Prayer

And Jabez called out to the God of Israel, “If only You would bless me and enlarge my territory! May Your hand be with me and keep me from harm, so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted the request of Jabez.

As for you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve Him wholeheartedly and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands the intent of every thought. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.

¹⁵ “No, my lord,” Hannah replied. “I am a woman oppressed in spirit. I have not had any wine or strong drink, but I have poured out my soul before the LORD.

¹⁶ Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; for all this time I have been praying out of the depth of my anguish and grief.”

¹⁷ “Go in peace,” Eli replied, “and may the God of Israel grant the petition you have asked of Him.”

As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you. And I will continue to teach you the good and right way.

Then Asa cried out to the LORD his God: “O LORD, there is no one besides You to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, O LORD our God, for we rely on You, and in Your name we have come against this multitude. O LORD, You are our God. Do not let a mere mortal prevail against You.”

In my distress I called upon the LORD; I cried out to my God. And from His temple He heard my voice, and my cry for help reached His ears.

“Go and tell Hezekiah that this is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: ‘I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.

Even before they call, I will answer, and while they are still speaking, I will hear.

Then Samson called out to the LORD: “O Lord GOD, please remember me. Strengthen me, O God, just once more, so that with one vengeful blow I may pay back the Philistines for my two eyes.”

Call to Me, and I will answer and show you great and unsearchable things you do not know.

¹ From inside the fish, Jonah prayed to the LORD his God,

² saying: “In my distress I called to the LORD, and He answered me. From the belly of Sheol I called for help, and You heard my voice.

⁵⁵ I called on Your name, O LORD, out of the depths of the Pit.

⁵⁶ You heard my plea: “Do not ignore my cry for relief.”

⁵⁷ You drew near when I called on You; You said, “Do not be afraid.”

² So Jesus told them, “When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come.

³ Give us each day our daily bread.

⁴ And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’”

⁵ Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose one of you goes to his friend at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,

⁶ because a friend of mine has come to me on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him.’

⁷ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Do not bother me. My door is already shut, and my children and I are in bed. I cannot get up to give you anything.’

⁸ I tell you, even though he will not get up to provide for him because of his friendship, yet because of the man’s persistence, he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

⁹ So I tell you: Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.

¹⁰ For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

¹¹ What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead?

¹² Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?

¹³ So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

¹ Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray at all times and not lose heart:

² “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected men.

²³ “Truly I tell you that if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and has no doubt in his heart but believes that it will happen, it will be done for him.

²⁴ Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

²⁵ And when you stand to pray, if you hold anything against another, forgive it, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your trespasses as well.”

O Lord, may Your ear be attentive to my prayer and to the prayers of Your servants who delight to revere Your name. Give Your servant success this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” (At that time I was the cupbearer to the king.)

“What is your request?” replied the king. So I prayed to the God of heaven

For they were all trying to frighten us, saying, “Their hands will be weakened in the work, and it will never be finished.” But now, my God, strengthen my hands.

In my distress I called upon the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From His temple He heard my voice, and my cry for His help reached His ears.

¹⁰ Now when Daniel learned that the document had been signed, he went into his house, where the windows of his upper room opened toward Jerusalem, and three times a day he got down on his knees, prayed, and gave thanks to his God, just as he had done before.

¹¹ Then these men went as a group and found Daniel petitioning and imploring his God.

With one accord they all continued in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.

So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was fervently praying to God for him.

¹⁴ So Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers, read it, and went up to the house of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD.

¹⁵ And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD:

¹⁶ “O LORD of Hosts, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the heavens and the earth.

¹⁷ Incline Your ear, O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see. Listen to all the words that Sennacherib has sent to defy the living God.

²⁰ And now, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O LORD, are God.”

²¹ Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Because you have prayed to Me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria,

²² this is the word that the LORD has spoken against him: ‘The Virgin Daughter of Zion despises you and mocks you; the Daughter of Jerusalem shakes her head behind you.

⁸ So now, take seven bulls and seven rams, go to My servant Job, and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. Then My servant Job will pray for you, for I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken accurately about Me, as My servant Job has.”

⁹ So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the LORD had told them; and the LORD accepted Job’s request.

¹⁰ After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD restored his prosperity and doubled his former possessions.

So they cried out to the LORD: “Please, O LORD, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life! Do not charge us with innocent blood! For You, O LORD, have done as You pleased.”

One day in a place where Jesus had just finished praying, one of His disciples requested, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

⁹ So after they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on a chair by the doorpost of the temple of the LORD.

¹⁰ In her bitter distress, Hannah prayed to the LORD and wept with many tears.

¹¹ And she made a vow, pleading, “O LORD of Hosts, if only You will look upon the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, not forgetting Your maidservant but giving her a son, then I will dedicate him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall ever come over his head.”

¹² As Hannah kept on praying before the LORD, Eli watched her mouth.

¹³ Hannah was praying in her heart, and though her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. So Eli thought she was drunk

And they prayed, “Lord, You know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two You have chosen

When the believers heard this, they lifted up their voices to God with one accord. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “You made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them.

⁵⁹ While they were stoning him, Stephen appealed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

⁶⁰ Falling on his knees, he cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

² He and all his household were devout and God-fearing. He gave generously to the people and prayed to God regularly.

³ One day at about the ninth hour, he had a clear vision of an angel of God who came to him and said, “Cornelius!”

⁴ Cornelius stared at him in fear and asked, “What is it, Lord?” The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have ascended as a memorial offering before God.

² While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

³ And after they had fasted and prayed, they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.

¹⁷ Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,

¹⁸ urging them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his friends would not be killed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

¹⁹ During the night, the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision, and he blessed the God of heaven

² Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD,

³ saying, “Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and with wholehearted devotion; I have done what was good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth yielded its crops.

At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place, and the crowds were looking for Him. They came to Him and tried to keep Him from leaving.

In those days Jesus went out to the mountain to pray, and He spent the night in prayer to God.