Scripture Prayers
Praying Scripture means using the Bible's own words as your prayer. It is the oldest Christian practice there is, and it helps enormously when you do not know what to say.
This collection gathers prayers taken directly from the biblical text — the Lord's Prayer, the canticles, and the prayers of prophets, apostles and ordinary people in Scripture.
87 prayers
- Abraham's Intercession for Sodom
Abraham bargains with God for a city that deserves nothing, going down from fifty righteous men to ten. It is the Bible's first sustained…
- Benedicite — The Song of the Three Young Men
The canticle sung by Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace, calling on every creature in heaven and earth to bless the Lord.…
- Benediction of Hebrews
A benediction from Hebrews 13:20-21 asking God to complete His good work in those He blesses.
- Benediction of Jude
The closing doxology of the Letter of Jude, prayed as a benediction of preservation and praise.
- Daniel's Prayer of Confession
Daniel, reading Jeremiah in exile, sets his face to seek God with fasting and confesses on behalf of his nation: 'we do not present our…
- David's Prayer: Who Am I, O Lord God
David sits before the Lord after being told his house will endure, and can only ask, 'Who am I, O Lord GOD? and what is my house?' It is…
- Elijah's Prayer on Mount Carmel
Two verses against four hundred and fifty prophets: 'Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God.' A…
- Ezra's Confession
Ezra kneels at the evening sacrifice, ashamed to lift his face, and confesses the sins of the whole people as his own. It is the model of…
- Gaze, Consider, Contemplate (St. Clare of Assisi)
From St. Clare of Assisi's Second Letter to Agnes of Prague (thirteenth century). Clare's counsel — gaze, consider, contemplate, imitate —…
- Gideon's Prayer of the Fleece
Gideon asks twice for a sign in the fleece, and God is patient with him both times. Christian tradition has read the dew on the fleece as…
- Habakkuk's Prayer — Yet I Will Rejoice
The closing lines of Habakkuk (3:17–19), written as Judah faced invasion. The prophet spends the book arguing with God about injustice and…
- Hannah's Prayer
Prayed by Hannah after years of infertility and the birth of Samuel (1 Samuel 2:1–8). Its themes of reversal — the lowly lifted, the…
- Hezekiah's Prayer in Sickness
The writing of Hezekiah after his recovery: 'I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul.' Used as an Old Testament…
- Jacob's Prayer at Peniel
On the night before meeting the brother he cheated, Jacob prays that he is 'not worthy of the least of all the mercies', then wrestles…
- Jeremiah's Lament: His Mercies Are New Every Morning
From the middle of the book of tears comes the line the Church sings every morning: 'They are new every morning: great is thy…
- Job's Final Answer
After the whirlwind, Job stops arguing: 'I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.' Six verses of…
- Jonah's Prayer from the Depths
Prayed from inside the great fish (Jonah 2:2–9), this is Scripture's clearest prayer of someone who ran from God and was rescued anyway.…
- Joshua's Plea After Defeat
After the rout at Ai, Joshua tears his clothes and lies before the ark until evening, asking why God brought Israel over Jordan at all. A…
- Mary's Fiat: Be It Unto Me According to Thy Word
The shortest and most consequential prayer of consent in scripture. Read at the Annunciation and prayed daily at the Angelus, it is the…
- Moses: Show Me Thy Glory
Moses asks to see the glory of God and is hidden in the cleft of the rock while the Lord passes by. Gregory of Nyssa built his whole…
- Nehemiah's Prayer
News of a ruined city sends Nehemiah into days of fasting and prayer before he asks a single practical question. It joins honest confession…
- Nunc Dimittis (The Song of Simeon)
These are the words of the aged Simeon in the Temple as he took the infant Jesus in his arms (Luke 2:29-32), having been promised he would…
- Paul's Prayer for Inner Strength (Ephesians 3)
From Ephesians 3:14–21, written from prison. Unlike most petitions it asks for nothing external — only interior strength, indwelling, and…
- Paul's Prayer for Wisdom and Endurance (Colossians 1)
From Colossians 1:9–12. Paul prays for a young church he had never visited, asking not for ease but for endurance "with joy." The prayer is…
- Prayer Before the Study of Scripture (John Calvin)
John Calvin closed each of his lectures on scripture with a short extempore prayer, and the prayers were taken down by his hearers and…
- Prayer for Freedom from Bondage
A prayer woven from three New Testament passages that together form the scriptural basis of Christian deliverance: Colossians 1:13-14 on…
- Prayer for the Holy Spirit (Charles Spurgeon)
Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834–1892) opened his sermons at the Metropolitan Tabernacle with short prayers like this, taken down by…
- Prayer of a Penitent Heart (Psalm 103)
Drawn from Psalm 103, the great psalm of David on the mercy of God. Where Psalm 51 is the cry of the sinner, Psalm 103 is the answer:…
- Prayer to Overcome Our Spiritual Enemies
A prayer against the three traditional enemies of the soul — the world, the flesh and the devil — a formula found in the Church's…
