Bible Verses About Prayer

Prayer is one thing that any Christian knows about. However, many are not familiar with. Prayer provides us a chance to talk with our heavenly father. Scripture gives us many examples of the importance of prayer. It also shows us how prayer helps our daily Christian walk. I hope you will walk with me through these bible verses about prayer.

Many verses teach us how to pray. Matthew tells us that prayer must be performed with the right intentions. Mat_6:5-6, "When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 6 "But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.” Prayer is not supposed to be a thing to get us attention. It is a private conversation between us and our heavenly father.

Matthew 6:9-15 is one of the most memorized passages in the Bible. These passages are known as the Lord’s Prayer. However, memorizing this prayer and repeating it word for word completely violates the verses before it. Mat 6:7-8, "And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. 8  "So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” Jesus warned us specifically about praying with repetition.

When you speak to your earthly parents, how many times do you simply repeat the same conversation over and over again? You don’t!! Then why would you do this to your heavenly father? He does not want meaningless repetition. God wants us to bring our fears, our doubts, our worries, our needs, and our gratitude to him. How can we do this is we simply repeat one prayer over and over again?

As Eastern religions have gained popularity, people speak of the importance of meditation. They speak about using meditation to ease their stress. That is what prayer was meant to be. Prayer was meant to be time for us to bring the worries of the day to our heavenly father. Man turned it into a time to repeat a few memorized prayers. We took the power out of prayer.

Several verses illustrate this. We don’t see any verses where Jesus said to meditate. We do see that, after a hard or busy day, Jesus went to his heavenly father in prayer.

• Mat_14:23, “After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone.”
• Luk_11:1  It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples."
• Luk_5:16  But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.
• Luk_6:12  It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God.
• Luk_22:41  And He withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and began to pray,  
• Luk_9:28  Some eight days after these sayings, He took along Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray.

On the night he was taken to die, Jesus went to his father in prayer.

• Mar 6:44-46, “There were five thousand men who ate the loaves. 45  Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side to Bethsaida, while He Himself was sending the crowd away.  46  After bidding them farewell, He left for the mountain to pray.”
• Mat_26:36  Then Jesus *came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and *said to His disciples, "Sit here while I go over there and pray."
• Mar_14:35  And He went a little beyond them, and fell to the ground and began to pray that if it were possible, the hour might pass Him by.

Prayer is critical to a Christian life. Jesus told a parable about prayer. Luk 18:1-8, “Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart, 2  saying, "In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man. 3  "There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, 'Give me legal protection from my opponent.' 4  "For a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, 'Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, 5  yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.'" 6  And the Lord said, "Hear what the unrighteous judge *said; 7  now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? 8  "I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?"

Faith plays a large part in prayer. We cannot be the type of Christians that do things simply because we are supposed to. This is part of the reason why Jesus warned against simply praying with repetition. We must have enough faith to believe that God can hear us and will act upon our requests. Mar_11:24, "Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.”

Our lives are very hectic. It is very easy for us to get wrapped up in our daily concerns. We also live in a country that is growingly turning its back on God. If we allow it then the world will gladly separate us from God.  Prayer also provides us the chance to once again focus on God. Luk_22:40  When He arrived at the place, He said to them, "Pray that you may not enter into temptation."

We are told to bless those that curse us. We are told to pray for them. Luk_6:28, “bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” We are also told to pray for those who persecute us. Mat_5:44, "But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”

Why would God tell us to pray for people that are trying to hurt us? It cannot be just for their benefit. They probably won’t even know that we are praying for them. Could it be to cause a change in us? If someone is persecuting us then we can either approach it with patience or strike back at them. Praying allows us a chance to get rid of those feelings. Through prayer, we put away our bitterness.

Jesus told another parable about payer. This one illustrates the spirit we are supposed to have when we pray. Luk 18:9-14, “And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: 10  "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.  11  "The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: 'God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.  12  'I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.' 13  "But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, the sinner!' 14  "I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted."

We are not to pray only when we want something. We are to pray consistently and constantly. 1Th_5:17, “pray without ceasing;”

If we pray with the proper spirit then we will not harbor ill will against anyone. Without this, we can carry with us wrath and dissension. If we bring these things into the church then we cause wrath and dissension among everyone. 1Ti_2:8, “Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension.”

We are told that, if any among us are suffering, they must pray. Jas_5:13, “Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises.” We are told, if we are sick then we are to ask our brothers to pray for us. Jas_5:14, “Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;”

If we approach this verse with a little modern science then it takes on a whole new meaning. Science tells us that stress can make illness worse. Stress put a strain on our system. This strain can compromise our immune system. Once our immune system is compromised then we are more likely to get sick. If we are already sick then stress can hinder our recovery.

Obviously, our creator already knew this fact. That is why he tells us to pray. Through prayer, we leave our problems on him. By getting rid of our problems, we do not have to worry about stress.

We are going to sin. There is not a prefect Christian. Overcoming sin, requires us to realize that we are not alone. God told us to confess our sins to one another. Jas_5:16,   “Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you maybe healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.” By praying for each other then we gain strength from each other to overcome sin.

Selfinshness is another trait against God that pray can help fight against. 3Jn_1:2,  “Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.” By praying for each other then we take focus off of ourselves. We cultivate the love for other human beings. It is vey tough to cultivate a love for other people and be selfish, at the same time.