38 Bible Verses about Prayer, Advice For Effective

Rather, your iniquities have been {barriers} between you and your God, and your sins have hidden [his] face from you, from hearing.

If I had considered evil in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.

Thus says Yahweh concerning this people: "They have loved so much to wander, they have not spared their feet. Therefore Yahweh is not favorable to them, now he will remember their iniquity and punish their sins." So Yahweh said to me, "You must not pray for this people, for [their] happiness. Although they fast, I [am] not listening to their cry of entreaty. And although they present burnt offering and grain offering, I [am] not favorable to them. But by the sword, and by the famine, and by the plague, I [am] about to destroy them."

We ourselves have transgressed and rebelled, you have not forgiven. You have covered [yourself] {in anger} and pursued us, you have slain and not shown mercy. You have covered yourself in a cloud {so that prayer cannot pass through}.

Then they will cry to Yahweh, but he will not answer them. He will hide his face from them at that time, when they have made their deeds evil.

'Thus, just as I called and they would not hear, so they will call and I will not hear,' says Yahweh of hosts.

So I spoke to you, but you did not listen; you rebelled against the {command of Yahweh}; you behaved presumptuously, and you went up into the hill country. The Amorites living in the hill country went out {to oppose you} and chased you as [a swarm of] wild honey bees do; and [so] they {beat} you down in Seir as far as Hormah. So you returned and wept {before Yahweh}; but Yahweh did not listen to your voice and did not pay [any] attention to you.

then they will call me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but not find me. Since they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of Yahweh, they were not willing [to accept] my counsel, they despised all my reproof.read more.
They shall eat from the fruit of their way, and they shall be sated from their own schemes,

You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, in order that you may spend [it] on your pleasures.

And when you stretch out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I [will] not be listening. Your hands are full of blood. Wash! Make yourselves clean! Remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes! Cease to do evil! Learn to do good! Seek justice! Rescue [the] oppressed! Defend [the] orphan! Plead for [the] widow!

He who closes his ear from the cry of the poor, he also will cry out and not be heard.

"Call with [the] throat; you must not keep back! lift up your voice like trumpet, and declare to my people their rebellion, and to the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me day [by] day, and they desire the knowledge of my ways like a nation that {practiced} righteousness, and had not forsaken the judgment of its God; they ask me for {righteous judgments}, they desire the closeness of God. 'Why do we fast, and you do not see [it]? We humiliate our soul, and you do not notice [it]?' Look! You find delight on the day of your fast, and you oppress all your workers!read more.
Look! You fast to quarrel and strife, and to strike with a {wicked fist}. You shall not fast as [you do] {today}, to {make your voice heard} on the height. Is [the] fast I choose like this, a day for humankind to humiliate {himself}? To bow his head like a reed, and {make} his bed [on] sackcloth and ashes; you call this a fast and a day of pleasure to Yahweh? Is this not [the] fast I choose: to release [the] bonds of injustice, to untie [the] ropes of [the] yoke, and to let [the] oppressed go free, and {tear} every yoke to pieces? [Is it] not to break your bread for the hungry? You must bring {home} [the] poor, [the] homeless. When you see [the] naked, you must cover him, and you must not hide yourself from your {relatives}.

But let him ask for [it] in faith, without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed about. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;

And he also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and looked down on {everyone else}: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood [and] prayed these [things] with reference to himself: 'God, I give thanks to you that I am not like other people--swindlers, unrighteous [people], adulterers, or even like this tax collector!read more.
I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all that I get.' But the tax collector, standing far away, did not want even to raise his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than that one! For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."

Then King David went and sat before Yahweh and said, "Who [am] I, my lord Yahweh, and what [is] my house that you have brought me up to {this place}?

[then if] my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and will pray and will seek my face and will turn from their evil ways, then I myself shall hear from the heavens and will forgive their sins and heal their land.

For you do not delight [in] sacrifice or I would give [it]. [With] a burnt offering you are not pleased. The sacrifices of God [are] a broken spirit; A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

For thus says [the] high and lofty one who resides forever, and [whose] name [is] holy: "I reside [in] a high and holy place, and with [the] {contrite} and humble of spirit, to revive [the] spirit of [the] humble, and to revive [the] heart of [the] {contrite}.

And the centurion answered [and] said, "Lord, I am not worthy that you should come in under my roof. But only say the word and my slave will be healed.

So Jesus went with them. Now by this time he was not far away from the house, [and] the centurion sent friends, saying to him, "Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy that you should come in under my roof.

Dear friends, if our heart does not condemn [us], we have confidence before God, and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do [what is] pleasing {in his sight}.

Then Samuel said, "Is there [as much] delight for Yahweh in burnt offerings and sacrifices as [there is] in {obeying} Yahweh? Look! {To obey} [is] better than sacrifice; to give heed than the fat of rams.

