The Four Soils Prayer

Based on Mark 4:3-8; 14-20

Devotional Prayers

1. The Hardened Soil

"...on a footpath, and the birds came and ate it." > "The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message, only to have Satan come at once and take it away." - Mark 4:4,15 NLT

SAMPLE PRAYER: Father, where there is hardness and dullness of heart, any inability to take in Your Word, come break my fallow ground. Cause my heart NOT to dismiss Your Word, but to treasure every bit of itto grab hold of it. Help me also discern the presence of the enemy who wants to take the Word away, and the need to battle to receive Your Word. Till and turn the soil of my heart as much as needed until it is pliable and ready to receive You fully. Turn my heart of stone into a heart of flesh, through the power of Your Word and Holy Spirit.

"I have not departed from his commands, but have treasured his words more than daily food." Job 23:12 NLT

"Jesus answered, "It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4:4 NIV

"Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." - 1 Peter 5:8 NIV

"So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls. But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like." - James 1:21-24 NLT

"But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ." - 1 John 2:27 NLT

"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." - Ezekiel 36:26 NIV

2. The Shallow, Rocky Soil

"Other seed fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seed sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. But the plant soon wilted under the hot sun, and since it didn’t have deep roots, it died..." > The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word. - Matthew 4:5-6,16-17 NLT

SAMPLE PRAYER: Father, thank You for the Word that You have given me. Help me to meditate on it and hold on to it that I may sink my roots deeply in You. Expose the rocks in my soil that they be removed. Take every hindrance off of me so that I would run this race set before me with endurance and perseverance. Teach me to hold on to Your Word when times are hard and when problems or persecution come my way. Foster in me a heart of total devotion, surrender, and trust. Strengthen my inner being with the power of Your Holy Spirit .

"The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire." - Matthew 3:10 NIV

"Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world." - 1 Peter 4:12-13 NIV

"[Blessed is he...] whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers." - Psalm 1:2-3 NIV

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." - Hebrews 12:1-3 NIV

"He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him." - Daniel 2:22 NIV

"Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 3:12-14 ESV

3. The Weeds-Infested Soil

"Other seed fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants so they produced no grain." > The seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced." - Matthew 4:7,18-19 NLT

SAMPLE PRAYER: Father, show me how I have crowded You out with what I have deemed a greater concern: The worries of this life, the lure of lust and wealth, and the desire for material things and creature comforts. Father forgive me for how I have chosen to take control of what only You were meant to control. Help me instead to set my gaze on You and to choose the one thing, to sit at Your feet and take in all of who You are.

"Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you." - 1 Peter 5:7 NLT

"So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?' These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs." - Matthew 6:31-32 NLT

"For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever." - 1 John 2:16 NLT

"Keep creating in me a clean heart. Fill me with pure thoughts and holy desires, ready to please you. May you never reject me! May you never take from me your sacred Spirit! Let my passion for life be restored, tasting joy in every breakthrough you bring to me. Hold me close to you with a willing spirit that obeys whatever you say." - Psalm 51:10-12 TPT

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life." - Psalm 139:23-24 NLT

"God, I invite your searching gaze into my heart. Examine me through and through; find out everything that may be hidden within me. Put me to the test and sift through all my anxious cares. See if there is any path of pain I’m walking on, and lead me back to your glorious, everlasting way— the path that brings me back to you." - Psalm 139:23-24 TPT

"'Martha, Martha,' the Lord answered, 'you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.'" - Luke 10:41-42 NIV

4. The Fourth Soil

"Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they sprouted, grew, and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted!" > And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!” - Matthew 4:8,20 NLT

SAMPLE PRAYER: Father, I receive Your truths, Your words of life, Your ways, Your thoughts, and Your commandments. I choose to honor You, obey You, and take You at Your Word. Let Your Holy Spirit work in my heart to bear the fruit only You can cause to bear—fruit that will last. Prune every part of me that does not bear fruit and any part that does bear fruit but can be improved on. Make me as fruitful as a life fully surrendered and shaped by You can be.

"But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it." - James 1:25 NLT

"Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness." - Colossians 2:7 NLT

"Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God." - Ephesians 3:17-19 NLT

"But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit." -Jeremiah 17:7-8 NLT

"Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." - John 15:4-5 ESV

"This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples." - John 15:8 NIV

"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you." - John 15:16 NIV

"Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers." - Psalm 1:1-3 ESV

"You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits." - Matthew 7:16-20 NASB

"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." - John 12:24 NASB

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." - Galatians 5:22-23 NIV

"But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy." - James 3:17 NASB

"No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." - Hebrews 12:11 NIV

"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. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." - 2 Peter 1:3-8 NLT