15 Bible Verses about Prayer, Advice For Effective

You ask, yet do not receive, because you ask for a wrong purpose--to spend what you get upon your pleasures.

But let him ask with confidence, never doubting; for the man who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven hither and thither at the mercy of the wind-- Such a man must not expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,

Another time, speaking to people who were satisfied that they were religious, and who regarded every one else with scorn, Jesus told this parable-- "Two men went up into the Temple Courts to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other a tax-gatherer. The Pharisee stood forward and began praying to himself in this way--'O God, I thank thee that I am not like other men-- thieves, rogues, adulterers--or even like this tax-gatherer.read more.
I fast twice a week, and give a tenth of everything I get to God.' Meanwhile the tax-gatherer stood at a distance, not venturing even 'to raise his eyes to Heaven'; but he kept striking his breast and saying 'O God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' This man, I tell you, went home pardoned, rather than the other; for every one who exalts himself will be humbled, while every one who humbles himself shall be exalted."

"Sir," the Captain went on, "I am unworthy to receive you under my roof; but only speak, and my manservant will be cured.

So Jesus went with them. But, when he was no great distance from the house, the Captain sent some friends with the message-- "Do not trouble yourself, Sir; for I am unworthy to receive you under my roof.

Dear friends, if our conscience does not condemn us, then we approach God with confidence, and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we are laying his commands to heart, and are doing what is pleasing in his sight.

"I tell you," replied Jesus, "if you have faith, without ever a doubt, you will do what not only what has been done to the fig tree, but, even if you should say to this hill 'Be lifted up and hurled into the sea!' it would be done. And whatever you ask for in your prayers will, if you have faith, be granted you."

"Have faith in God!" replied Jesus. "I tell you that if any one should say to this hill 'Be lifted up and hurled into the sea!', without ever a doubt in his mind, but in the faith that what he says will be done, he would find that it would be. And therefore I say to you 'Have faith that whatever you ask for in prayer is already granted you, and you will find that it will be.'

Ask, and your prayer shall be granted; search, and you shall find; knock, and the door shall be opened to you. For he that asks receives, he that searches finds, and to him that knocks the door shall be opened. Who among you, when his son asks him for a loaf, will give him a stone,read more.
Or when he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, wicked though you are, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in Heaven give what is good to those that ask him!

And so I say to you--Ask, and your prayer shall be granted: search, and you shall find; knock, and the door shall be opened to you. For he that asks receives, he that searches finds, and to him that knocks the door shall be opened. What father among you, if his son asks him for a fish, will give him a snake instead,read more.
Or, if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you, then, naturally wicked though you are, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in Heaven give the Holy Spirit to those that ask him!"

After Jesus had entered Capernaum, a Captain in the Roman army came up to him, entreating his help. "Sir," he said, "my manservant is lying ill at my house with a stroke of paralysis, and is suffering terribly." "I will come and cure him," answered Jesus.read more.
"Sir," the Captain went on, "I am unworthy to receive you under my roof; but only speak, and my manservant will be cured. For I myself am a man under the orders of others, with soldiers under me; and, if I say to one of them 'Go,' he goes, and to another 'Come,' he comes, and to my slave 'Do this,' he does it." Jesus was surprised to hear this, and said to those who were following him: "Never I tell you, in any Israelite have I met with such faith as this! Yes, and many will come in from East and West and take their places beside Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the Kingdom of Heaven; While the heirs to the Kingdom will be 'banished into the darkness' outside; there, there will be weeping and grinding of teeth." Then Jesus said to the Captain: "Go now, and it shall be according to your faith." And the man was cured that very hour.

When Jesus had brought to a conclusion all that he had then had to say to the people, he entered Capernaum. A Captain in the Roman army had a slave whom he valued, and who was seriously ill--almost at the point of death. And, hearing about Jesus, he sent some Jewish Councillors to him, with the request that he would come and save his slave's life.read more.
When they found Jesus, they earnestly implored him to do so. "He is a man who deserves that you should show him this favor," they said, "For he is devoted to our nation, and himself built our Synagogue for us." So Jesus went with them. But, when he was no great distance from the house, the Captain sent some friends with the message-- "Do not trouble yourself, Sir; for I am unworthy to receive you under my roof. That was why I did not even venture to come to you myself; but speak, and let my manservant be cured. For I myself am a man under the orders of others, with soldiers under me; and if I say to one of them 'Go,' he goes, and to another 'Come,' he comes, and to my slave 'Do this,' he does it." Jesus was surprised to hear these words from him; and, turning to the crowd which was following him, he said: "I tell you, nowhere in Israel have I met with such faith as this!" And, when the messengers returned to the house, they found the slave recovered.

On going away from that place, Jesus retired to the country round Tyre and Sidon. There, a Canaanite woman of that district came out and began calling to Jesus: "Take pity on me, Master, Son of David; my daughter is grievously possessed by a demon." But Jesus did not answer her a word; and his disciples came up and begged him to send her away. "She keeps calling out after us," they said.read more.
"I was not sent," replied Jesus, "to any one except the lost sheep of Israel." But the woman came, and, bowing to the ground before him, said: "Master, help me." "It is not fair," replied Jesus, "to take the children's food and throw it to dogs." "Yes, Master," she said, "for even dogs do feed on the scraps that fall from their owners' table." "Your faith is great," was his reply to the woman; "it shall be as you wish!" And her daughter was cured that very hour.

On leaving that place, Jesus went to the district of Tyre and Sidon. And he went into a house, and did not wish anyone to know it, but could not escape notice. For a woman, whose little daughter had a foul spirit in her, heard of him immediately, and came and threw herself at his feet-- The woman was a foreigner, a native of Syrian Phoenicia--and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter.read more.
"Let the children be satisfied first," answered Jesus. "For it is not fair to take the children's food, and throw it to dogs." "Yes, Master," she replied; "even the dogs under the table do feed on the children's crumbs." "For saying that," he answered, "you may go. The demon has gone out of your daughter." The woman went home, and found the child lying on her bed, and the demon gone.

In truth I tell you, he who believes in me will himself do the work that I am doing; and he will do greater work still, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask, in my Name, I will do, that the Father may be honored in the Son. If you ask anything, in my Name, I will do it.