Bible Study

Lord teach us to pray The Disciples

The bible is jammed with teaching on and references to prayer. Here is a selection of references for anyone wanting to study the subject first hand for themselves. Too often we get everything second hand from preaching or Christian books. Sometimes it's great just to get to the source for yourself. There are some classic passages below but also some less well-known morsels too. Read through each of these verses and make a note of when we're told to pray, any instruction on how to pray, any explanation why or what we it may achieve and what impacts you about the prayer lives of Biblical characters.

In the Old Testament

  • Genesis 3:8-13; 18:16-33; 32:22-31
  • Exodus 17:8-13
  • 2 Chronicles 6:12-7:3; 20:1-30
  • Psalm 51:1-17
  • Nehemiah 1:4-11; 4:4-9
  • Daniel 9:1-14
  • Habakkuk 1-3

In the New Testament

First a challenge… Got a pair of scissors? Here's a cool idea from Richard Foster: "I had prayed for many things and with great intensity, but with only marginal success. But then I saw that I might possibly be doing some things wrong and could learn differently. I took the Gospels and cut out every reference to prayer and pasted them on to sheets of paper. When I could read Jesus' teaching on prayer at one sitting, I was shocked. Either the excuses and rationalisations for unanswered prayer I had been taught were wrong, or Jesus' words were wrong. I determined to learn to pray so that my experience conformed to the words of Jesus rather than try to make his words conform to my impoverished experience." (Celebration of Discipline p.47)

About Jesus praying:

  • Matthew 19:13; 27:50
  • Mark 1:35; 6:41; 6:46; 7:34; 8:6;
  • Luke 3:21; 5:16; 6:12; 9:18, 29; 11:1; 22:17-19, 32; 24:30, 50;
  • Hebrews 5:7

Recorded prayers of Jesus:

  • Matthew 26:39; 27:46
  • Luke 10:21; 23:34, 46;
  • John 11:41-42; 12:27-28; 17:1-26

Jesus the Intercessor:

  • Isaiah 53:12
  • John 14:16
  • Romans 8:34
  • Hebrews 7:25

Jesus' teaching about prayer:

  • Matthew 6:5-13 (see Luke 11:2-4); 7:7-11; 9:37-38; 18:19-20; 21:21-22
  • Mark 9:26-29; 11:17, 25;
  • Luke 6:28; 11:5-13; 18:9-14;
  • John 15:7; 16:23-24 Paul - Mr 24-7!

The Apostle Paul:

  • Romans 1:9-10: 10:1;
  • 1 Corinthians 1:4
  • Ephesians 1:16; 3:14
  • Philippians 1:3-4, 7-8
  • Colossians 1:3, 9;
  • 1 Thessalonians 1:2; 3:9-10;
  • 2 Thessalonians 1:3, 11;
  • 2 Timothy 1:3
  • Philemon 4

With thanks to The Praying Church Sourcebook by Alvin J. Vander Griend, CRC Publications 1997, Michigan