Praying Through the Lettuce Texts of the Bible: For Prayer Times that Engage, Edify, and Exalt the Lord

I often focus on certain themes or words repeated in the Scriptures to guide my prayer time. One especially lovely theme I used for a prayer time recently came from focusing on the “lettuce” texts of the Bible. Well, not “lettuce” exactly, but “let us.”

We are instructed and gathered together by the use of the phrase, “let us.” The phrase effectively draws us near to each other as we draw near to the Lord in praise, worship, and obedience by that inclusive let us. After doing a quick word search in the Bible for its occurrences, I then broke up the “let us” occurrences into two categories: calls to praise the Lord and calls for us to be like the Lord. Below are some of the results and how I prayed through them. Take some time right now and join me! Let us seek the Lord together!

Let Us Praise the Lord:

Psalm 34 begins in verses 1-3: I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul will make its boast in the Lord; the humble will hear it and rejoice. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.

To make Psalm 34:1-3 shine in all its instructive glory, I read all of Psalm 34, and then repeated verses 1-3 to prime my heart to pray exultantly, fervently, and biblically. Then I combed through the verses in the psalm looking at God’s attributes and works, so I could magnify and exalt the Lord. See what you can find in the psalm, so you can do the same.

From Psalm 34:4-7: Lord, we see in Your Word that when we seek You, you will answer our prayers. You will deliver us from our fears. In fact, Lord, the text says You will deliver us from all our fears. May we experience this as we seek You. When we look to You—and only You, we grow radiant from gazing upon You. Your Word reminds us that we will never be ashamed when we look to You for strength and help. You save us. Lord, what a comfort to know You draw near to those who fear You. You rescue them.

From Psalm 34:8-14: Lord, Your Word urges us to taste and see that You are good. Oh Father, may we indeed enjoy Your goodness and bounty. When we take refuge in You, we are blessed! We will not be in want of any good thing when we fear You, when we revere You, when we love You, Lord. If we lack anything, it is because it isn’t good for us at this time, or possibly ever, for you only give what is good. The creatures of the earth may suffer hunger, but those who seek You, Lord, will not be in want of any good thing. We have everything we need right now if we are seeking You. What an amazing thought! Lord, help us to fear You rightly by keeping our tongues from evil and deceit. May we depart from evil, do good, seek and pursue peace.

From Psalm 34:15-18: Lord, Your Word tells us that your eyes are toward the righteous. They aren’t looking away from us or our needs. Your eyes are looking at us, watching over us, and the text tells us that Your ears are open to our cries. What a magnificent and kind God You are to care for us in this way. You turn Your face away from evildoers, but when the righteous cry, You hear and You act. You deliver Your children out of all their troubles. Lord, You know the troubles we face right now. Help us in and through these trials. Help us Lord to see Your deliverance, especially in delivering us from our fears. Lord, what an endearing promise to see that You are near to the brokenhearted. You save those who are crushed in spirit. There are many brokenhearted ones, who are crushed under the load of cares and sorrows, who need to be reminded that you are near. You are Immanuel—God with us!

Psalm 34:19-22: Your Word reminds us that Your children will experience many afflictions, but You deliver us out of them all—in some way, in some means, at some time, but always, always, You deliver, for You are the God, who sent His Son to deliver us from our sins.

Then close by reading or praying through Psalm 34:1–3 once again: I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul will make its boast in the Lord; the humble will hear it and rejoice. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together. Amen.

Psalm 66: Psalm 66 is similar to Psalm 34 in its listing of God’s deliverance and kind deeds on behalf of His children. Psalm 66:5-6 tells us, “Come and see the works of God, who is awesome in His deeds toward the sons of men. He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the river on foot; there let us rejoice in Him!”

As before, read through the whole psalm, then pray the verses back to the Lord in praise, thanks, supplication, and confession of sin.

Psalm 95:1–7: Psalm 95:1-7 has many calls to for us praise the Lord. “O come, let us sing for joy to the LORD, let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the LORD is a great God and a great King above all gods, in whose hand are the depths of the earth, the peaks of the mountains are His also. The sea is His, for it was He who made it, and His hands formed the dry land. Come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.”

Lord, You are a great God. You are a great King above all gods. You hold the depths of the earth. You cradle the peaks of the mountains in Your hands. You made the mighty sea with the words from Your mouth. There is no one like You, Lord. Nothing is too difficult for You. You formed without any effort all the dry land, which we see today as only a shadow of how You originally created it. Oh, let us sing. Let us shout joyfully. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving. Let us shout joyfully. Let us worship. Let us bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. Amen.

After praying through the first let us category that calls us to praise the Lord, we can then turn our attention to the texts that call us to obedience. They call us to act in some way.