- Psalm 1 — Blessed Is the Man
The psalter opens with a wisdom psalm contrasting two ways of living: the life rooted like a tree by rivers of water, and the life blown…
- Psalm 100 — Make a Joyful Noise Unto the Lord
The Jubilate, sung at Anglican Morning Prayer as an alternative to the Te Deum and set countless times by church composers. Six verses of…
- Psalm 103 — Bless the Lord, O My Soul
A psalm of David and one of Scripture's fullest meditations on divine mercy. It is prayed daily at Orthodox Matins as one of the "Typica"…
- Psalm 116 — I Love the Lord, Because He Hath Heard My Voice
Part of the Hallel sung at Passover — very likely among the psalms Jesus and his disciples sang after the Last Supper. Its question, 'What…
- Psalm 118 — His Mercy Endureth For Ever
The great Easter psalm, with the stone the builders rejected becoming the head of the corner. Luther called it his own beloved psalm and…
- Psalm 121 — I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes
Psalm 121 is one of the Songs of Ascents, sung by pilgrims climbing the road to Jerusalem, watching the hills for both danger and the first…
- Psalm 123 — Unto Thee Lift I Up Mine Eyes
A short Song of Ascents, the prayer of servants watching their master's hand, prayed by the contemptuously treated and the overlooked. Part…
- Psalm 126 — They That Sow in Tears Shall Reap in Joy
A psalm of return from exile, when the mouth was filled with laughter. Its promise about sowing in tears is prayed by those in a long…
- Psalm 130 — Out of the Depths (De Profundis)
The De Profundis is one of the seven Penitential Psalms and has been prayed for the dead and by the desperate since the earliest centuries…
- Psalm 131 — A Quieted Soul
One of the fifteen Songs of Ascents sung by pilgrims going up to Jerusalem, and among the shortest psalms. Teresa of Ávila and John of the…
- Psalm 134 — Bless Ye the Lord, All Ye Servants of the Lord
The last Song of Ascents, and the shortest night prayer in scripture: three verses for those who stand by night in the house of the Lord.…
- Psalm 137 — By the Rivers of Babylon
The exiles' lament, refusing to sing the Lord's song in a strange land. Its closing verses are among the hardest in scripture and are…
- Psalm 139 — Thou Hast Searched Me and Known Me
Psalm 139 is the great prayer against loneliness. It insists that there is no place — height, depth, distance, or darkness — where a person…
- Psalm 143 — Hear My Prayer, O Lord, Give Ear to My Supplications
The seventh and last penitential psalm, prayed at Lauds on Fridays and at the burial of the dead. 'Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in…
- Psalm 145 — I Will Extol Thee, My God, O King
An alphabetical hymn of praise; the verse 'The eyes of all wait upon thee' became the standard Christian grace before meals. In Jewish…
- Psalm 146 — Praise the Lord, O My Soul
The first of the closing Hallelujah psalms, warning against putting trust in princes and naming God as the helper of the oppressed, the…
- Psalm 150 — Let Every Thing That Hath Breath Praise the Lord
The doxology that ends the psalter: six verses naming every instrument in the temple. It closes Lauds on feast days and is the traditional…
- Psalm 16 — Preserve Me, O God
A psalm of confidence in which the believer takes God as his portion and cup. St. Peter quotes it at Pentecost as a prophecy of the…
- Psalm 19 — The Heavens Declare the Glory of God
Two psalms in one: creation's wordless testimony, then the perfection of God's law, closing with the line every preacher prays before…
- Psalm 22 — My God, My God, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me
The psalm Jesus prayed from the cross. It moves from utter desolation to a vow of praise before the whole assembly, and the Church reads it…
- Psalm 23 — The Lord Is My Shepherd
The most beloved of the psalms, attributed to David, who had been a shepherd before he was a king. It is the prayer of the deathbed, the…
- Psalm 25 — Unto Thee, O Lord, Do I Lift Up My Soul
An alphabetical psalm of penitence and guidance, asking God to show his ways and to remember mercy rather than the sins of youth. It is…
- Psalm 27 — The Lord Is My Light and My Salvation
A psalm of David that moves from confident praise to urgent petition and back to trust — a pattern that has made it a favorite of…
- Psalm 32 — Blessed Is He Whose Transgression Is Forgiven
One of the seven penitential psalms, and St. Augustine's favourite — he had it written on the wall beside his deathbed. It describes the…
- Psalm 34 — I Will Bless the Lord at All Times
Written, the title says, when David feigned madness before Abimelech and escaped. Its line 'O taste and see that the LORD is good' entered…
- Psalm 35 — Plead My Cause, O Lord
One of the psalms of contention, in which the psalmist hands his defense entirely over to God rather than taking it up himself. The Church…
- Psalm 40 — He Brought Me Up Also Out of an Horrible Pit
A psalm of rescue and of glad obedience — 'Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me' — quoted in Hebrews of Christ's…
- Psalm 42 — Why Art Thou Cast Down, O My Soul
Psalm 42 is the Bible's clearest prayer of depression. Written by the sons of Korah, likely in exile far from the Temple, it describes a…