For I did not speak with your ancestors, nor did I command them in the day of bringing them out from the land of Egypt, concerning the matter of burnt offering and sacrifice. But I only commanded them this word, {saying}, 'Obey my voice, and I will be to you God, and you will be to me people, and you must walk in all of the way that I command you, so that it goes well with you.'

Yahweh is far from the wicked, but the prayers of the righteous he will hear.

And God said to him, "Because you have asked this thing and you did not ask for yourself {a long life} and you did not ask riches for yourself and you did not ask for the life of your enemies, but you have asked for yourself {the ability to make wise judgments}; behold, I do hereby do according to your word. I hereby give you a wise and discerning heart; there was no one like you before you, nor afterwards will one like you arise.

The eyes of Yahweh [are] toward [the] righteous, and his ears toward their cry for help.

When you search for me, then you will find [me], if you seek me with all your heart.

But from there you shall seek Yahweh your God and will find him, if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.

"And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and a willing mind, for Yahweh searches all hearts and understands every plan and [all] thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you abandon him, he will reject you forever.

And Jesus answered [and] said to them, "Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will do not only [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! And whatever you ask in prayer, [if you] believe, you will receive."

And Jesus answered [and] said to them, "Have faith in God! Truly I say to you that whoever says to this mountain, 'Be lifted up and thrown into the sea!' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen, it will be [done] for him. For this [reason] I say to you, whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received [it], and it will be [done] for you.

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is [there] among you, [if] his son will ask him [for] bread, will give him a stone?read more.
Or also [if] he will ask for a fish, will give him a snake? Therefore if you, [although you] are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him?

And I tell you, ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. But what father from among you, [if his] son will ask for a fish, instead of a fish will give him a snake?read more.
Or also, [if] he will ask for an egg, will give him a scorpion? Therefore if you, [although you] are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father from heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?"

Now [when] he entered Capernaum, a centurion approached him, appealing to him and saying, "Lord, my slave is lying paralyzed in my house, terribly tormented!" And he said to him, "I will come [and] heal him."read more.
And the centurion answered [and] said, "Lord, I am not worthy that you should come in under my roof. But only say the word and my slave will be healed. For I also am a man under authority who has soldiers under me, and I say to this one, 'Go!' and he goes, and to another one, 'Come!' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this!' and he does [it]." Now [when] Jesus heard [this], he was astonished, and said to those who were following [him], "Truly I say to you, I have found such great faith with no one in Israel. But I say to you that many will come from east and west and {be seated at the banquet} with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!" And Jesus said to the centurion, "Go, as you have believed it will be done for you." And the slave was healed at that hour.

After he had finished all his statements in the hearing of the people, he entered into Capernaum. Now a certain centurion's slave, who was esteemed by him, {was sick} [and] was about to die. So [when he] heard about Jesus, he sent Jewish elders to him, asking him that he would come [and] cure his slave.read more.
And [when they] came to Jesus, they began imploring him earnestly, saying, "He is worthy [that] you grant this for him, because he loves our nation and he himself built the synagogue for us." So Jesus went with them. Now by this time he was not far away from the house, [and] the centurion sent friends, saying to him, "Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy that you should come in under my roof. For this reason neither did I consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word and my slave must be healed. For I also am a man placed under authority, who has soldiers under me, and I say to this one, 'Go!' and he goes, and to another one, 'Come!' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this!' and he does [it]." And [when] Jesus heard these [things], he marveled at him, and turning around to the crowd that was following him, he said, "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith!" And [when they] returned to the house, those who had been sent found the slave healthy.

And departing from there, Jesus went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman from that district came [and] cried out, saying, "Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter [is] severely possessed by a demon!" But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came up [and] asked him, saying, "Send her away, because she is crying out after us!"read more.
But he answered [and] said, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." But she came [and] knelt down before him, saying, "Lord, help me!" And he answered [and] said, "It is not right to take the children's bread and throw [it] to the dogs!" So she said, "Yes, Lord, for even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table." Then Jesus answered [and] said to her, "O woman, your faith [is] great! Let it be done for you as you want." And her daughter was healed from that hour.

And from there he set out [and] went to the region of Tyre. And [when he] entered into a house, he wanted no one to know, and [yet] he was not able to escape notice. But immediately a woman whose young daughter was possessed by an unclean spirit, [when she] heard about him, came [and] fell down at his feet, Now the woman was a Greek--a Syrophoenician by nationality--and she was asking him that he would expel the demon from her daughter.read more.
And he said to her, "Let the children be satisfied first, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw [it] to the dogs!" But she answered and said to him, "Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." And he said to her, "Because of this statement, go! The demon has gone out of your daughter." And [when she] went to her home, she found the child lying on the bed and the demon gone.

Truly, truly I say to you, the one who believes in me, the works that I am doing he will do also, and he will do greater [works] than these because I am going to the Father. And {whatever} you ask in my name, I will do this, in order that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do [it].