Bible Prayers

As 2020 comes to an end, let’s pray for our nation(s) to return to the Lord God. Let’s seek God’s healing and salvation for ourselves and all peoples. Let's faithfully praise the Lord throughout the New Year. Jeremiah 17:13-14 – a prayer of Jeremiah from the King James Version of the Bible   O Lord, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters.     Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.   From  the Book of KJV Prayers  -  actual prayers from the  King James Version  of the Bible (KJV) collected by  Mary Harwell Sayler , ©2019    …   Jeremiah 17:13-14 – a prayer of Jeremiah in everyday English   Lord God and hope of Your people, whoever abandons You will be put to shame!   All who turn away from You will find their whole lives written

  Matthew 7:11 – Jesus promised, “If you imperfect people know how to give good gifts to your children, don’t you think your Father in heaven will give good gifts to those who ask?”   Lord, if we’ve ever thought of You as anything but loving, fair, merciful, and kind, we don’t know You very well! Forgive us, Heavenly Father, for thinking the worst of You when, like demanding children, we don’t get what we want when we want it!   Praise You, Heavenly Father, for being The One pure, holy, and true parent on Whom we depend.   Even if we complain, we thank You, Lord, for not rewarding bad behavior. Thank You for giving Your “Amen!” to every prayer we pray that’s based on Your promises, Your word. Praise You for giving us Your Holy Spirit if we just ask. Fill us with You, Lord. Keep us filled.   Mary Harwell Sayler, ©2020, from Kneeling on the Promises of God – a book of Bible promises researched on Bible Gateway then paraphrased with relevant prayers following. If the bo

  Psalm 144 – a prayer of David   How blessed You are, my Lord, my Rock, for You prepare me for every conflict and strengthen me to take on whatever comes.   You are my fortress – loving and kind, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, and the One in Whom I take refuge as You subdue everyone who’s against me.   O, Lord, who are we that You take note of us?   What is humankind that You give us any thought?   We’re like a mere breath with our days like a passing shadow.   Come down from Your heavens, O Lord. Touch the mountains. Flash forth lightning.   Scatter Your enemies. Send out arrows and confuse them.   Stretch forth Your hand from on high.   Rescue me! Deliver me from deep waters, from the hands of deceitful people. I don’t know them or why they do what they do!   To You, I’ll sing a new song, O God.   With stringed instruments, I’ll sing praises to You – Savior of leaders, Rescuer of Your servants. Res

Troubled times now, troubled times in Bible days…. This prayer from God’s Word can be prayed appropriately now and any time we place our praise, trust, and concerns before the Lord. Psalm 71:1-12 paraphrased into everyday English I put my trust in You, O Lord. Help me never to be confused about that. Rescue me. Free me for You do what’s right. Stay inclined to listen to me and deliver me. Be to me a Rock where I can safely hide. Give Your command to rescue me, for You are my high ridge and fortress. Rescue me, my God, from the power of evil, from the clutches of cruel oppressors. O Lord, my only hope is in You. From childhood I have trusted You, Lord. Yes, from the moment of my birth and even in my mother’s womb, You have tended me. No wonder I’m always praising You. No wonder my life provides an example to many, because You have been my strength and protection. No wonder I daily declare Your praise and glory! Now that I’m old

During his lifetime, King David often found himself surrounded by hate and ill will. In physical, mental, and spiritual danger – as we are today – this beloved man of faith turned to God, seeking protection, deliverance, and peace.  In the midst of his own troubles, however, David prayed for others who sought God’s help. Like Christ, King David prayed for us. Psalm 70 – prayer of David from King James Version  Make haste, O God, to deliver me; make haste to help me, O Lord. Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul: let them be turned backward, and put to confusion, that desire my hurt. Let them be turned back for a reward of their shame that say, Aha, aha. Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: and let such as love thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified. But I am poor and needy: make haste unto me, O God: thou art my help and my deliverer; O Lord, make no tarrying. F

Earlier this week, someone posted an article on the Internet with images showing what happens to the brain when we complain. Reportedly, a habit of complaining rewires the brain, making a person more and more aware of every little negative thing! When Moses led God’s people out of slavery and toward the promised land, he had to deal with countless complaints by countless people. As mediator between them and the Lord, he presented the grievances directly to God in prayer: Exodus 5:22-23 – a prayer of Moses And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all. From  the Book of KJV Prayers  –  actual prayers from God’s Word collected by  Mary Harwell Sayler , ©2019, from the  King James Version  of the Bible Exodus 5:21-22 – a prayer of M

For several years, the Bible Prayers blog has focused on actual prayers in the Bible – prayers that have been prayer-a-phrased (prayerfully paraphrased) into contemporary language after comparing many of the translations found in my home and also on the Bible Gateway website . If you’ve followed this blog (thank you very much and God bless you!) you’ve probably noticed long gaps between posts, which I pray will be only temporary. Meanwhile, I’ve been collecting and paraphrasing Bible prayers for a book, which, Lord willing, will soon be available because I believe so strongly in its importance – first as a means of providing an up-to-date version of actual Bible prayers in one easy-to-read book - and also because praying those prayers means we automatically have prayer partners from the past, present, or future, who agree with us in prayer as two or more of us gather in Jesus’ Name. In addition to that goal, a thought recently came to remind me that powerful, timeless, an

