Prayer

⁵And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward. ⁶But when you pray, go into your inner room, shut your door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. ⁷And when you pray, do not babble on like pagans, for they think that by their many words they will be heard. ⁸Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. ⁹So then, this is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. ¹⁰Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. ¹¹Give us this day our daily bread. ¹²And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. ¹³And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’

¹One 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.” ²So Jesus told them, “When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. ³Give us each day our daily bread. ⁴And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’” ⁵Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose one of you goes to his friend at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, ⁶because a friend of mine has come to me on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him.’ ⁷And 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.’ ⁸I 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. ⁹So 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. ¹⁰For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. ¹¹What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? ¹²Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? ¹³So 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!”

¹Then 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. ³And there was a widow in that town who kept appealing to him, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ ⁴For a while he refused, but later he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect men, ⁵yet because this widow keeps pestering me, I will give her justice. Otherwise, she will wear me out with her perpetual requests.’” ⁶And the Lord said, “Listen to the words of the unjust judge. ⁷Will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry out to Him day and night? Will He delay in helping them? ⁸I tell you, He will promptly carry out justice on their behalf. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?” ⁹To some who trusted in their own righteousness and viewed others with contempt, He also told this parable: ¹⁰“Two men went up to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—swindlers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. ¹²I fast twice a week and pay tithes of all that I acquire.’ ¹³But the tax collector stood at a distance, unwilling even to lift up his eyes to heaven. Instead, he beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’ ¹⁴I tell you, this man, rather than the Pharisee, went home justified. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

⁶Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

¹⁴And this is the confidence that we have before Him: If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. ¹⁵And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we already possess what we have asked of Him.

¹⁸Pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition. To this end, stay alert with all perseverance in your prayers for all the saints. ¹⁹Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will boldly make known the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it fearlessly, as I should.

²⁶In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know how we ought to pray, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words. ²⁷And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

¹³Is any one of you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises. ¹⁴Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵And the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick. The Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. ¹⁶Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail. ¹⁷Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. ¹⁸Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth yielded its crops.

⁷Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. ⁸For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. ⁹Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? ¹¹So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

²²And the two men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD. ²³Abraham stepped forward and said, “Will You really sweep away the righteous with the wicked? ²⁴What if there are fifty righteous ones in the city? Will You really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous ones who are there? ²⁵Far be it from You to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Will not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?” ²⁶So the LORD replied, “If I find fifty righteous ones within the city of Sodom, on their account I will spare the whole place.” ²⁷Then Abraham answered, “Now that I have ventured to speak to the Lord—though I am but dust and ashes— ²⁸suppose the fifty righteous ones lack five. Will You destroy the whole city for the lack of five?” He replied, “If I find forty-five there, I will not destroy it.” ²⁹Once again Abraham spoke to the LORD, “Suppose forty are found there?” He answered, “On account of the forty, I will not do it.” ³⁰Then Abraham said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak further. Suppose thirty are found there?” He replied, “If I find thirty there, I will not do it.” ³¹And Abraham said, “Now that I have ventured to speak to the Lord, suppose twenty are found there?” He answered, “On account of the twenty, I will not destroy it.” ³²Finally, Abraham said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak once more. Suppose ten are found there?” And He answered, “On account of the ten, I will not destroy it.” ³³When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, He departed, and Abraham returned home.

¹²“O LORD, God of my master Abraham,” he prayed, “please grant me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. ¹³Here I am, standing beside the spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. ¹⁴Now may it happen that the girl to whom I say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink,’ and who responds, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels as well’—let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. By this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master.” ¹⁵Before the servant had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor.

¹¹But Moses sought the favor of the LORD his God, saying, “O LORD, why does Your anger burn against Your people, whom You brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? ¹²Why should the Egyptians declare, ‘He brought them out with evil intent, to kill them in the mountains and wipe them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your fierce anger and relent from doing harm to Your people. ¹³Remember Your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, to whom You swore by Your very self when You declared, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give your descendants all this land that I have promised, and it shall be their inheritance forever.’” ¹⁴So the LORD relented from the calamity He had threatened to bring on His people.

