Jesus' Teachings on Prayer

-Matthew 5:44 As a way to show love, pray for people who wish you harm, who persecute you.

-Matthew 6:5-15 Pray intimately, alone when possible, to the Father. Give glory and thanksgiving to God. Ask for forgiveness, for God’s will to be done and for you to forgive.

-Matthew 7:7-11 Ask God persistently in prayer for your requests and it will be done so according to the will of God. God delights in giving good gifts.

-Matthew 9:38 Pray to God that He would raise workers for feeding His kingdom people.

-Matthew 18:19-20 When restoring a sinning disciple be unified in prayer.

-Mark 9:29 Prayer and fasting combine in spiritual warfare to compound intercessions.  

-Mark 11:17 God’s house, dwelling place ought to be filled with prayer not anything else.

-Mark 11:22-26 Pray boldly with faith like you have already received your request –not doubting at all. You must always forgive others or else why would God forgive and hear you.

-Mark 13:33 Prayer is a way to be alert, watching and waiting for Christ to return.

-Mark 12:40 God hates prayers that are said communally only to get a reaction from people.

-Luke 6:46 Calling out to Jesus isn’t receiving Him as Lord. Acting on His teaching is.

-Luke 11:5-13 Persist in prayer even if it’s met with a seeming “no”. Ask for the Holy Spirit.

-Luke 18:1-14 Pray always and don’t discourage. God will grant justice. Humble yourself in prayer and search yourself honestly.

-John 4:23-24 Pray biblical truths and in the Holy Spirit.

-John 14:12-14 Pray that Jesus would be glorified in all your answers to prayer.

-John 15:7 Remaining in Christ and praying according to His revealed will creates answers to prayer.

-John 15:16 A fruitful life with Christ means we can approach the Father in Jesus’ name and be assured that He will answer our prayers.  

-John 16:23-27 Address your prayer to the Father, sign the prayer in Jesus’ name.

Prayer for Hope

 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, 

so that by the power of the Holy Spirit

 you may abound in hope. 

(Romans 15:3)

Preistly Blessing

The LORD bless you and keep you;

the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;

 the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

Prayers of Jesus' Contemporaries

(One thing that stands out in the Gospel of Luke is how he documents the prayers and prayer habits of others. I hope you have your Bible handy! I gave a little summary but take a closer look how people prayed back then.)   

-Luke 1:10 Jews prayed while incense was being offered by Zechariah, an angel appeared. 

-Luke 1:13 The angel declares that Zechariah’s prayers had been answered. He is to have a child.

-Luke 1:46-55 Mary praises God’s works, choosing her and His faithfulness to Israel.

-Luke 1:64 Zechariah praises God because he could speak again. Everyone was amazed.

-Luke 1:67-79 Zechariah’s prophecy declares God to be faithful in His covenant promises, He uses His people as servants and his child to make a path for the coming of the Lord.

-Luke 2:29-32 God is praised for fulfilling His promise. Simeon blesses the Lord for Jesus’ arrival.  

-Luke 2:37-38 Anna a woman of constant prayer and fasting thanks God for the redeemer.

-Luke 23:42 The repentant criminal on the cross looks to Jesus to remember him in heaven.

-Luke 24:52-53 After Jesus’ ascension His people we filled with praise and thanks in the temple. 

Jesus' Prayers

(The following verses are prayers of Jesus recorded in the Gospels. After each verse I tried to give an observation and a synopsis that attempts to remain true to Jesus' contextual prayer.  I hope it ministers to you.) 

-Matthew 11:25-26  Jesus praises the Father here for revealing spiritual wisdom to his children while the learned and the book smart do not know this wisdom from God necessarily.

-Matthew 27:46 Jesus expresses the estrangement from His Father because He bore the Father’s wrath for my sins. This prayer shows the interruption of the Father/Son relationship.  

-Mark 14:32-40 Jesus anticipates the suffering, the cross. He prays in anguish three times and stating twice: God who is able. Change the direction of my life but only if it is according to your will. This is a prayer of excruciating, total submission to the Father. It exemplifies to the maximum what the cost of discipleship ought to be. Jesus was yoked to the will of the Father.  

-Luke 22:31-32 Jesus intercedes and advocates to the Father for Simon Peter because Satan wants to ruin him and all the apostles. Jesus prays for an unfailing faith in Simon and once faith does return that he would strengthen others and intercede as Jesus did for him. 

-Luke 23:34 Jesus forgave the crucifiers because they didn’t know who He really was. v46 Jesus spent His last breath praying Scripture:  Palms 31:5 giving His Spirit to the Father and His will.

-John 11:41-42 Jesus prays in thanksgiving for the Father hearing Him and demonstrating a miraculous sign in public to draw out faith in the crowd.

-John 12:27-28 Jesus is in anguish and emotional distressing asking for the Father to save Him but to glorify His Name most of all. God affirms Him.  

-John 14:16 Jesus asks the Father to provide the Holy Spirit for a constant presence of truth.

-John 17:1-26 Jesus prays that God would fulfill His work, according to His glory. Jesus states that He has done what needed completing. He confesses His yearning to be glorified as He was before Earth existed. Jesus tells the Father the truth He gave to the disciples and their reception of it. Jesus prays for His disciples: Protect them, unify them in Yourself, give them My joy, preserve Your Word in them, and Sanctify them in the Truth. Jesus prays for the converts after His disciples: may they be one with Me/Us, may that oneness show the world that Jesus is the sent Son of God, bestow glory on them, Jesus desires us to be with Him, affirm their knowledge of You and for the love of God to be with be in and with them.