Tag Archives: Bible Prayers

Elijah Prayed Earnestly – Bible Prayers

Bible Prayers are prayers where the prayer words are in the Bible.  There are many prayers where the words of the prayer are right in the Bible.

Canon Beach Haystack Rock

Canon Beach Haystack Rock – Elijah Prayed

Sometime we don’t know what the words are, like when Jesus prayed all night.  We don’t know what He prayed, we just know the outcome the next day where He choose the twelve apostles.  There is a few Bible verses that are teachings on prayer, like the Lord’s Prayer.

I just love this Bible verse on prayer:  Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. — James 5:17

Psalm 22:19 But thou, Jehovah, be not far from me; O my strength, haste thee to help me.

Consider the verse in John 15:7 where the Lord Jesus says “If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask what ever you wish and it shall be done.”  A big part of prayer is our mind being filled with the Words of the Bible.  The more our mind is renewed with God’s Word the more prayers get answered.  His word in our thinking causes us to pray closer to His will.

Prayer and Supplication with Thanksgiving

Prayer and Supplication with Thanksgiving - Seagull, Cannon Beach, Oregon

Prayer and Supplication with Thanksgiving – Seagull, Cannon Beach, Oregon

Prayer starts with thanksgiving, thanking God for all He has done.  Sometimes this is hard to do, but thanksgiving helps our prayer.   But this verse starts by telling us to be careful for nothing, that is, don’t worry about anything, just pray.  Then it says to just let God know what’s going on, just talk to God.  Then after all these items, there is the peace of God that goes beyond what we think and feel.  This peace guards our hearts by filling us with the peace of God.

Philippians 4:6-7 Be careful about nothing; but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses every understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts by Christ Jesus.

Prayer is Talking to God

Prayer is simple. Prayer is just talking to God. Nothing formal is necessary.

Olive Trees In Jerusalem Israel - Prayer is Talking to God

Olive Trees In Jerusalem Israel – Prayer is Talking to God

God exists and listens, we just need to talk to Him.    Prayer does not need to be formal or in some special place. Prayer is just talking to God in reality. So we don’t need make-up something, just start saying what is on your heart as you talk to God.  Prayer is just a dialog between us and God.  Prayer can be alone for with others.    Prayer can be when we love God and when we hate God. Sometimes we are hurting because of something that happened, so tell that to God.   Prayer can be what we feel when we are very encouraged and when we are very depressed and low.   Prayer can be when we think we are perfect (only God is perfect), and when we are a sinner (and we all are sinners) and when we feel we are a saint.  Prayer can be when we are happy and when we are sad. Sometimes after we pray we feel high and sometimes low.

The Spirit makes it easy, because He knows how and what to pray.   Without the Spirit, prayer is hard. With the Spirit prayer us easy.  Romans 8:26 And in like manner the Spirit joins also its help to our weakness; for we do not know what we should pray for as is fitting, but the Spirit itself makes intercession with groanings which cannot be uttered.

Look at the prayers of David in the Psalms where David just talks to God. David tells God just what he thinks and how he feels.  When David is low, he says “God, I am depressed”.

When David was feeling great, He praises God. Sometimes when he is low is also praises God.  Psalms 8:2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou established praise because of thine adversaries, to still the enemy and the avenger.

Also consider some of the points in the article on “What is Prayer”

The Lord’s Prayer – The Sermon on the Mount

The Lord's Prayer given within the Sermon on Mount maybe given on the west side of the Sea of Galilee

The Lord’s Prayer, a Bible Prayer, was given in the Sermon on Mount. Jesus may have given this talk on the north-west side of the Sea of Galilee, Israel.

Here is another Bible Prayer, a model prayer, an example prayer for us to follow.
The Lord’s Prayer was given by Jesus while teaching on the Sermon on Mount. The supposed  location is on the north-west side of the Sea of Galilee.

The Lord’s Prayer is in Matthew chapter 6, the sermon on the mount is in chapters 5, 6 and 7.  So the model prayer was given within this three chapter sermon on the mount. The main points of the prayer is the following short quick points: Thy Name, Thy Kingdom, Thy Will,  daily bread, forgive and keep us from evil.

The passage on the Lord’s prayer is right in the middle of the Jesus Christ giving the three chapter sermon on the mount.  The location is supposed to be on the north-west side of the Sea of Galilee, Israel as shown in the picture above.

See several articles on the Lord’s Prayer on this blog

The large building in the picture above is the Church of the Beatitudes or Sermon on the Mount Church. The church was built by the Byzantines. This is considered the traditional location of the sermon on the mount.

Matthew 6:9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 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.