¹²Then Moses said to the LORD, “Look, You have been telling me, ‘Lead this people up,’ but You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have found favor in My sight.’ ¹³Now if indeed I have found favor in Your sight, please let me know Your ways, that I may know You and find favor in Your sight. Remember that this nation is Your people.” ¹⁴And the LORD answered, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” ¹⁵“If Your Presence does not go with us,” Moses replied, “do not lead us up from here. ¹⁶For how then can it be known that Your people and I have found favor in Your sight, unless You go with us? How else will we be distinguished from all the other people on the face of the earth?” ¹⁷So the LORD said to Moses, “I will do this very thing you have asked, for you have found favor in My sight, and I know you by name.” ¹⁸Then Moses said, “Please show me Your glory.”

⁹So 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. ¹⁰In her bitter distress, Hannah prayed to the LORD and wept with many tears. ¹¹And she made a vow, saying, “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 touch his head.” ¹²As Hannah kept on praying before the LORD, Eli watched her mouth. ¹³Hannah was praying in her heart, and though her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. So Eli thought she was drunk ¹⁴and said to her, “How long will you be drunk? Put away your wine!” ¹⁵“No, my lord,” Hannah replied. “I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have not had any wine or strong drink, but I have poured out my soul before the LORD. ¹⁶Do 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.” ¹⁸“May your maidservant find favor with you,” said Hannah. Then she went on her way, and she began to eat, and her face was no longer downcast. ²⁶“Please, my lord,” said Hannah, “as surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD. ²⁷I prayed for this boy, and since the LORD has granted me what I asked of Him, ²⁸I now dedicate the boy to the LORD. For as long as he lives, he is dedicated to the LORD.” So they worshiped the LORD there.

⁵Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to the LORD on your behalf.” ⁶When they had gathered at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the LORD. On that day they fasted, and there they confessed, “We have sinned against the LORD.” And Samuel judged the Israelites at Mizpah. ⁷When the Philistines heard that the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah, their rulers marched up toward Israel. And when the Israelites learned of this, they feared the Philistines ⁸and said to Samuel, “Do not stop crying out to the LORD our God for us, that He may save us from the hand of the Philistines.” ⁹Then Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the LORD. He cried out to the LORD on behalf of Israel, and the LORD answered him.

²³As 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.

²⁸Yet regard the prayer and plea of Your servant, O LORD my God, so that You may hear the cry and the prayer that Your servant is praying before You today. ²⁹May Your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, toward the place of which You said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ so that You may hear the prayer that Your servant prays toward this place. ³⁰Hear the plea of Your servant and of Your people Israel when they pray toward this place. May You hear from heaven, Your dwelling place. May You hear and forgive. ⁵⁴Now when Solomon had finished praying this entire prayer and petition to the LORD, he got up before the altar of the LORD, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven. ⁵⁵And he stood and blessed the whole assembly of Israel in a loud voice, saying: ⁵⁶“Blessed be the LORD, who has given rest to His people Israel according to all that He promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises He made through His servant Moses. ⁵⁷May the LORD our God be with us, as He was with our fathers. May He never leave us or forsake us. ⁵⁸May He incline our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His ways and to keep the commandments and statutes and ordinances He commanded our fathers. ⁵⁹And may these words with which I have made my petition before the LORD be near to the LORD our God day and night, so that He may uphold the cause of His servant and of His people Israel as each day requires, ⁶⁰so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God. There is no other! ⁶¹So let your heart be fully devoted to the LORD our God, as it is this day, to walk in His statutes and to keep His commandments.”

³⁶At the time of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet approached the altar and said, “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and have done all these things at Your command. ³⁷Answer me, O LORD! Answer me, so that this people will know that You, the LORD, are God, and that You have turned their hearts back again.” ³⁸Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and it licked up the water in the trench. ³⁹When all the people saw this, they fell facedown and said, “The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!”

