38 Bible Verses about Prayer, Advice For Effective

But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.

If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:

Thus hath the LORD said unto this people, Thus have they loved to move, nor have they refrained their feet; therefore the LORD does not have them in his will; he will now remember their iniquity and visit their sins. Then the LORD said unto me, Do not pray for this people for their good. When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them; but I will consume them by sword and by famine and by pestilence.

Nun We have rebelled and been disloyal; therefore thou hast not forgiven. Samech Thou hast unfurled anger and persecuted us; thou hast slain, thou hast not forgiven. Samech Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud that our prayer should not pass through.

Then they shall cry unto the LORD, but he will not respond to them: he will even hide his face from them at that time because of their evil doings.

Therefore it is come to pass that as he cried and they would not hear, so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the LORD of the hosts:

So I spoke unto you, and ye would not hear but were rebels against the word of the LORD, and went presumptuously up into the hill. And the Amorite, who dwelt in that mountain, came out against you and chased you, as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir, even unto Hormah. And ye returned and wept before the LORD, but the LORD would not hearken to your voice, nor give ear unto you.

Then they shall call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD: They rejected my counsel: they despised all my reproof.read more.
Therefore they shall eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own counsel.

Ye ask and receive not because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your pleasures.

And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; likewise, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear; your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do good; seek judgment; restore unto the oppressed; hear the fatherless in right judgment; protect the widow.

Whosoever stops his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself but shall not be heard.

Cry aloud, do not hold back; lift up thy voice like a shofar and preach to my people their rebellion and to the house of Jacob their sin. That they seek me daily and want to know my ways, as people that do righteousness and have not forsaken the rights of their God: they ask me of the rights of righteousness and desire to approach God. Why have we fasted, they say, and thou dost not see? why have we afflicted our soul, and thou dost take no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find your own pleasure and exact your own estates.read more.
Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day to make your voice to be heard on high. Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast and an acceptable day to the LORD? Is not rather the fast that I have chosen, to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the ties of oppression, to release into freedom those who are broken, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to share thy bread with the hungry and that thou bring the poor that are cast out into thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou not hide thyself from thy brother?

But ask in faith, not doubting anything. For he that doubts is like the wave of the sea which is driven of the wind and is tossed from one side to another. For let not such a man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord.

And he spoke this parable unto some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others: Two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are: extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.read more.
I fast two meals every sabbath; I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God, reconcile me, a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for anyone that exalts himself shall be humbled, and he that humbles himself shall be exalted.

Then King David went in and sat before the LORD, and he said, O Lord GOD, Who am I and what is my house that thou hast brought me thus far?

if my people, upon whom my name is invoked, shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from the heavens and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

For thou dost not desire sacrifice or else would I give it; thou dost not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

For thus has said the high and lofty One that inhabits eternity, whose name is The Holy One; I dwell in the high place and in holiness and with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit to cause the spirit of the humble to live and to cause the heart of the contrite ones to live.

The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou should come under my roof; but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.

Then Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself, for I am not worthy that thou should enter under my roof;

Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, then we have confidence in God; and whatsoever we ask, we receive of him because we keep his commandments and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.

And Samuel said, Does the LORD have as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in hearing the voice of the LORD? Behold, to hear is better than sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of rams.

For I did not speak unto your fathers, nor command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices: But this thing I commanded them, saying, Hear my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the way that I have commanded you that it may be well unto you.

The LORD is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.

And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing and hast not asked for thyself long life neither hast asked riches for thyself nor hast asked the life of thine enemies, but hast asked for thyself understanding to hear judgment, behold, I have done according to thy words: behold, I have given thee a wise and understanding heart so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.

Samech The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.

And ye shall seek me, and find me, for ye shall seek me with all your heart.

But if from there, thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.

And thou, Solomon, my son, know thou the God of thy father and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing soul, for the LORD searches all hearts and understands all the imaginations of the thoughts. If thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.

Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith and doubt not, ye shall not only do this to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea, it shall be done. And all things, whatever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

And Jesus, answering, said unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you that whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Remove thyself and cast thyself into the sea, and shall not doubt in his heart but shall believe that what he says shall be done whatsoever he says shall be done unto him. Therefore I say unto you that everything that ye ask for, praying, believe that ye receive it, and it shall come upon you.

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you; for every one that asks receives, and he that seeks finds, and to him that knocks it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom, if his son asks for bread, will he give him a stone?read more.
Or if he asks for fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father who is in the heavens give good things to those that ask him?

And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asks receives; and he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks it shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?read more.
Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those that ask him?

And when Jesus was entering into Capernaum, a centurion came unto him, beseeching him, and saying, Lord, my servant lies at home paralyzed, grievously tormented. And Jesus said unto him, I will come and heal him.read more.
The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou should come under my roof; but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me; and I say to this man, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my slave, Do this, and he does it. When Jesus heard it, he marvelled and said to those that followed, Verily I say unto you that not even in Israel have I found such faith. But I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west and shall sit down at the table with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of the heavens. But the sons of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then Jesus said unto the centurion, Go, and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in that same hour.

Now when he had ended all his words in the audience of the people, he entered into Capernaum. And a certain centurion's slave, who was dear unto him, was sick and ready to die. And when he heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders of the Jews, beseeching him that he would come and free his slave.read more.
And when they came to Jesus, they besought him instantly, saying, That he is worthy that this should be done for him, for he loves our nation and he has built us a synagogue. Then Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself, for I am not worthy that thou should enter under my roof; therefore neither did I think myself worthy to come unto thee but say the word, and my slave shall be healed. For I also am a man set under authority, having soldiers under me, and I say unto one, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my slave, Do this, and he does it. When Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him and turned about and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you that not even in Israel have I found such great faith. And those that had been sent, returning to the house, found the slave that had been sick whole.

Then Jesus left there and departed into the parts of Tyre and Sidon. And, behold, a woman of Canaan having come out of the same borders cried unto him, saying, Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me; my daughter is sick, possessed by a demon. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away, for she cries out after us.read more.
But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then she came and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not good to take the children's bread and to cast it to the little dogs. And she said, Yes, Lord, yet the little dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith; be it unto thee even as thou desire. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

And from there he arose and went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and entering into a house, desired that no man know of it; but he could not be hid. For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him and came and fell at his feet; the woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation, and she besought him that he would cast forth the demon out of her daughter.read more.
But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled, for it is not good to take the children's bread and to cast it unto the dogs. And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs. And he said unto her, For this word go; the demon has gone out of thy daughter. And when she came to her house, she found that the demon had gone out, and the daughter lay upon the bed.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believes in me, the works that I do he shall do also; and greater works than these shall he do because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye ask any thing in my name, I will do it.