The Lord’s prayer is a model prayer. It has two sections: towards God and toward man. In the first section towards God we learn to pray (1) in His name, (2) for His Kingdom, and (3) for His will.

When we take care of God, He takes care of us. Consider the verse in Matthew 6:33
“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” There is quite a promise here, we seek the Kingdom, that is take care of God’s interests and He (God) helps us.

Bible Prayer for Jerusalem

Bible Prayer - Prayer for Jerusalem - walls of Jerusalem, Israel

Bible Prayer – Prayer for Jerusalem – walls of Jerusalem, Israel

Here is another Bible Prayer, a prayer by Daniel while he was in Babylon longing for God’s people to return to the land of Israel.  Daniel 9:16  O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, let thine anger and thy wrath, I pray thee, be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are round about us.

Here is a Bible prayer asking God to make Jerusalem a praise in the earth. This is actually not fully fulfilled until the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ is fully established on the earth.   Isaiah 62:6 I have set watchmen upon thy walls, Jerusalem; all the day and all the night they shall never hold their peace: ye that put Jehovah in remembrance, keep not silence, 7 and give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.

 The picture above shows some of the walls of Jerusalem.  The Lord wants us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.  Psalm 122:6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:  “May those who love you prosper;   7 may there be peace within your walls,  prosperity within your fortresses.”

So the Bible is full of example prayers.

Hannah Prays

Hannah Prays - River and Tree

Hannah Prays – River and Tree

The priest, Eli, noticed Hannah praying. For some reason Eli thought she was drunk.  If you read the first few chapters of I Samuel, you realize that Eli, the priest, was not serving the Lord very well, and his heart was no so much on God. In fact, his sons were doing things against the temple. This indicates to me that Eli was probably too close to the world and was used to seeing people drunk and that is why he thought this lady was drunk. We don’t want to be like Eli; we want to be like Hannah, a person who prays before the Lord.

We see in verse 15 that Hannah went on to say, “…No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD.” Eli answered her in verse 1, “… Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him.” Eli eventually recognized that she was praying to the Lord and he joined in with her prayer. That is a very important point. Our passage says that the Lord remembered Hannah and gave her a son. That little phrase in verse 19, “The Lord remembered her” really means something. God remembers prayer. Sometimes we pray and we think, “I don’t know if God will remember this or if God will do anything.”  God remembers every prayer.  God answers every prayer. It may not be answered in the time we expect or in the way we expect.  Sometimes the thing we specifically pray for may not be God’s will so God kind of turns that prayer around and uses it in the proper way.  Never forget that the Lord remembers prayer and He answers prayer.

Hannah Prays for a Son – Samuel

Bible Prayer - Beach Flowers

Bible Prayer – Beach Flowers

Lets look at the  background on the life of Samuel. There was a woman named Hannah. She had no children and she was quite depressed and despondent about the situation. She cried out to the Lord and prayed:  “Lord, I have no children and people are looking down on me.”  She desperately wanted a child. She went to the temple one day in great distress and she prayed.  She said, “Lord, I ask You for a child, and if You give me a child I will give him to You for all the days of his life.” Samuel was produced out of the prayer of his mother. If you are a mother, never despise the prayers that you make for your children. God answers prayer and God remembers prayer.

Let’s read from I Samuel 1:10, “And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the LORD, and wept sore. 11 And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life…”  Here we see that Hannah prayed out of her distress, out of her distressing situation. You could even say that her situation seemed impossible.  It looked like it was impossible for her to have a child. I don’t know what her situation was medically, but the point is that she prayed and God answered her prayer.

Prayer of Declaration

Bible Prayer of Declaration - Sunrise over Sea of Galilee in Israel

Bible Prayer of Declaration – Sunrise over Sea of Galilee in Israel

Here is a prayer of declaration to the Lord:  “Lord, You have been our dwelling place throughout all generations” ( Ps.  90:1 ).  Only the Lord satisfies. Places, things and projects do not replace Him.  We try to do many things to get satisfied, but only the Lord can satisfy us in reality. So this is also another example of a Bible prayer.

In Psalms 119 there are many more examples.  Psalm 119:89, “For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.” In other words, in the heavenlies there is no problem with the Word of God, but on the earth there is some problem. That’s why the Lord Jesus taught us to pray, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, indicating that in Heaven there is no problem with the Word of God. Yet, Jesus taught us to pray to bring the will of God from the heavens to the earth.

Psalm 119:89 says, “For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.” Yet it is God’s intention that His Word would also be established on the earth.   This is another prayer of declaration. Declaring this prayer on earth reminds us and God that His word should also be settled in our hearts while we are on the earth.  Why should His word only be settled in the heavens and not in us on the earth.