¹⁴So 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. ¹⁵And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD: “O LORD, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the heavens and the earth. ¹⁶Incline Your ear, O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see. Listen to the words that Sennacherib has sent to defy the living God. ¹⁷Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste these nations and their lands. ¹⁸They have cast their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods, but only wood and stone—the work of human hands. ¹⁹And now, O LORD our God, please save us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O LORD, are God.”

¹⁴and 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, forgive their sin, and heal their land.

³Jehoshaphat was alarmed and set his face to seek the LORD. And he proclaimed a fast throughout Judah. ⁴So the people of Judah gathered to seek the LORD, and indeed, they came from all the cities of Judah to seek Him. ⁵Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem in the house of the LORD in front of the new courtyard ⁶and said, “O LORD, God of our fathers, are You not the God who is in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in Your hand, and no one can stand against You. ⁷Our God, did You not drive out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham Your friend? ⁸They have lived in the land and have built in it a sanctuary for Your Name, saying, ⁹‘If disaster comes upon us—whether sword or judgment, plague or famine—we will stand before this temple and before You, for Your Name is in this temple. We will cry out to You in our distress, and You will hear us and save us.’ ¹⁰And now, here are the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, whom You did not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt. So Israel turned away from them and did not destroy them. ¹¹See how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession that You gave us as an inheritance. ¹²Our God, will You not judge them? For we are powerless before this vast army that comes against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.”

²¹And there by the Ahava Canal I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask Him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions. ²²For I was ashamed to ask the king for an escort of soldiers and horsemen to protect us from our enemies on the road, since we had told him, “The hand of our God is gracious to all who seek Him, but His great anger is against all who forsake Him.” ²³So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and He granted our request.

⁴When I heard these words, I sat down and wept. I mourned for days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven. ⁵Then I said: “O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps His covenant of loving devotion with those who love Him and keep His commandments, ⁶let Your eyes be open and Your ears attentive to hear the prayer that I, Your servant, now pray before You day and night for Your servants, the Israelites. I confess the sins that we Israelites have committed against You. Both I and my father’s house have sinned. ⁷We have behaved corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments, statutes, and ordinances that You gave Your servant Moses. ⁸Remember, I pray, the word that You commanded Your servant Moses when You said, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, ⁹but if you return to Me and keep and practice My commandments, then even if your exiles have been banished to the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for My Name.’ ¹⁰They are Your servants and Your people. You redeemed them by Your great power and mighty hand. ¹¹O 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.)

¹⁰Now 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.

³So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and petition, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. ⁴And I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed, “O, Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of loving devotion to those who love Him and keep His commandments, ⁵we have sinned and done wrong. We have acted wickedly and rebelled. We have turned away from Your commandments and ordinances. ⁶We have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, leaders, fathers, and all the people of the land. ⁷To You, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but this day we are covered with shame—the men of Judah, the people of Jerusalem, and all Israel near and far, in all the countries to which You have driven us because of our unfaithfulness to You. ⁸O LORD, we are covered with shame—our kings, our leaders, and our fathers—because we have sinned against You. ⁹To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, even though we have rebelled against Him ¹⁰and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God to walk in His laws, which He set before us through His servants the prophets. ¹¹All Israel has transgressed Your law and turned away, refusing to obey Your voice; so the oath and the curse written in the Law of Moses the servant of God has been poured out on us, because we have sinned against You. ¹²You have carried out the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing upon us a great disaster. For under all of heaven, nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem. ¹³Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us, yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our iniquities and giving attention to Your truth. ¹⁴Therefore the LORD has kept the calamity in store and brought it upon us. For the LORD our God is righteous in all He does; yet we have not obeyed His voice. ¹⁵Now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and who made for Yourself a name renowned to this day, we have sinned; we have acted wickedly. ¹⁶O Lord, in keeping with all Your righteous acts, I pray that Your anger and wrath may turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all around us. ¹⁷So now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of Your servant. For Your sake, O Lord, cause Your face to shine upon Your desolate sanctuary. ¹⁸Incline Your ear, O my God, and hear; open Your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears Your name. For we are not presenting our petitions before You because of our righteous acts, but because of Your great compassion. ¹⁹O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For Your sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people bear Your name.”

