Today is the National Day of Prayer in the United States, a day on which we’re all encouraged to turn to God in prayer. Any day is a good day to commit to prayer, of course—but if prayer is particularly on your mind today, here are some resources from Bible Gateway that will help you kickstart a flagging prayer life!

Famous Prayers in the Bible

What does a great prayer look like? Last year, we compiled a list of Five Biblical Prayer for the National Day of Prayer.

Those prayers demonstrate the range of circumstances that should bring us to prayer. God’s people are invited to pray when they need forgiveness, when they need courage, when they need wisdom and insight—and when they just want to thank and praise God. There’s no issue too great or small to bring before God in prayer; and as those five prayers demonstrate, prayer can be long and eloquent… or short and to-the-point.

Take a few minutes today to read through those prayers—and consider praying through them yourself!

Devotionals About Prayer

While prayer is a topic that comes up in most any Christian devotional, we’ve got two new devotionals that are focused entirely on prayer. They’re both free; just click on the devotional title to sign up:

• The Daniel Prayer: The Bible gives us many good examples of prayer in action. But few lives of prayer were as effective as that of the Old Testament figure Daniel. Drawn from Anne Graham Lotz’ book of the same name, this five-day devotional will teach you how to pray with the same confidence and hope that Daniel did.
• Praying Your Way to Spiritual Empowerment: How can a prayer-filled life empower you to bring about the kingdom of God in your community, your church, and your home? A week-long devotional that addresses important issues of prayerful living in the context of strong biblical scholarship.

(And if the character of Daniel intrigues you, see also our Thriving in Babylon and The Daniel Plan devotionals, both of which explore the valuable lessons we can learn from this famous Bible hero.)

Learn How to Pray Scripture

Are you ever unsure about what you should pray? Do your prayers become dull or repetitive? Do you feel like you’re praying “wrong?”

Those are common problems we all face when we try to make prayer a regular practice. One good solution is simply to pray God’s own Words! Our Praying Scripture essay explains how you can transform both your prayer life and Bible reading habits by using the words of the Bible (any Bible text—not just the prayers) as the basis for your prayers.

After the essay, you’ll find some practical tips for making this happen, as well as suggestions for praying Scripture in a small group.

Prayer Insights from Experts

Over the years, we’ve interviewed many different authors and other Christian thinkers about the value and power of prayer. Here are some of our best blog interviews about prayer:

• Prayers That Changed History: An Interview with Tricia Goyer: Can prayer truly change history? Author Tricia Goyer wrote a book identifying specific moments in history when prayer made a huge difference.
• A Year of Living Prayerfully: An Interview with Jared Brock: How far would you go to learn to pray better? Jared Brock travelled the globe to explore the great Judeo-Christian prayer traditions alive today.
• The Daniel Prayer: An Interview with Anne Graham Lotz: How did the ancient prayer of Daniel move heaven and change a nation? We interviewed Anne Graham Lotz about her new book about this famous man of God and his world-changing prayers.

The reality is that all of us could stand to take prayer more seriously, and to commit to re-energize our prayer life. These resources will help you do that.