, but can you share a little bit here, too?
Yes, as I mentioned before, I questioned God’s goodness in creating and giving me not just one but two children with special needs. My life revolved around all their therapies and appointments and I needed God so much in that season. Yet He seemed quietest when I needed Him the most.
I prayed for my children to be healed, for them to get to the next milestone, and I’d feel so discouraged or even angry when it didn’t happen. I asked God “Why?” a lot.
Eventually, I realized that my “why?” questions were more like demands. Me thinking I knew better than God. And so I changed my question to “what?” What do you want me to learn in this season? What do you want me to do?
As I began reading and praying Scripture, and listening to God’s whispers, I began to see that my children weren’t in need of healing. They were fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14). It was me, my heart, my perspective that needed healing.
God never did answer my ”why?” questions directly. But He answered those “what?” questions. He taught me a lot and then He told me to share what I was learning with other special needs parents.
He reminded me of the verse in 1 Samuel 16:7, about how we look at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart. I was focused on my kids’ behaviors, development and appearance more than their heart.
And I was focused more on the circumstances I could see more than my own heart. But God cares about the heart above all else. And He had a lot of work to do in my heart. And that all came about because of the special needs parenting journey He placed me on.
How have your feelings been about getting this book out into the world from an author perspective? Has it been easier or harder than the first? Why do you think that is?
I feel like my first book (which I wrote to encourage Christian mothers of children with special needs) was much easier to write, but harder to release into the world. I shared a lot of my vulnerable doubts and struggles with other moms who I knew would get it, and I feared people’s reactions to my honest stories. Yet that is what my audience loves about the book, the validation that they’re not alone in their feelings, doubts, and struggles.
So with this new book about praying Scripture yes, I shared some of my vulnerable stories but I shared a lot more Scripture and quotes from others about prayer. There was a lot more research and reading and organizing my thoughts that went into this book, so it took me a lot more time to write than my first book. But when it was done, I was ready for it to be out in the world, and I found it much easier to release.
When something becomes a community conversation, I see our perspectives expand. How have you seen this at play now that you’ve launched On the Same Page With God?
In the first chapter of my book, I share my testimony about how I was struggling in my faith and my prayer life and I shared that with the women in my Bible study—they surrounded me, laid hands on me, and prayed for me. It was a powerful moment that I will never forget.
In my book, I focused on how praying Scripture transformed (or maybe reformed) my faith and my prayer life. But I’ve heard so many people comment or ask me about the power of being vulnerable with your community. They point out that it wasn’t just praying Scripture that transformed me, but me being vulnerable and letting my community into my struggles. Only then could they surround me and support me. If I hadn’t opened up, I never would have experienced the power of praying Scripture.
I have a section in my book about the power of praying in community, but it seems like I should have written an entire chapter! I love that a wider conversation is growing about the power of community and being open and authentic within it. In a world where everything happens online and we feel so many different pressures, we need face to face, heart to heart community more than ever.
Jenn Soehnlin is a mother to two boys who are precious blessings and who both have special needs. She enjoys writing about faith, praying Scripture, and special needs parenting at www.embracing.life.
Jenn is the author of Embracing This Special Life and On the Same Page with God. She loves spending time with her family, curling up with a good book and a cup of coffee, and enjoying a wonder walk through nature.
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This isn’t exactly a recommendation of this book, it has been two decades since this book was my everyday companion, and I realize there might be a lot of it that fit the mold of a Christian Wife I thought I had to be. I honestly don’t remember how it approached topics like complementarnism or egalitarianism—I deconstructed a lot of my views on Biblical Womanhood much later.
Yes, I realize this could have been used to align me with a gender role that might have been more patriarchy than of God, rather just of patriarchy. But that isn’t what I remember.
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Thank you for the lovely interview and your wonderful feedback on my chapter on justice. Thankful for you! 💕