¹For the choirmaster, to be accompanied by flutes. A Psalm of David. Give ear to my words, O LORD; consider my groaning. ²Attend to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to You I pray. ³In the morning, O LORD, You hear my voice; at daybreak I lay my plea before You and wait in expectation.

¹A prayer of David. Hear, O LORD, my righteous plea; listen to my cry. Give ear to my prayer—it comes from lips free of deceit. ²May my vindication come from Your presence; may Your eyes see what is right.

⁶In 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.

⁴I sought the LORD, and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears. ⁵Those who look to Him are radiant with joy; their faces shall never be ashamed. ⁶This poor man called out, and the LORD heard him; He saved him from all his troubles. ⁷The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, and he delivers them. ¹⁵The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their cry. ¹⁶But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to wipe out all memory of them from the earth. ¹⁷The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears; He delivers them from all their troubles. ¹⁸The LORD is near to the brokenhearted; He saves the contrite in spirit.

¹⁵Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.”

¹⁶But I call to God, and the LORD saves me. ¹⁷Morning, noon, and night, I cry out in distress, and He hears my voice. ²²Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken.

⁸Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts before Him. God is our refuge. Selah

¹⁶Come and listen, all you who fear God, and I will declare what He has done for me. ¹⁷I cried out to Him with my mouth and praised Him with my tongue. ¹⁸If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. ¹⁹But God has surely heard; He has attended to the sound of my prayer. ²⁰Blessed be God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld from me His loving devotion!

¹A prayer of David. Incline Your ear, O LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. ²Preserve my soul, for I am godly. You are my God; save Your servant who trusts in You. ³Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I call to You all day long. ⁴Bring joy to Your servant, for to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. ⁵For You, O Lord, are kind and forgiving, rich in loving devotion to all who call on You. ⁶Hear my prayer, O LORD, and attend to my plea for mercy. ⁷In the day of my distress I call on You, because You answer me.

¹I love the LORD, for He has heard my voice—my appeal for mercy. ²Because He has inclined His ear to me, I will call on Him as long as I live.

¹A Psalm of David. I call upon You, O LORD; come quickly to me. Hear my voice when I call to You. ²May my prayer be set before You like incense; my uplifted hands, like the evening offering.

¹⁸The LORD is near to all who call on Him, to all who call out to Him in truth. ¹⁹He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them.

⁸The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is His delight. ²⁹The LORD is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous.

⁶Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near. ⁷Let the wicked man forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion, and to our God, for He will freely pardon.

⁷I will bring them to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on My altar, for My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations.”

²⁴Even before they call, I will answer, and while they are still speaking, I will hear.

¹²Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ¹³You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.

³Call to Me, and I will answer and show you great and unsearchable things you do not know.

⁴⁴But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

³⁷Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. ³⁸Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest.”

¹⁹Again, I tell you truly that if two of you on the earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven. ²⁰For where two or three gather together in My name, there am I with them.”

²¹“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. ²²If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

³⁶Then Jesus went with His disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and He told them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” ³⁷He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. ³⁸Then He said to them, “My soul is consumed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with Me.” ³⁹Going a little farther, He fell facedown and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.” ⁴⁰Then Jesus returned to the disciples and found them sleeping. “Were you not able to keep watch with Me for one hour?” He asked Peter. ⁴¹“Watch and pray so that you will not enter into temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” ⁴²A second time He went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cup cannot pass unless I drink it, may Your will be done.” ⁴³And again Jesus returned and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. ⁴⁴So He left them and went away once more and prayed a third time, saying the same thing.

³⁵Early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up and went out to a solitary place to pray.

²²“Have faith in God,” Jesus said to them. 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. ²⁴Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. ²⁵And 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.”

¹⁶Yet He frequently withdrew to the wilderness to pray.

¹²In those days Jesus went out to the mountain to pray, and He spent the night in prayer to God.

