11 Bible Verses about Unwise Prayers

And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Peradventure there are fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are in it? That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?read more.
And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes. And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I, who am dust and ashes, have taken upon me to speak to the Lord. Peradventure there will lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it. And he spoke to him yet again, and said, Peradventure there will be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty's sake. And he said, Oh, let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there will thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there. And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak to the Lord: Peradventure there will be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty's sake. And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten will be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake.

And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him, until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh: and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh; And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.read more.
And he said to him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God, and with men, and hast prevailed. And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name: And he said, why is it that thou dost ask after my name? and he blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.

Then king David went in, and sat before the LORD, and he said, Who am I, O Lord GOD? and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto; And this was yet a small thing in thy sight, O Lord GOD; but thou hast spoken also of thy servant's house for a great while to come. And is this the manner of man, O Lord GOD? And what can David say more to thee? for thou, Lord GOD, knowest thy servant.read more.
For thy word's sake, and according to thy own heart, hast thou done all these great things, to make thy servant know them. Wherefore thou art great, O LORD God: for there is none like thee, neither is there any God besides thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears. And what one nation in the earth is like thy people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem for a people to himself, and to make him a name, and to do for you great things and terrible, for thy land, before thy people which thou redeemedst to thee from Egypt, from the nations and their gods? For thou hast confirmed to thyself thy people Israel to be a people to thee for ever: and thou, LORD, art become their God. And now, O LORD God, the word that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant, and concerning his house, establish it for ever, and do as thou hast said. And let thy name be magnified for ever, saying, The LORD of hosts is the God over Israel: and let the house of thy servant David be established before thee. For thou, O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, hast revealed to thy servant, saying, I will build thee a house: therefore hath thy servant found in his heart to pray this prayer to thee. And now, O Lord GOD, thou art that God, and thy words are true, and thou hast promised this goodness to thy servant: Therefore now let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may continue for ever before thee: for thou, O Lord GOD, hast spoken it: and with thy blessing let the house of thy servant be blessed for ever.

And Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands towards Heaven: And he said, LORD God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart. Who hast kept with thy servant David my father that which thou didst promise him: thou didst speak also with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thy hand, as it is this day.read more.
Therefore now, LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that which thou didst promise him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; provided thy children take heed to their way, that they walk before me as thou hast walked before me. And now, O God of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee, be verified, which thou didst speak to thy servant David my father. But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have built? Yet have thou respect to the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken to the cry and to the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee this day: That thy eyes may be open towards this house night and day, even towards the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken to the prayer which thy servant shall make towards this place. And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray towards this place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling-place: and when thou hearest, forgive. If any man shall trespass against his neighbor, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath come before thy altar in this house: Then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness. When thy people Israel shall be smitten before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee, and shall turn again to thee, and confess thy name, and pray, and make supplication to thee in this house: Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again to the land which thou gavest to their fathers. When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; if they pray towards this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou afflictest them: Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, that thou mayest teach them the good way in which they should walk, and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance. If there shall be in the land famine, if there shall be pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust, or if there shall be caterpillar; if their enemy shall besiege them in the land of their cities, whatever plague, whatever sickness there shall be; Whatever prayer and supplication shall be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, who shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands towards this house: Then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling-place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men;) That they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which thou gavest to our fathers. Moreover, concerning a stranger, that is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for thy name's sake; (For they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy strong hand, and of thy out-stretched arm;) when he shall come and pray towards this house; Hear thou in heaven thy dwelling-place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for: that all people of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as do thy people Israel; and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name. If thy people go out to battle against their enemy, whithersoever thou shalt send them, and shall pray to the LORD towards the city which thou hast chosen, and towards the house that I have built for thy name: Then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause. If they shall sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou shalt be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives to the land of the enemy, far or near; Yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent and make supplication to thee in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness; And so return to thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, who led them away captive, and pray to thee towards their land, which thou gavest to their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name: Then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling-place, and maintain their cause, And forgive thy people that have sinned against thee, and all their transgressions in which they have transgressed against thee, and give them compassion before them who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them: For they are thy people, and thy inheritance, which thou broughtest out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron: That thy eyes may be open to the supplication of thy servant, and to the supplication of thy people Israel, to hearken to them in all their supplications to thee. For thou didst separate them from among all the people of the earth, to be thy inheritance, as thou didst speak by the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord GOD. And it was so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication to the LORD, he arose from before the altar of the LORD, from kneeling on his knees, with his hands spread up to heaven. And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying, Blessed be the LORD, that hath given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant. The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us, nor forsake us: That he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers. And let these my words with which I have made supplication before the LORD, be nigh to the LORD our God day and night, that he may maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel at all times, as the matter shall require: That all the people of the earth may know, that the LORD is God, and that there is none else. Let your heart therefore be perfect with the LORD our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.

And it came to pass, that as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. And he said to them, When ye pray, say, Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth. Give us day by day our daily bread.read more.
And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. And he said to them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go to him at midnight, and say to him, Friend, lend me three loaves: For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. I say to you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. And I say to you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and the door shall be opened to you. For every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, the door 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 shall ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children: how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

And he spoke a parable to them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; Saying, There was in a city a judge, who feared not God, neither regarded man. And there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, Avenge me of my adversary.read more.
And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. And will not God avenge his own elect, who cry day and night to him, though he beareth long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man cometh, will he find faith on the earth?

These words spoke Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they may know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.read more.
I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thy ownself, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. I have manifested thy name to the men whom thou gavest to me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them to me; and they have kept thy word. Now they have known that all things whatever thou hast given me are from thee. For I have given to them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them whom thou hast given to me; for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thy own name those whom thou hast given to me, that they may be one, as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest to me I have kept, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. And now I come to thee, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given to them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou shouldst keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also may be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone; but for them also who shall believe on me through their word. That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest to me, I have given to them; that they may be one, even as we are one. I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me. Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given to me be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory which thou hast given to me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared to them thy name, and will declare it: that the love with which thou hast loved me, may be in them, and I in them.

And if thou dealest thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favor in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness.

But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper-tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.

Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.

And he said to her, What wilt thou: She saith to him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left in thy kingdom.