16 Bible Verses about Secret Prayer

But, when one of you prays, let him go into his own room, shut the door, and pray to his Father who dwells in secret; and his Father, who sees what is secret, will recompense him.

One day Jesus was at a certain place praying, and, when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him: "Master, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." "When you pray," Jesus answered, "say--'Father, May thy named be held holy, thy Kingdom come. Give us each day the bread that we shall need;read more.
And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive every one who wrongs us; and take us not into temptation.'" Jesus also said to them: "Suppose that one of you who has a friend were to go to him in the middle of the night and say 'Friend, lend me three loaves, For a friend of mine has arrived at my house after a journey, and I have nothing to offer him;' And suppose that the other should answer from inside 'Do not trouble me; the door is already fastened, and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything'; I tell you that, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is a friend, yet because of his persistence he will rouse himself and give him what he wants. 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, 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!"

Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and never despair. "There was," he said, "in a certain town a judge, who had no fear of God nor regard for man. In the same town there was a widow who went to him again and again, and said 'Grant me justice against my opponent.'read more.
For a time the judge refused, but afterwards he said to himself 'Although I am without fear of God or regard for man, Yet, as this widow is so troublesome, I will grant her justice, to stop her from plaguing me with her endless visits.'" Then the Master added: "Listen to what this iniquitous judge says! And God--will not he see that his own People, who cry to him night and day, have justice done them--though he holds his hand? He will, I tell you, have justice done them, and that soon! Yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"

After saying this, Jesus raised his eyes heaven-wards, and said: "Father, the hour has come; honor thy Son, that thy Son may honor thee; Even as thou gavest him power over all mankind, that he should give Immortal Life to all those whom thou has given him. And the Immortal Life is this--to know thee the one true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou has sent as thy Messenger.read more.
I have honored thee on earth by completing the work which thou has given me to do; And now do thou honor me, Father, at thy own side, with the honor which I had at thy side before the world began. I have revealed thee to those whom thou gavest me from the world; they were thy own, and thou gavest them to me; and they have laid thy Message to heart. They recognize now that everything that thou gavest me was from thee; For I have given them the teaching which thou gavest me, and they received it, and clearly understood that I came from thee, and they believed that thou has sent me as thy Messenger. I intercede for them; I am not interceding for the world, but for those whom thou has given me, for they are thy own-- All that is mine is thine, and all that is thine is mine-- and I am honored in them. Now I am to be in this world no longer, but they are still to be in the world, and I am to come to thee. Holy Father, keep them by that revelation of thy Name which thou has given me, that they may be one, as we are. Whilst I was with them, I kept them by that revelation, and I have guarded them; and not one of them has been lost, except that lost soul--in fulfillment of Scripture. But now I am to come to thee; and I am speaking thus, while still in the world, that they may have my own joy, in all its fullness, in their hearts. I have given them thy Message; and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world, even as I do not belong to the world. I do not ask thee to take them out of the world, but to keep them from Evil. They do not belong to the world, even as I do not belong to the world. Consecrate them by the Truth; thy Message is Truth. Just as thou has sent me as thy Messenger to the world, so I send them as my Messengers to the world. And it is for their sakes that I am consecrating myself, so that they also may be truly consecrated. But it is not only for them that I am interceding, but also for those who believe in me through their Message, That they all may be one--that as thou, Father, art in union with us--and so the world may believe that thou hast sent me as thy Messenger. I have given them the honor which thou has given me, that they may be one as we are one-- I in union with them and thou with me--that so they may be perfected in their union, and thus the world may know that thou hast sent me as thy Messenger, and that thou has loved them as thou hast loved me. Father, my desire for all those whom thou has given me is that they may be with me where I am, so that they may see the honor which thou has given me; for thou didst love me before the beginning of the world. O righteous Father, though the world did not know thee, I knew thee; and these men knew that thou has sent me as thy Messenger. I have made thee known to them, and will do so still; that the love that thou has had for me may be in their hearts, and that I may be in them also."

On the next day, while these men were on their way, just as they were nearing the town, Peter went up on the housetop about mid-day to pray.

"Just three days ago this very hour," Cornelius said, "I was in my house, saying the Afternoon Prayers, when a man in dazzling clothing suddenly stood before me.

In the morning, long before daylight, Jesus rose and went out, and, going to a lonely spot, there began to pray.

After he had taken leave of the people, he went away up the hill to pray.

When evening fell, the boat was out in the middle of the Sea, and Jesus on the shore alone.

However, the story about Jesus spread all the more, and great crowds came together to listen to him, and to be cured of their illnesses;

But Jesus used to withdraw to lonely places and pray.

Now about that time, Jesus went out, up the hill, to pray, and spent the whole night in prayer to God.

Afterwards, when Jesus was alone, praying, his disciples joined him, and he asked them this question-- "Who do the people say that I am?"

Then he withdrew about a stone's throw, and knelt down and began to pray.

"Father," he said, "if it is thy pleasure, spare me this cup; only, not my will but thine be done."