- Psalm 43 — O Send Out Thy Light and Thy Truth
Once joined to Psalm 42, this short plea to be led to God's holy hill was for centuries prayed by the priest at the foot of the altar…
- Psalm 46 — God Is Our Refuge and Strength
Psalm 46 inspired Martin Luther's hymn "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" (1529) and has been prayed through plagues, wars, and natural…
- Psalm 51 — Have Mercy on Me, O God
Psalm 51, the Miserere, is traditionally ascribed to King David after the prophet Nathan confronted him over Bathsheba and Uriah. It is the…
- Psalm 62 — My Soul, Wait Thou Only Upon God
A psalm of stillness and unhurried trust, insisting that God alone is rock and refuge while power and riches are a breath on the scales.…
- Psalm 63 — My Soul Thirsts for You
From the earliest centuries Psalm 63 was the psalm of Christian morning prayer; St. John Chrysostom records that the Church decreed no day…
- Psalm 71 — Cast Me Not Off in the Time of Old Age
The prayer of a believer growing old, asking not to be abandoned when strength fails and promising to declare God's power to the next…
- Psalm 8 — How Excellent Is Thy Name
A night psalm of wonder: David looks at the moon and stars and asks what man is that God should be mindful of him. The letter to the…
- Psalm 84 — How Amiable Are Thy Tabernacles
A pilgrim's psalm, longing for the courts of the Lord and blessing those who pass through the valley of weeping and make it a well. Sung at…
- Psalm 86 — Bow Down Thine Ear, O Lord, Hear Me
A plain, unadorned cry of a poor and needy servant, weaving together lines from across the psalter. Its request for an 'undivided heart'…
- Psalm 88 — Lord, God of My Salvation
The darkest psalm in the psalter: it ends without resolution, with darkness as the psalmist's only companion. The Church prays it at…
- Psalm 90 — Lord, Thou Hast Been Our Dwelling Place
Attributed to Moses, the oldest psalm in the book, measuring human years against God's eternity and asking him to teach us to number our…
- Psalm 91 — He Shall Cover Thee
Psalm 91 is the Church's great prayer of protection. Ancient Jewish tradition called it the "song of plagues," and Christians have prayed…
- Solomon's Prayer at the Dedication of the Temple
Kneeling with hands spread to heaven, Solomon admits that the heaven of heavens cannot contain God, let alone the house he has built, and…
- Solomon's Prayer for Wisdom
Solomon's request at Gibeon (1 Kings 3:7–9), offered when God invited him to ask for anything. Because he asked for discernment rather than…
- Stephen's Dying Prayer
The first martyr dies asking that the sin not be laid to the charge of the men stoning him — with Saul of Tarsus standing by. Prayed in…
- The Aaronic Blessing
Given to Moses for Aaron and his sons in Numbers 6:24–26, this is the oldest blessing text in continuous liturgical use. A silver amulet…
- The Armor of God Prayer (Ephesians 6)
A prayer built line by line on Ephesians 6:10-18, the fullest description of spiritual warfare in the New Testament. St. Paul wrote it, by…
- The Benedictus (Song of Zechariah)
The song of Zechariah at the birth of his son John the Baptist (Luke 1:68-79), spoken after nine months of imposed silence. Since at least…
- The Canaanite Woman's Prayer
'Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs.' A mother refuses to be dismissed and is told her faith is great. Prayed by those who feel…
- The Centurion's Prayer: Lord, I Am Not Worthy
'Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only.' The Church has put this soldier's sentence on the…
- The Grace (Apostolic Benediction)
The Trinitarian benediction of 2 Corinthians 13:14, used to close Christian worship across traditions.
- The Hail Mary
The first half of this prayer is drawn straight from Scripture: the greeting of the angel Gabriel at the Annunciation (Luke 1:28) and…
- The High Priestly Prayer of Jesus (John 17)
Prayed by Jesus on the night before his death (John 17), and the longest recorded prayer of Christ in the Gospels. Called the "High…
- The Magnificat (Mary's Song of Praise)
The Magnificat is Mary's song of praise spoken at the Visitation, when she greeted her cousin Elizabeth (Luke 1:46-55). It echoes the song…
- The Our Father
Given by Jesus himself when the disciples asked him how to pray (Matthew 6:9-13, Luke 11:2-4), the Our Father is often called the perfect…
- The Prayer of Jabez
A two-verse prayer buried in the genealogies of 1 Chronicles 4:9–10, which notes simply that "God granted him that which he requested."…
- The Prayer of the Thief on the Cross
'Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.' The one deathbed conversion in the Gospels, prayed in Orthodox liturgy before…
- The Publican's Prayer
From the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18:9–14), where Jesus says it was the publican, not the religious man, who…
- The Song of Hannah (Canticle)
Hannah's thanksgiving after the birth of Samuel, the model on which Mary's Magnificat is built: the bows of the mighty broken, the hungry…
- The Song of Moses (Exodus 15)
Israel's song on the far shore of the Red Sea, the oldest hymn in the Bible and the first canticle of the Easter Vigil, where it is sung…