“Great Lord, God of heaven, Who inspires us to awe, You always keep Your Word, Your love, Your promises with mercy shown to those who love and obey You. So now I ask You to open Your eyes, Your ears to this prayer as I pray - night and day - for Your servants, Your children. Lord, I confess we have sinned against You, and so have those before us. How greatly we have wronged You! We have failed to obey Your commandments and laws given to us through Your servant Moses. But, Lord, do You remember what You told us back then? You said, ‘If you are not faithful to Me, I will scatter you among the nations. But if you return to Me and obey My commands - even if you are as far away as you can go - I will come and get you. I will bring you to the place I have chosen for My Name’.” Nehemiah 1:5-9 as prayer-a-phrased by Mary Sayler after reading various translations on Bible Gateway ©2018

And so, with the Apostle Paul: we’re always praying for God to make you worthy of His calling, fulfilling every good purpose and every work of faith by His power. And then, the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord will be glorified in you – and you in Him, by the grace of God and Christ Jesus. Mary Harwell Sayler , ©2018, prayer-a-phrased 2 Thessalonians 11-12 using scriptures from various translations provided by Bible Gateway . …

May the Lord answer us in times of trouble and distress. May the Name of the God of Jacob protect us. May the Lord send help from His holy place and sustain us from on high. May the Lord remember and graciously accept all we have to offer. May He give us the desires of our heart and fulfill our plans and life purpose. Let’s sing a song of triumph and raise our flag in the name of our God! May the Lord fulfill our requests. Now this is what we can know for sure: the Lord gives victory to His anointed. The Lord answers from a place of holiness with success in hand. Some depend on war machines and others on horses, but we rely on the Name of the Lord our God. They collapse and fall, but we rise and firmly stand. Give success to our leaders, O Lord. Answer us on the day we call. Mary Harwell Sayler , ©2018, prayer-a-phrased today’s Psalm reading in the ecumenical Revised Common Lectionary , with the help of many translations on Bible Gateway. …

I’m asking God to gift us the riches of His glory, so we will be given Inner strength and power through His Spirit, and Christ will live in us through faith. And I pray our roots will spread deeply into His love, so we - and all of God’s children - can begin to glimpse how wide, how long, how high, how deep is His love for us. Then we will know Christ’s love reaches far beyond our understanding and fills us wholly with our Holy God. Mary Harwell Sayler , ©2018, prayer-a-phrased Ephesians 3:16-19 as found in many translations on Bible Gateway .

May our God, Who encourages us and empowers us to endure, help you to hold yourselves in harmony with one another and with Christ Jesus, so that you may praise and glorify the God and Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ, with one voice - always on-key. Mary Harwell Sayler , ©2018, prayer-a-phrased Romans 15:5-6 after referring to these and other translations on Bible Gateway . …

O, Lord, God of heaven, Our great and awesome God, You keep Your promises and give mercy to those who love and obey You. Please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open to us, so You may hear our prayer, which we pray before You, day and night, for Your children, for our children, for our country. We confess our sin against You for we have done wrong. My family and I have done wrong. My country and I have done wrong.. We have acted badly toward You and have not kept Your commandments, which You gave to Your servant Moses. Remember what you said to Moses? ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you, but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do as I ask - even though you’ve been cast as far from Me as you can get - yet I will gather you and bring you to the place I have chosen to be.’ We are Your servants and Your people, whom You have redeemed by Your great power and strong hand! O, Lord, please let Your ear be attentive to this prayer

Let the peoples of God cry out before the Lord and pray: Spare us, O Lord! Help us to be above reproach. Do not let us be ridiculed among the nations - nor a mockery among ourselves! Let us not be ridiculed nor a joke to unbelievers anywhere. Why should anyone ever say, “Where is their God?” Mary Harwell Sayler , ©2018, prayer-a-phrased Joel 2:17 from many of the numerous translations on Bible Gateway . …

Psalm 18:1-2 A psalm of David: The servant of the Lord sang this song to the Lord on the day the Lord rescued him from his enemies. I love you, my Lord You are my strength. my rock, my fortress, my deliverer. You are solid rock in Whom I find protection. You are my shield, the power Who saves me. You are my safe place. Prayer-a-phrased by Mary Harwell Sayler , ©2018, with scriptures from Bible Gateway . …

“Thou art my father, my God,” Psalm 89:26. Our Father which art in heaven “The Lord our God is holy,” Psalm 99:9. Hallowed be Thy name. “Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,” Psalm 145:13. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done “I will be exalted in the earth,” Psalm 46:10. in earth, as it is in heaven . “And the Lord God humbled you, let you hunger, then fed you with manna….to make you know that we do not live by bread alone, but by every word from the mouth of the Lord,” Deuteronomy 8:3. Give us this day our daily bread . “Hear in heaven Your dwelling place and forgive! To those whose hearts You know, let it be according to their ways – for You, Lord, You alone, know the hearts of all,” 1 Kings 8:39. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors . “Listen, O Shepherd of Israel, You Who lead us like a flock,” Psalm 80:1. And lead us not into temptation , “Fear the Lord your God, and God will deliver you from the hands of all your enemies,” 2 Kings 17:39.