³¹Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you like wheat. ³²But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith will not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” ³⁹Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed Him. ⁴⁰When He came to the place, He told them, “Pray that you will not enter into temptation.” ⁴¹And He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, where He knelt down and prayed, ⁴²“Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me. Yet not My will, but Yours be done.” ⁴³Then an angel from heaven appeared to Him and strengthened Him. ⁴⁴And in His anguish, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground. ⁴⁵When Jesus rose from prayer and returned to the disciples, He found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. ⁴⁶“Why are you sleeping?” He asked. “Get up and pray so that you will not enter into temptation.”

³⁴Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up His garments by casting lots. ⁴⁶Then Jesus called out in a loud voice, “Father, into Your hands I commit My Spirit.” And when He had said this, He breathed His last.

¹³And I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴If you ask Me for anything in My name, I will do it.

⁷If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ¹⁶You did not choose Me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will remain—so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you.

²³In that day you will no longer ask Me anything. Truly, truly, I tell you, whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you. ²⁴Until now you have not asked for anything in My name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete. ²⁵I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech. An hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you this way, but will tell you plainly about the Father. ²⁶In that day you will ask in My name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. ²⁷For the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came from God.

¹When Jesus had spoken these things, He lifted up His eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son may glorify You. ²For You granted Him authority over all people, so that He may give eternal life to all those You have given Him. ³Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent. ⁴I have glorified You on earth by accomplishing the work You gave Me to do. ⁵And now, Father, glorify Me in Your presence with the glory I had with You before the world existed. ⁶I have revealed Your name to those You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours; You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. ⁷Now they know that everything You have given Me comes from You. ⁸For I have given them the words You gave Me, and they have received them. They knew with certainty that I came from You, and they believed that You sent Me. ⁹I ask on their behalf. I do not ask on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those You have given Me; for they are Yours. ¹⁰All I have is Yours, and all You have is Mine; and in them I have been glorified. ¹¹I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, protect them by Your name, the name You gave Me, so that they may be one as We are one. ¹²While I was with them, I protected and preserved them by Your name, the name You gave Me. Not one of them has been lost, except the son of destruction, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled. ¹³But now I am coming to You; and I am saying these things while I am in the world, so that they may have My joy fulfilled within them. ¹⁴I have given them Your word and the world has hated them. For they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ¹⁵I am not asking that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one. ¹⁶They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ¹⁷Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth. ¹⁸As You sent Me into the world, I have also sent them into the world. ¹⁹For them I sanctify Myself, so that they too may be sanctified by the truth. ²⁰I am not asking on behalf of them alone, but also on behalf of those who will believe in Me through their message, ²¹that all of them may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I am in You. May they also be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. ²²I have given them the glory You gave Me, so that they may be one as We are one— ²³I in them and You in Me—that they may be perfectly united, so that the world may know that You sent Me and have loved them just as You have loved Me. ²⁴Father, I want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am, that they may see the glory You gave Me because You loved Me before the foundation of the world. ²⁵Righteous Father, although the world has not known You, I know You, and they know that You sent Me. ²⁶And I have made Your name known to them and will continue to make it known, so that the love You have for Me may be in them, and I in them.”

¹⁴With one accord they all continued in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers. ²⁴And they prayed, “Lord, You know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two You have chosen ²⁵to take up this ministry and apostleship, which Judas abandoned to go to his rightful place.” ²⁶Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias. So he was added to the eleven apostles.

⁴²They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

²³On their release, Peter and John returned to their own people and reported everything that the chief priests and elders had said to them. ²⁴When 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. ²⁵You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of Your servant, our father David: ‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? ²⁶The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against His Anointed One.’ ²⁷In fact, this is the very city where Herod and Pontius Pilate conspired with the Gentiles and the people of Israel against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed. ²⁸They carried out what Your hand and will had decided beforehand would happen. ²⁹And now, Lord, consider their threats, and enable Your servants to speak Your word with complete boldness, ³⁰as You stretch out Your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of Your holy servant Jesus.” ³¹After they had prayed, their meeting place was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

⁴and will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

¹At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was called the Italian Regiment. ²He and all his household were devout and God-fearing. He gave generously to the people and prayed to God regularly. ³One day at about the ninth hour, he had a clear vision of an angel of God who came to him and said, “Cornelius!” ⁴Cornelius 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. ⁹The next day at about the sixth hour, as the men were approaching the city on their journey, Peter went up on the roof to pray.

