Do You Pray Like the People in the Bible?

August 12, 2020
By: Matt Brown

Have you ever wondered if your prayer life looks like the prayer lives of the people in the Bible? Though I grew up in church, I haven’t often stopped to consider the way the leaders prayed in the Bible.

Prayer Is a Very Important Habit

Prayer is mentioned throughout the New Testament hundreds of times, and the Scripture tells us that prayer should be an integral part of our lives as followers of Jesus.

  • “Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving.” (Colossians 4:2)
  • “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16–18)
  • “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.” (Ephesians 6:18)
  • “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms.” (James 5:13)
  • “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.” (1 John 5:14–15)

Prayer Was Important to Jesus

The Bible also shows us prayer was an important habit in the life of Jesus:

  • “And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there.” (Matthew 14:23)
  • “It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God.” (Luke 6:12 nasb)
  • “Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.” (Mark 1:35)
  • “So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.” (Luke 5:16)

If Jesus prayed this much, how much more do we need to pray!

We Can All Use More Prayer

Prayer isn’t just for the “most spiritual” Christians. Prayer is something all of us can learn to do well, and the more we learn the better off we will be. Henrietta Mears once said, “Christianity isn’t adding a burden to your life, it is adding power.” And the power that belongs to God comes to us through reading the Bible, seeking Him in prayer, enjoying the fellowship at the local church, and submitting our hearts to God’s will.

Let’s Learn to Pray More Like the People in the Bible

We see how important prayer is in the Bible, but how should we pray? I have been surprised to think of some of my prayers in comparison to the prayers of the early leaders of the church. The more we learn to pray like the people in the Bible, and to pray the way the Bible teaches us to pray, the more effective we will be.

Consider some of the ways Paul prayed in the New Testament.

This is just a sampling of the powerful apostolic prayers in the New Testament. As we read more about the ways people prayed in the Bible, we can begin to model our prayer lives after theirs!

Matt Brown

Matt Brown is an evangelist, author of Truth Plus Love: The Jesus Way to Influence, host of Think Eternity with Matt Brown, and founder of Think Eternity—a ministry dedicated to amplifying the gospel every day through podcasts, devotionals, videos, live events, and more. Matt and his wife, Michelle, have three children and live near Minneapolis, Minnesota. You can follow Matt at @evangelistmatt and thinke.org.

Related Articles

Do You Pray Like the People in the Bible?

Have you ever wondered if your prayer life looks like the prayer lives of the people in the Bible? Take time to consider the Biblical example Read More

Prayer Can Change Things

Jesus understood that prayer was powerful. We have His example to follow and His faith is our assurance that prayer has the power to change things. Read More

Prayer is an Act of Worship

Prayer is an essential, beautiful and important part of our worshiping God through talking and meeting with Him in His presence. Read More

Sign Up for the Latest Blog Posts from Thomas Nelson





By submitting your email address, you understand that you will receive email communications from HarperCollins Christian Publishing (501 Nelson Place, Nashville, TN 37214 USA) providing information about products and services of HCCP and its affiliates. You may unsubscribe from these email communications at any time. If you have any questions, please review our Privacy Policy or email us at yourprivacy@harpercollins.com.

17 replies on “Do You Pray Like the People in the Bible?”

Thank you for the great information it helps me a lot I’ve been wanting to know how to pray better and this is awesome. May Jesus help us spend more time in prayer day I’ll and nightly! God bless you and your ministry!

I think the Lord’s Prayer is the perfect example for prayer- it has everything you need to say and presents the proper relationship between God and man.

I believe in prayer! There is so much power in a strong prayer life. It draws you close to God as does reading the word.

Am really blessed by your teaching. Am empowered and equipped for the mandated that is before me. I want to drink and eat more in order to quanch my thirst and hunger for God. Really in need to have all of Him daily. God bless you, your family and ministry. Thanks.

Thank you fellow pilgrim for highlighting the way the Bible heros and even how and when Jesus prayed. I lead our prayer meeting on a Wednesday and will definitely use your findings to encourage others and myself to continue and to keep on praying as it is so important but so much neglected even by myself. May God help us all to become more consistent and keep improving our prayer life like Jesus and Paul and the old testament servants of God. God continue to use you yo inspire many.

Thank you for providing a way to hear from God. I have been in a crisis for 3 years and want so desperately to have a productive, consistent peaceful walk with the Lord and fellowship with the Body of Christ but hurting so bad. The lessons, Scripture and prayers are timely and appreciated. Please pray for me and my family.
God Bless

God knows our hearts. We should not be comparing ourselves with others especially in prayers. Like the one samples by Jesus for the 2 people praying in the church. One has asked forgiveness, but compared to the other one, he said his sins were lesser than him. This was not right as to God you cannot judge others before him. THe most sinned man who prayed faithfully and seriously was the one doing the right thing in prayer.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *