Bible Verses About Prayer
Introduction
Prayer is the specific practice of the relationship between the person and the God who hears. It is not the religious performance of the sufficient words but the specific turning of the whole person toward the God who is present and near and attentive to the cry of the one who calls on him. The Psalm 145:18's the LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth is the foundational statement: the nearness of the LORD is the specific provision for the person who calls. The calling in truth is the calling from the honest condition of the person rather than the calling with the sufficient religious form.
The New Testament's most comprehensive teaching on the prayer is the Sermon on the Mount's Matthew 6:5-15 where Jesus addresses both the wrong way to pray, the praying to be seen by others that has already received its reward, and the right way to pray, the going into the inner room and shutting the door and praying to the Father in secret. The model prayer of the Matthew 6:9-13 is not the script to be repeated but the shape of the prayer that Jesus commends: the our Father in heaven hallowed be your name establishes the address, the your kingdom come your will be done on earth as in heaven establishes the alignment with the purposes of God, and the give us today our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors establishes the honest asking and the honest receiving and the honest practicing of the forgiveness. The prayer is the specific practice of the person who is living in the relationship with the Father who knows what the person needs before they ask (Matthew 6:8).
The specific pastoral provision of the Scripture for the person who does not know how to pray is the Romans 8:26-27's the Spirit helps us in our weakness and intercedes for us through wordless groans with groans that words cannot express: the prayer that the person who is most depleted can offer is the prayer of the honest coming to the God who receives the wordless groaning of the Spirit as the specific intercession. The prayer does not require the sufficient words or the sufficient feelings. It requires only the coming.
These verses speak to anyone who needs the specific grounding for the prayer as the relationship rather than the performance, anyone who is uncertain whether their prayer is sufficient for the God who hears it, and anyone who needs the specific biblical practices and promises of the prayer.
What the Bible Means When It Talks About Prayer
The Hebrew word palal describes the praying: the specific act of the interceding and the judging of oneself before God. The Hebrew word shava describes the crying out for help. The Greek word proseuchomai describes the praying: the specific turning toward God with the request. The Greek word deesis describes the petition or the supplication: the specific request addressed to God. The Greek word proskartereo describes the continuing steadfastly in the prayer: the specific persisting in the practice of the prayer. The Greek word paraklesis describes the appeal or the exhortation: the specific asking of the one who is able to provide.
Bible Verses About the Character of Prayer
Matthew 6:6-8 — ("But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.")
The go into your room and close the door establishes the specific character of the genuine prayer: the prayer that Jesus commends is the prayer that is directed toward the Father in secret rather than the prayer that is directed toward the audience. The your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you establishes the specific promise: the reward of the genuine prayer is the reward of the Father who sees the secret rather than the reward of the audience who hears the public performance. The your Father knows what you need before you ask establishes the relational character: the prayer is the specific expression of the relationship with the Father who knows rather than the informing of the God who does not know.
Psalm 145:18 — ("The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.")
The LORD is near to all who call on him in truth is the specific promise for the person who is uncertain whether their prayer is sufficient: the nearness of the LORD is the specific provision for the person who calls in truth. The in truth establishes the specific quality: the calling in truth is the honest calling from the actual condition of the person rather than the calling with the sufficient religious performance. The all establishes the comprehensive scope: the nearness is the provision for all who call in truth rather than only the sufficiently holy or the sufficiently eloquent.
Bible Verses About the Promises of Prayer
Matthew 7:7-8 — ("Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.")
The ask and it will be given and seek and you will find and knock and the door will be opened are the three specific promises of the prayer: the giving and the finding and the opening are the specific responses of the Father to the asking and the seeking and the knocking. The everyone establishes the comprehensive scope: the promises are for everyone who asks and seeks and knocks rather than only the sufficiently holy person. The for everyone who asks receives establishes the specific certainty: the receiving is the specific outcome of the asking rather than the possibility of the asking.
John 15:7 — ("If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.")
The if you remain in me and my words remain in you establishes the specific condition of the prayer that receives: the abiding in Christ and the remaining of the words in the person are the specific conditions of the prayer whose asking receives the doing. The ask whatever you wish establishes the comprehensive scope: the prayer of the person who is abiding in Christ and whose prayers are being shaped by the remaining of the words is the prayer whose asking is aligned with the purposes of the Christ in whom the person is abiding.
1 John 5:14-15 — ("This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us — whatever we ask — we know that we have what we asked of him.")
The if we ask anything according to his will he hears us establishes the specific confidence of the prayer: the hearing is the specific response of the God whose will is the ground of the asking. The we know that we have what we asked establishes the specific certainty: the confidence of the prayer is not the confidence in the favorable outcome of the asking but the confidence in the God who hears the asking that is according to his will.
Bible Verses About Persistent Prayer
Luke 18:1 — ("Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.")
The they should always pray and not give up is the specific instruction of the parable of the persistent widow: the always and the not giving up establish the comprehensive character of the prayer that Jesus commends. The persistent widow who keeps coming to the judge is the specific model: the persistence of the prayer is not the demanding of the God who is reluctant but the trusting of the God who will bring about justice for his chosen ones who cry out to him day and night.
1 Thessalonians 5:17 — ("Pray continually.")
The pray continually is the most compressed statement of the prayer as the ongoing practice: the prayer is not the occasional petition of the crisis management but the ongoing orientation of the whole life toward the God who is near. The continually establishes the character: the prayer is the ongoing relationship rather than the specific technique employed when the need is urgent.
Colossians 4:2 — ("Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.")
The devote yourselves to prayer being watchful and thankful establishes the three specific qualities of the sustained prayer: the devotion is the ongoing commitment of the person who has made the prayer the central practice, the watchfulness is the specific attentiveness to the God who is at work and to the opportunities and the needs that the prayer addresses, and the thankfulness is the specific disposition of the person who brings the requests to God from the ground of the gratitude.
Bible Verses About the Spirit's Help in Prayer
Romans 8:26-27 — ("In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God's people in accordance with the will of God.")
The Spirit helps us in our weakness and intercedes for us through wordless groans is the specific provision for the person who does not know what to pray: the Spirit who intercedes through the wordless groans is the specific provision of the God who meets the depleted person in the specific condition of the not knowing what to pray. The he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit establishes the specific communication: the Father who searches the hearts knows the mind of the Spirit who is interceding, and the communication does not require the sufficient words of the person who is praying.
Bible Verses About the Community of Prayer
Matthew 18:19-20 — ("Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.")
The where two or three gather in my name there am I with them is the specific promise of the presence of Christ in the communal prayer: the gathering in his name is the specific practice that receives the specific promise of his presence. The if two of you agree about anything they ask establishes the communal character of the prayer: the agreement of the two is the specific practice of the community of prayer that the Father responds to.
James 5:16 — ("Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.")
The pray for each other so that you may be healed establishes the intercessory character of the communal prayer: the prayer for each other is the specific practice of the community that produces the healing. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective establishes the specific promise: the prayer of the righteous person is the prayer that has the specific power and the effectiveness because it is the prayer of the person who is aligned with the God who hears it.
A Simple Way to Pray These Verses
Prayer is most honestly practiced from the honest coming to the God who is near to all who call in truth rather than the performance of the sufficient religious form.
Matthew 6:6 — ("Pray to your Father, who is unseen.") Response: "Father. I am in the room with the door shut. I am praying to you rather than performing for the audience. You see what is done in secret. You know what I need before I ask. Let the prayer be the honest coming of the person who is in relationship with you rather than the performance of the person who is hoping to be heard because of the many words."
Romans 8:26 — ("The Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.") Response: "I do not know what to pray right now. I am coming anyway. Let the Spirit who intercedes through the wordless groans be the specific provision for the prayer I cannot form. You search the hearts. You know the mind of the Spirit. Receive the wordless prayer of the person who is coming to you in the weakness."
Luke 18:1 — ("They should always pray and not give up.") Response: "I am not giving up. The prayer that has not yet received the answer, I am bringing it again. Not because I am demanding what you have withheld but because I trust the God who will bring about the justice and the provision at the proper time. I am coming again. Always pray and not give up."
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the Bible say about prayer? The Bible presents prayer as the specific practice of the relationship with the God who is near to all who call on him in truth. Matthew 6:6-8's go into your room and pray to your Father who sees in secret establishes the character. Matthew 7:7-8's ask and it will be given seek and you will find establishes the promises. Luke 18:1's always pray and not give up establishes the persistence. Romans 8:26-27's the Spirit intercedes for us through wordless groans establishes the provision for the person who does not know what to pray. And 1 John 5:14-15's if we ask anything according to his will he hears us establishes the specific confidence.
How should a Christian pray? The Matthew 6:9-13's model prayer establishes the shape of the prayer: the address of the Father in heaven, the alignment with the purposes of the kingdom, the honest asking for the daily provision and the forgiveness and the deliverance, and the acknowledgment of the kingdom and the power and the glory. The Matthew 6:6's go into your room and close the door establishes the specific character: the prayer is the private turning toward the Father rather than the public performance for the audience. The Philippians 4:6's do not be anxious about anything but present your requests to God with prayer and petition and thanksgiving establishes the comprehensive practice: the prayer includes the honest asking and the thanksgiving.
Does God always answer prayer? The 1 John 5:14-15's if we ask anything according to his will he hears us and we know that we have what we asked establishes the specific confidence: the prayer that is according to the will of God is the prayer that receives the hearing and the answer. The John 15:7's if you remain in me ask whatever you wish establishes the condition: the prayer of the person who is abiding in Christ and whose prayers are shaped by the remaining of the words is the prayer that is being aligned with the will of Christ. The 2 Corinthians 12:7-9's Paul's thorn in the flesh that was not removed but received the grace that is sufficient establishes the honest acknowledgment: the answer to the prayer is sometimes the provision of the grace rather than the removal of the difficulty.
What is intercessory prayer? The intercessory prayer is the specific prayer on behalf of others: the James 5:16's pray for each other and the Romans 8:26-27's the Spirit intercedes for us establish the two dimensions of the intercession. The intercessory prayer is grounded in the Hebrews 7:25's Christ who always lives to intercede for the people who come to God through him: the human intercession is the participation in the intercessory work of the Christ who is the specific intercessor. The 1 Timothy 2:1's I urge that supplications prayers intercessions and thanksgivings be made for all people establishes the comprehensive scope of the intercession: the all people is the specific scope of the intercessory prayer.
How do I develop a prayer life? The Colossians 4:2's devote yourselves to prayer being watchful and thankful establishes the specific practices: the devotion is the ongoing commitment, the watchfulness is the specific attentiveness, and the thankfulness is the specific disposition. The 1 Thessalonians 5:17's pray continually establishes the comprehensive character: the prayer life is the ongoing orientation of the whole life toward God rather than the specific time of the religious duty. The Psalm 5:3's in the morning LORD you hear my voice and I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation establishes the specific practice of the morning prayer: the morning is the specific time of the laying of the requests before the God who hears.
