16 Bible Verses about Secret Prayer

But whenever you, follower of mine, pray, you must go to your most private place, shut the door, and pray to your Father in secret, and your Father who sees what is secret will reward you.

Once He was praying in a certain place, and when He ceased, one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." So He said to them, "Whenever you pray, say: 'Father, Your name be revered; Your kingdom come; continue giving us day by day our daily bread,read more.
and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who does us wrong, and do not let us be subjected to temptation.'" Then He said to them: "Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him in the middle of the night and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has just come to my house on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him to eat.' And suppose he answers from inside, 'Stop bothering me; the door is now locked, and my children are packed about me in bed; I cannot get up and give you any.' I tell you, although he will not get up and give you any because he is your friend, yet because of your persistence he will get up and give you all your needs. So I tell you, keep on asking, and the gift will be given you; keep on seeking, and you will find; keep on knocking, and the door will open to you. For everyone who keeps on asking, receives; and the one who keeps on seeking, finds; and to the one who keeps on knocking, the door will open. Now is there a father among you who, 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? So if you, in spite of your being bad, know how to give your children what is good, how much more surely will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who continue to ask Him?"

Now He told them the following story to show how necessary it is for people always to pray and never to give up: "Once there was in a city a judge who had no reverence for God nor respect for men. And in that city there was a widow who continued to come to him and say, 'Give me justice and protection from my opponent.'read more.
And he would not for a time, but afterward he said to himself, Though I have no reverence for God nor respect for men, yet because this widow continues to bother me, I will give her justice and protection, so that she may not finally wear me out by her continual coming." Then the Lord added, "Listen to what the unrighteous judge says! And will not God give justice and protection to His chosen people who continue to cry to Him day and night, since He is so patient with them? I tell you, He will give them justice and protection, and that without delay. But when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?"

When Jesus had said all these things, He lifted His eyes to heaven and said: "Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that He may glorify you, just as you have given Him authority over all mankind to give eternal life to all whom you have given Him. Now eternal life means knowing you as the only true God and knowing Jesus your messenger as Christ.read more.
I have glorified you down here upon the earth by completing the work which you have given me to do. So now, Father, glorify me up there in your presence just as you did before the world existed. "I have made your very self known to the men whom you have given me out of the world. At first they were yours, but now you have given them to me, and they have obeyed your message. Now they have come to know that everything you have given me really comes from you; for I have given them the teachings that you gave me, and they have accepted them, and they have come to know in reality that I did come from you, and so they are convinced that you did send me. I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world now, but only for those whom you have given me, because they are yours -- really, all that is mine is yours, and all that is yours is mine -- and I have been glorified through them. And now I am no longer to be in the world, but they are to stay on in the world, while I am going to be with you. Holy Father, keep them by the power which you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are. As long as I was with them, I kept them by your power which you gave me, and I protected them, and not one of them was lost, except the one who is now doomed to be lost, so that the Scripture might be fulfilled. And now I am going to be with you, and I am saying these things while still in the world, that the joy which I experience may be fully experienced in their own souls. I have given them your message, and the world has hated them, because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to it. I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil in it. They do not belong to the world just as I do not belong to it. Consecrate them by your truth; your message is truth. Just as you have sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world, too. And so for their sake I am consecrating myself, that they too may be consecrated by truth. "I make this petition, not for them only, but for all who ever come to believe in me through their message, for them all to be one, just as you, Father, are in union with me and I in union with you, for them to be in union with us, so that the world may be convinced that you have sent me. I have given them the glory which you gave me, so that they may be one, just as we are, I in union with them and you in union with me, so that they may be perfectly united, and the world may be sure that you sent me and that you have loved them just as you have loved me. Father, I want to have those whom you have given me right where I am, in order that they may see the glory which you have given me, because you loved me before the creation of the world. Righteous Father, although the world did not know you, I did know you, and these men have come to know that you sent me, and I made known to them your very self, and I will make you known still further, so that the love which you have shown to me may be felt in them, and I in union with them."

The next day, while those men were traveling on and not far from the town, Peter went up on the housetop about noon to pray.

Then Cornelius said, "Four days ago, about this hour, three o'clock in the afternoon, I was praying in my house, and all at once a man in dazzling clothing stood before me,

Early in the morning, long before daybreak, He got up and went out to a lonely spot, and stayed praying there.

After He had told them "Goodbye," He went up the hill to pray.

Now when evening had come, the boat was in the middle of the sea, while He was alone on land.

But the news about Him continued to spread, and great crowds were gathering to hear Him and to be cured of their diseases.

But Jesus Himself continued His habit of retiring to lonely spots and praying.

Now it was in those days that He went up on the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God.

One day while He was praying in solitude, His disciples were nearby, and He asked them, "Who do people say that I am?"

And He Himself withdrew about a stone's throw from them, and after kneeling down He continued to pray,

"Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me. Yet, not my will but always yours be done!"