What Does the Bible Say About Prayer?

John 15:7 ESV / 86 helpful votes

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

Mark 11:24 ESV / 76 helpful votes

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Philippians 4:6 ESV / 71 helpful votes

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Matthew 6:7 ESV / 53 helpful votes

“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.

Luke 11:9 ESV / 37 helpful votes

And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

Romans 8:26 ESV / 35 helpful votes

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 ESV / 33 helpful votes

Pray without ceasing,

Matthew 6:6 ESV / 29 helpful votes

But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Matthew 26:41 ESV / 24 helpful votes

Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Matthew 6:9-13 ESV / 20 helpful votes

Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

James 5:16 ESV / 18 helpful votes

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

Ephesians 6:18 ESV / 18 helpful votes

Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,

Matthew 6:1-34 ESV / 17 helpful votes

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. ...

Luke 18:1 ESV / 14 helpful votes

And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.

1 Timothy 2:8 ESV / 12 helpful votes

I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling;

1 Samuel 3:1-10 ESV / 11 helpful votes

Now the young man Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision. At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. Then the Lord called Samuel, and he said, “Here I am!” and ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down. ...

Jeremiah 33:3 ESV / 10 helpful votes

Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.

2 Chronicles 7:14 ESV / 10 helpful votes

If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

1 Timothy 2:1-4 ESV / 9 helpful votes

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Luke 11:9-13 ESV / 9 helpful votes

And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Matthew 18:19-20 ESV / 9 helpful votes

Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

Mark 1:35 ESV / 8 helpful votes

And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.

Matthew 21:12-13 ESV / 7 helpful votes

And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”

Matthew 6:5-8 ESV / 7 helpful votes

“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

1 John 5:14-15 ESV / 6 helpful votes

And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.

1 John 3:22 ESV / 5 helpful votes

And whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.

James 5:13-18 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. ...

1 Thessalonians 5:25 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Brothers, pray for us.

Colossians 4:2 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.

Romans 12:1-2 ESV / 5 helpful votes

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

John 16:23-24 ESV / 5 helpful votes

In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

Luke 18:1-8 ESV / 5 helpful votes

And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” ...

Jeremiah 29:12 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.

1 Corinthians 7:26 ESV / 4 helpful votes

I think that in view of the present distress it is good for a person to remain as he is.

Romans 8:28 ESV / 4 helpful votes

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Zechariah 13:9 ESV / 4 helpful votes

And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are my people’; and they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’”

Psalm 145:18-19 ESV / 4 helpful votes

The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them.

Psalm 55:17 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he hears my voice.

Psalm 34:17 ESV / 4 helpful votes

When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.

Psalm 23:1-6 ESV / 4 helpful votes

A Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. ...

1 Samuel 12:23 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way.

John 16:13 ESV / 3 helpful votes

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

Matthew 6:9 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

Proverbs 15:29 ESV / 3 helpful votes

The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.

Hebrews 4:16 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

John 3:16-17 ESV / 2 helpful votes

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Matthew 5:1-48 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. ...

47 Bible Verses about Prayer