Bible verses About Prayer

Ask me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come.

God spoke these words to Jeremiah while the prophet was confined in the courtyard of the guard during the siege of Jerusalem. Even with his movement limited, Jeremiah was invited to call out, and God promised to answer with things he could not have figured out on his own. The verse pictures prayer as a conversation that opens our understanding, not only a list of requests.

But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

Jesus said this in the Sermon on the Mount, just after describing people who prayed loudly on street corners to be noticed. He points to a different setting, a closed door and a private conversation with the Father. Prayer does not need an audience or polished words. Right after this verse, Jesus gives his followers the Lord's Prayer as a simple pattern to follow.

Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

Paul wrote these short instructions near the end of a letter to a young church in Thessalonica. Never stop praying does not mean speaking to God every waking second. It describes a steady awareness of God that carries through the day, along with joy and thankfulness. Paul places all three side by side, which suggests they grow together.

And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.

Paul admits something many people feel, that we do not always know what to pray for. Instead of treating that as a failure, he describes the Holy Spirit stepping in to pray on our behalf. The next verse adds that the Spirit pleads in harmony with God's own will. Prayer, then, is never only up to us. God helps us pray even when words run out.

And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.

John writes about confidence in prayer, the assurance that God hears. The key phrase is anything that pleases him, which links prayer to God's will and character rather than to a formula for getting what we want. As our desires are shaped by knowing God, our requests begin to line up with what he already loves to give.