The Beauty of Biblical Prayer

There are a lot of beautiful prayers throughout scripture that I believe are so very applicable to the world and situations we face today and our own walks with Christ.  There’s the obvious (like the entire book of Psalm) and probably hundreds of prayers throughout the Bible in all of these categories and more, but I’m going to try to just use my favorites.  If I used every single prayer in this post, then it would probably be the longest post ever written, so I’ll only list a few here for your consideration and thought.

Acts 4:23-31

Let’s start with one that I just recently fell in love with.  Most of us have probably heard Acts 4:31 quoted at one point or another.  Just in case you haven’t or you need a refresher I’ll paste the verse here: “And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.”  This verse is amazing and gives us a peek into the power of the Holy Spirit, but I’ve never heard it quoted alongside the prayer that it’s referencing. It’s such a beautiful prayer that, if we began to pray it over our own lives, could really begin to strengthen our faith and witness individually and as the Body of Christ.

“Sovereign Lord,

who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them,

who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit,

‘Why did the Gentiles rage,

and the peoples plot in vain?

The kings of the earth set themselves,

and the rulers were gathered together,

against the Lord and against His Anointed’—

for truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus,

whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate,

along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,

to do whatever Your hand and Your plan had predestined to take place.

And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to Your servants to continue to speak Your word with all boldness, while You stretch out Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of Your holy servant Jesus.”

Matthew 6:9-13

There’s also, of course, the one that would come to everyone’s mind when they think of biblical prayers.  The one known as the “Lord’s Prayer”. This prayer outlines how we should pray to God and is often suggested as what to pray when you don’t know what else to pray.

“Our Father who art in heaven,

Hallowed be Thy name,

Thy Kingdom come,

Thy will be done,

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

But deliver us from the evil one.”

Exodus 33:12-13

Moses was charged with leading the people of Israel when they were brought out of Egypt.  In Exodus 33, he is speaking with God about his role as leader of the people and how he needed someone to work with him toward this goal.  While there’s a whole separate set of conversations there in itself, I think this conversation leaves us with an important lesson about the ongoing discipleship of our faith and how, when God brings someone into our lives that we have been charged with discipling, we need His strength and His wisdom and to be as much like Him as we can in order to be the very best example possible.

“You have been telling me,

‘Lead these people,’

but You have not let me know whom You will send with me.

You have said,

‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’

If You are pleased with me,

teach me Your ways so I may know You and continue to find favor with You. Remember that this nation is Your people.”

Habakkuk 3:2

It’s easy for us as modern Christians to believe that God no longer acts the same way He did in the Bible, but I believe that it’s still possible.  All the miracles that God has done are still within His power today, but oftentimes, our level of faith in such a thing does not allow us to ask for it.  The prophet Habakkuk was not afraid to ask for God to act out His power in his day; he wasn’t afraid to ask God for mercy for the sinful people. This is a short, but beautiful, prayer that I think could be extremely powerful if we prayed it today.

“Lord, I have heard of Your fame;

I stand in awe of Your deeds, Lord.

Repeat them in our day,

in our time make them known;

in wrath remember mercy.”

Psalm 25

This entire chapter is a beautiful prayer we should all be praying for guidance from God, but I’m only going to include the first few verses here.

“In You, Lord my God,

I put my trust.

I trust in you;

do not let me be put to shame,

nor let my enemies triumph over me.

No one who hopes in You

will ever be put to shame,

but shame will come on those

who are treacherous without cause.

Show me Your ways, Lord,

teach me Your paths.

Guide me in Your truth and teach me,

for You are God my Savior,

and my hope is in You all day long.

Remember, Lord, Your great mercy and love,

for they are from of old.

Do not remember the sins of my youth

and my rebellious ways;

according to Your love remember me,

for You, Lord, are good.”

Numbers 6:24-26

This is a great prayer for a lot of different occasions.  Pray this one for yourself, for your friends, for strangers, and (because we’re supposed to love them) for your enemies.

“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.”

Psalm 51:7-12

A prayer of lament, confession, and repentance written by King David.  There comes times in each of our lives that we all need to pray a prayer like this.

“Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean;

wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

Oh, give me back my joy again;

You have broken me—

now let me rejoice.

Don’t keep looking at my sins.

Remove the stain of my guilt.

Create in me a clean heart, O God.

Renew a loyal spirit within me.

Do not banish me from Your presence,

and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,

and make me willing to obey you.”

Ephesians 3:14-19

It’s always important to pray for the other Christians in your life and this verse here demonstrates this.

“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,

that according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being,

so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith–that you,

being rooted and grounded in love,

may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,

and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge,

that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

Psalm 84:10-12

Praying a Psalm is a great way to give praise to God.

“Better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere;

I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. For the Lord God is a sun and shield;

the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.

Lord Almighty, blessed is the one who trusts in You.”

Psalm 86

There is a lost element of lament within the church.  I’ve found that if we bring our troubles before God alongside our praises and our thanksgivings it can be very beneficial to our relationship with God.  Prayers of lament can change your prayer life altogether and improve your trust in God. Try it. It’ll be weird at first, but it can be a great experience.

“Listen, Lord, and answer me,

for I am poor and needy.

Protect my life, for I am faithful.

You are my God; save Your servant who trusts in You.

Be gracious to me, Lord,

for I call to You all day long.

Bring joy to Your servant’s life,

because I turn to You, Lord.

For You, Lord, are kind and ready to forgive,

rich in faithful love to all who call on You.

Lord, hear my prayer;

listen to my plea for mercy.

I call on You in the day of my distress,

for You will answer me.

Lord, there is no one like You among the gods,

and there are no works like Yours.

All the nations You have made

will come and bow down before You, Lord,

and will honor Your name.

For You are great and perform wonders;

You alone are God.

Teach me Your way, Yahweh,

and I will live by Your truth.

Give me an undivided mind to fear Your name.

I will praise You with all my heart, Lord my God,

and will honor Your name forever.

For Your faithful love for me is great,

and You deliver my life from the depths of Sheol.

God, arrogant people have attacked me;

a gang of ruthless men seeks my life.

They have no regard for You.

But You, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,

slow to anger and rich in faithful love and truth.

Turn to me and be gracious to me.

Give Your strength to Your servant;

save the son of Your female servant.

Show me a sign of Your goodness;

my enemies will see and be put to shame

because You, Lord, have helped and comforted me.”

Luke 22:41-44 & Luke 23:34

These two I paired together because they have to do with Jesus’s suffering during His time leading up to and on the cross.  While the likelihood of any of us going to the cross is most likely slim, there is a guarantee that we will come across suffering of varying degrees.

“Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me;

yet not My will, but Yours be done.”

And when that suffering comes at the hands of someone else, we can mimic Christ’s call from the cross:

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they’re doing.”

Romans 8:26-27

And to finish it off, there’s comfort in knowing that we are not left alone when we don’t know what to say when we pray.  The Holy Spirit comes to bat on our behalves. God is good.

“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.

We do not know what we ought to pray for,

but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.

And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit,

because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.”