Vanhoozer on Praying the Text

"The critical point in the theo-drama--the moment of greatest suspense, the moment of truth--is that of the actor's response: Will we or will we not respond?  Will we or will we not acknowledge God for who God is and ourselves for who we are?  Will we or will we not pray? Prayer is an essential part of the dialogical action at the heart of the theo-drama.  Responding to the Bible as the word of God is not merely cognitive but a communicative and spiritual act.  Will we pray the text, or simply peruse it?  To pray the text is to acknowledge its author, to admit its claim, and to bring our desires into accord with those of God.  Prayer is that canonical practice whereby we do not merely envision the theo-drama but indwell it and assume a speaking part.  Nothing better expresses the relationship of the covenant servants to their covenant Lord than Prayer.  Our praise, supplications, and petitions all reflect our utter dependence on divine grace.  Prayer tacitly acknowledges how God's transcendence and nearness are to be understood with an eloquence that eludes the most explicit theological formulations."

[Kevin Vanhoozer, Drama of Doctrine, 224]