⁵So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was fervently praying to God for him. ⁶On the night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, with sentries standing guard at the entrance to the prison. ⁷Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and woke him up, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his wrists. ⁸“Get dressed and put on your sandals,” said the angel. Peter did so, and the angel told him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” ⁹So Peter followed him out, but he was unaware that what the angel was doing was real. He thought he was only seeing a vision. ¹⁰They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city, which opened for them by itself. When they had gone outside and walked the length of one block, the angel suddenly left him. ¹¹Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know for sure that the Lord has sent His angel and rescued me from Herod’s grasp and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating.” ¹²And when he had realized this, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered together and were praying. ¹³He knocked at the outer gate, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer it. ¹⁴When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed that she forgot to open the gate, but ran inside and announced, “Peter is standing at the gate!” ¹⁵“You are out of your mind,” they told her. But when she kept insisting it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.” ¹⁶But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astounded. ¹⁷Peter motioned with his hand for silence, and he described how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. “Send word to James and to the brothers,” he said, and he left for another place.

²While 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.” ³And after they had fasted and prayed, they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

²⁵About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.

¹²Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, persistent in prayer.

³⁰Now I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. ³¹Pray that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service in Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints there, ³²so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and together with you be refreshed.

¹³Therefore, the one who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret. ¹⁴For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. ¹⁵What then shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind. I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind.

¹¹as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the favor shown us in answer to their prayers.

⁷or because of these surpassingly great revelations. So to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. ⁸Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me. ¹⁰That is why, for the sake of Christ, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

¹⁵For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, ¹⁶I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, ¹⁷that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in your knowledge of Him. ¹⁸I ask that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know the hope of His calling, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹and the surpassing greatness of His power to us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of His mighty strength, ²⁰which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms, ²¹far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. ²²And God put everything under His feet and made Him head over everything for the church, ²³which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

¹⁴... for this reason I bow my knees before the Father, ¹⁵from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶I ask that out of the riches of His glory He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Then you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸will have power, together with all the saints, to comprehend the length and width and height and depth ¹⁹of the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. ²⁰Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, ²¹to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

⁹For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, ¹⁰so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, ¹¹being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have full endurance and patience, and joyfully ¹²giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.

²Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful, ³as you pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. ⁴Pray that I may declare it clearly, as I should. ¹²Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, so that you may stand mature and fully assured in the full will of God.

¹⁶Rejoice at all times. ¹⁷Pray without ceasing. ¹⁸Give thanks in every circumstance, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. ²⁵Brothers, pray for us as well.

¹First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be offered for everyone— ²for kings and all those in authority—so that we may lead tranquil and quiet lives in all godliness and dignity. ³This is good and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, ⁴who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. ⁵For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, ⁶who gave Himself as a ransom for all—the testimony that was given at just the right time. ⁷For this reason I was appointed as a preacher, an apostle, and a faithful and true teacher of the Gentiles. I am telling the truth; I am not lying about anything. ⁸Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands, without anger or dissension.

¹⁴Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we profess. ¹⁵For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin. ¹⁶Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

¹⁹Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰by the new and living way opened for us through the curtain of His body, ²¹and since we have a great priest over the house of God, ²²let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

⁷The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear-minded and sober, so that you can pray.

²¹Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God, ²²and we will receive from Him whatever we ask, because we keep His commandments and do what is pleasing in His sight.

²⁰But you, beloved, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit,

¹From inside the fish, Jonah prayed to the LORD his God, ²saying: “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. ³For You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the current swirled about me; all Your breakers and waves swept over me. ⁴At this, I said, ‘I have been banished from Your sight; yet I will look once more toward Your holy temple.’ ⁵The waters engulfed me to take my life; the watery depths closed around me; the seaweed wrapped around my head. ⁶To the roots of the mountains I descended; the earth beneath me barred me in forever! But You raised my life from the pit, O LORD my God! ⁷As my life was fading away, I remembered the LORD. My prayer went up to You, to Your holy temple. ⁸Those who cling to worthless idols forsake His loving devotion. ⁹But I, with the voice of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to You. I will fulfill what I have vowed. Salvation is from the LORD!” ¹⁰And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

⁵Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. ⁶But he must ask in faith, without doubting, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. ⁷That man should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. ⁸He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

²You crave what you do not have; you kill and covet, but are unable to obtain it. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask. ³And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures.