Let Us Be Like the Lord:

Romans 13:12–13: “The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy.”

Lord, Your Word reminds us to walk in the light for we are children of light. Help us Lord to lay aside the deeds of darkness, whether in action or in thought, that does not honor You. Lord, teach us what it means to wear the armor of light, to be faithful, sober-minded soldiers, understanding that we need to live and behave properly with the full light of day and all heaven watching our thoughts, words, and deeds.

Romans 14:13: “Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this—not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way.”

Lord, in Romans 14:13, You call us not to judge each other’s motives or reasons for acting according to our conscience. In effect, You call us not to jump to conclusions or be critical of one another. Oh Lord, help us to be gracious toward one another in our thoughts, as well as our words and deeds.

2 Corinthians 7:1: “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”

Lord, Your Word calls us to examine our lives and to consider areas where defilement has crept in. Oh Father, forgive us of our sins, may You cleanse us from all unrighteousness. May our motivation be out of love for You, Lord, because You are our God, because You walk with us, because You are near as we see in the preceding verses of 2 Corinthians 6:16-18.

Galatians 5:25–26: “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.”

Oh may we walk by Your good Spirit, Lord! To walk in Your ways by grace through faith. Help us, Lord, to remember that just as You saved us by grace, You then help us to walk in Your ways by grace. Help us to guard our lips and our thoughts so that pride doesn’t pop out in boasting, challenging and envying ways!

Galatians 6:10: “So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.”

Father, help us to live intentionally, looking for ways to bless Your children, to bless our families, and our neighbors. May we remember the words of Hudson Taylor that “God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supplies.” Help us, Lord, to trust You for the supplies in our soul, so that we will not shrink back from doing good to Your people.

1 Thessalonians 5:6: “So then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober.”

In these last days, in times of trial and difficulty, let us not be lazy, slothful, dull in mind and heart, but alert and sober in thought that the evil one desires to distract us and lull us to sleep. Lord, wake us up to our calling and our purpose to live for You!

Hebrews 4:1: “Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it.” Hebrews 4:11: “Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.”

May we examine our faith, Lord, looking to see if we belong to You. May we examine it—looking for repentance, faith, and a reliance upon Jesus alone. May we do all in our power to gain heaven. May we shake the bars of Heaven’s gate for admittance through Jesus alone so that at last we may enter Your rest of salvation.

Hebrews 4:14–16: “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Father, the treasures of Your grace are contained in these verses—we have a great high priest in Jesus. He has passed through the heavens, He has accomplished His work on earth so that our sins have been washed away by His atoning blood. His sacrifice is perfect, complete, and all sufficient, why would we ever wander? And yet we do! We need the admonition to hold fast our confession, to cling to Jesus. He graciously deals with us, knowing our weaknesses and temptation. May we draw near to Your throne of grace, dear Lord, because we wear the robe of Jesus’ righteousness. Thank you for giving us all the mercy and grace in time of our need.

Hebrews 6:1: “Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God.”

Lord, You have never been satisfied with us staying spiritual babies. You desire that we grow in maturity. Oh Father, quicken our hearts that we would never be satisfied with our growth in Jesus. May we press on, march on, move on, but move and draw ever nearer You as we grow in wisdom and grace in the Word of God.

Hebrews 10:22–24: “Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds.”

Lord, these verses are a salad bowl full of “let us.” May we draw near to you in sincerity, with the assurance that comes from knowing Jesus has redeemed us, may we rest in His cleansing and transforming work. May we hold fast to our hope without wavering, always prizing it—and as we do, we will gain it in the end, because He who promises is faithful. You will accomplish our salvation. You grasp our hands and cause us to hold on. Even our holding on is a work of Your tremendous grace. As we rejoice in these truths, may we be faithful to encourage one another to walk in a manner worthy of You.

Hebrews 12:1-2: “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus.”

Oh Father, may we run well! May we understand the crippling power of sin. Give us wisdom and insight into the things that put a drag on our souls and trip us up! Oh Father, may we run, run, run straight to Jesus, never wavering, our eyes on Him!

Hebrews 12:28: “Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe.”

May we grow ever cognizant of the great inheritance You have given us in Jesus. An imperishable, undefiled, waiting for us in heaven kingdom, which will never be shaken, fade, be taken away. May we prize with our full being so that gratitude pervades and invades our hearts. May our gratitude well up in holy and zealous service in Your name.

1 John 3:18: “Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.” 1 John 4:7: “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.”

Lord, You have taught us to love and may we show Your love to others. May we love sacrificially, denying ourselves, seeking the good of others, loving as You love us—actively, graciously, proactively, intentionally, compassionately, for our good. May You get the glory! Amen!