'Prayers' in the Bible
David built an altar to the Lord there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord was moved [to compassion] by [David’s] prayer for the land, and the plague was held back from Israel.
They rejected His statutes and His covenant which He made with their fathers, as well as His warnings that he gave them. And they followed vanity [that is, false gods, idols] and became vain (empty-headed). They followed the [pagan practices of the] nations which surrounded them, although the Lord had commanded that they were not to do as they did.
O Lord God of hosts,How long will You be angry with the prayers of Your people?
“So when you spread out your hands [in prayer, pleading for My help],I will hide My eyes from you;Yes, even though you offer many prayers,I will not be listening.Your hands are full of blood!
On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed and stationed watchmen (prophets),Who will never keep silent day or night;You who profess the Lord, take no rest for yourselves,
“They will come with weeping [in repentance and for joy],And by [their] prayer [for the future] I will lead them;I will make them walk by streams of waters,On a straight path in which they will not stumble,For I am a Father to Israel,And Ephraim (Israel) is My firstborn.”
At the beginning of your supplications, the command [to give you an answer] was issued, and I have come to tell you, for you are highly regarded and greatly beloved. Therefore consider the message and begin to understand the [meaning of the] vision.