²⁸After Jesus had gone into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” ²⁹Jesus answered, “This kind cannot come out, except by prayer.”

⁴¹So they took away the stone. Then Jesus lifted His eyes upward and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. ⁴²I knew that You always hear Me, but I say this for the benefit of the people standing here, so they may believe that You sent Me.”

⁷During the days of Jesus’ earthly life, He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverence.

¹A song of ascents. Out of the depths I cry to You, O LORD! ²O Lord, hear my voice; let Your ears be attentive to my plea for mercy. ³If You, O LORD, kept track of iniquities, then who, O Lord, could stand? ⁴But with You there is forgiveness, so that You may be feared. ⁵I wait for the LORD; my soul does wait, and in His word I put my hope. ⁶My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning—more than watchmen wait for the morning.

¹A Psalm of David. O LORD, hear my prayer. In Your faithfulness, give ear to my plea; in Your righteousness, answer me. ⁸Let me hear Your loving devotion in the morning, for I have put my trust in You. Teach me the way I should walk, for to You I lift up my soul. ⁹Deliver me from my enemies, O LORD; I flee to You for refuge. ¹⁰Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God. May Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.

⁸So 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.” ⁹So 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 prayer. ¹⁰After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD restored his prosperity and doubled his former possessions.

¹³But Moses said to the LORD, “The Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your strength You brought this people from among them. ¹⁴And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have already heard that You, O LORD, are in the midst of this people, that You, O LORD, have been seen face to face, that Your cloud stands over them, and that You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. ¹⁵If You kill this people as one man, the nations who have heard of Your fame will say, ¹⁶‘Because the LORD was unable to bring this people into the land He swore to give them, He has slaughtered them in the wilderness.’ ¹⁷So now I pray, may the power of my Lord be magnified, just as You have declared: ¹⁸‘The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion, forgiving iniquity and transgression. Yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished; He will visit the iniquity of the fathers upon their children to the third and fourth generation.’ ¹⁹Pardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people, in keeping with the greatness of Your loving devotion, just as You have forgiven them ever since they left Egypt.” ²⁰“I have pardoned them as you requested,” the LORD replied.

⁷For what nation is great enough to have a god as near to them as the LORD our God is to us whenever we call on Him?

⁴“What is your request?” replied the king. So I prayed to the God of heaven ⁵and answered the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city where my fathers are buried, so that I may rebuild it.”

⁶Isn’t this the fast that I have chosen: to break the chains of wickedness, to untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and tear off every yoke? ⁷Isn’t it to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the poor and homeless into your home, to clothe the naked when you see him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? ⁸Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will come quickly. Your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. ⁹Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry out, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you remove the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger and malicious talk,

¹⁰In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision, “Ananias!” “Here I am, Lord,” he answered. ¹¹“Get up!” the Lord told him. “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. ¹²In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.” ¹³But Ananias answered, “Lord, many people have told me about this man and all the harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. ¹⁴And now he is here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on Your name.” ¹⁵“Go!” said the Lord. “This man is My chosen instrument to carry My name before the Gentiles and their kings, and before the people of Israel. ¹⁶I will show him how much he must suffer for My name.” ¹⁷So Ananias went to the house, and when he arrived, he placed his hands on Saul. “Brother Saul,” he said, “the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here, has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

⁷Husbands, in the same way, treat your wives with consideration as a delicate vessel, and with honor as fellow heirs of the gracious gift of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered. ¹²For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

⁸When He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

³Then another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, along with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. ⁴And the smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, rose up before God from the hand of the angel.

¹Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. ²Do not be quick to speak, and do not be hasty in your heart to utter a word before God. For God is in heaven and you are on earth. So let your words be few.