Bible verses about

Bible Verses About Prayer

12 verses · ESV & King James Version

Almost everyone who prays regularly has, at some point, wondered whether they are doing it right. Whether it counts if you are distracted. Whether God minds that it is the same three things every night. Whether a prayer said while driving is worth less than one said kneeling.

Scripture is far less anxious about this than we are.

The model prayer Jesus gave is about sixty words. Paul describes praying “without ceasing,” which sounds impossible until you notice he means a conversation left open rather than an appointment kept. And Romans 8 says that when you have no words at all — when you cannot form the sentence — the Spirit prays on your behalf in groans. That single verse has probably done more for exhausted people than any technique.

What Scripture is insistent about is honesty. “The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.” Not eloquently. Not calmly. Truthfully.

And persistence. Jesus told an entire parable, Luke says, for the single purpose of stopping people losing heart — which means He assumed the experience of praying and not seeing an answer would be normal enough to need addressing directly.

Read one below. Then, if you want, pray it back.

12 verses for when you need them

  1. do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

    Philippians 4:6-7 ESV

    Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

    Philippians 4:6-7 KJV

    The most practical instruction on this list: take the anxious thing and convert it into a request. Note that thanksgiving is included — not as a mood, but as a discipline that changes what you notice.

  2. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

    1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ESV

    Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

    1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 KJV

    “Without ceasing” is not a demand for constant words. It describes a running conversation kept open through the day rather than an appointment you keep and then leave.

  3. 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.

    Matthew 6:9-13 ESV

    After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

    Matthew 6:9-13 KJV

    Jesus gives a model, not a script — and it is startlingly short. Notice the order: who God is, then His purposes, and only then today's bread. Most of us invert that.

  4. 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.

    James 5:16 ESV

    Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

    James 5:16 KJV

    Two things bolted together: confession to other people, and prayer for one another. Prayer here is not a private activity, and the healing is corporate.

  5. 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 5:14-15 ESV

    And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

    1 John 5:14-15 KJV

    The qualifier — “according to his will” — is not a loophole. It is what makes the promise safe. You would not actually want a God who granted every request you have ever made.

  6. “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.

    Matthew 7:7-8 ESV

    Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

    Matthew 7:7-8 KJV

    Ask, seek, knock — three verbs of increasing effort. The picture is persistence, not a single well-worded request.

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

    Jeremiah 33:3 ESV

    Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.

    Jeremiah 33:3 KJV

    Said to a prophet in prison, about a city under siege. “Great and mighty things” was not said into an easy situation.

  8. 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.

    Romans 8:26 ESV

    Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

    Romans 8:26 KJV

    The most comforting verse here for anyone who has run out of words. When you cannot pray, the Spirit is described as praying *for* you, in groans rather than sentences.

  9. The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.

    Psalm 145:18 ESV

    The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.

    Psalm 145:18 KJV

    Near to all who call on Him — with one qualifier, in truth. Honest and ugly beats polished and performed.

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

    Mark 11:24 ESV

    Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

    Mark 11:24 KJV

    Often quoted as a blank cheque. Read alongside 1 John 5:14 and Gethsemane — where Jesus asked for the cup to pass and it did not — it is a call to bold asking inside a relationship, not a vending machine.

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

    Luke 18:1 ESV

    And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;

    Luke 18:1 KJV

    Jesus tells a whole parable for one reason, stated up front: so people would not lose heart. He assumed unanswered prayer would make us want to stop.

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

    Colossians 4:2 ESV

    Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;

    Colossians 4:2 KJV

    “Watchful” — praying with your eyes open, expecting an answer and noticing when it comes. Most of us ask and then forget to look.

Two honest notes.

First, on unanswered prayer. Mark 11:24 is sometimes handed out as a guarantee, and it is not one — Jesus Himself asked in Gethsemane for the cup to pass, and the answer was no. Held together with 1 John 5:14, the picture is bold asking inside a relationship where the other person is wiser than you. That is harder than a formula, and better.

Second, on not feeling like it. There is no verse anywhere requiring that prayer feel meaningful at the time. Most prayer, for most people, is fairly ordinary — a few sentences, a wandering mind, a return to the same requests. That is not a lesser version of the thing. That is the thing.

If you do not know where to start today: Psalm 143:8 is a whole prayer in one verse.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James Version, which is in the public domain. Scripture quotations marked ESV are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.