And when you pray, do not keep on babbling(A) like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.(B)

Read full chapter

Do not be quick with your mouth,
    do not be hasty in your heart
    to utter anything before God.(A)
God is in heaven
    and you are on earth,
    so let your words be few.(B)
A dream(C) comes when there are many cares,
    and many words mark the speech of a fool.(D)

Read full chapter

Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore fear God.(A)

Read full chapter

26 So they took the bull given them and prepared it.

Then they called(A) on the name of Baal from morning till noon. “Baal, answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response;(B) no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made.

27 At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.”(C) 28 So they shouted louder and slashed(D) themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. 29 Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice.(E) But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.(F)

Read full chapter

34 But when they realized he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”(A)

Read full chapter

44 So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.

Read full chapter

17 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church;(A) and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.(B)

Read full chapter

18 Give ear,(A) our God, and hear;(B) open your eyes and see(C) the desolation of the city that bears your Name.(D) We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy.(E) 19 Lord, listen! Lord, forgive!(F) Lord, hear and act! For your sake,(G) my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.”

Read full chapter

26 And now, God of Israel, let your word that you promised(A) your servant David my father come true.

27 “But will God really dwell(B) on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven,(C) cannot contain(D) you. How much less this temple I have built! 28 Yet give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy, Lord my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day. 29 May your eyes be open(E) toward(F) this temple night and day, this place of which you said, ‘My Name(G) shall be there,’ so that you will hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place. 30 Hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray(H) toward this place. Hear(I) from heaven, your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.(J)

31 “When anyone wrongs their neighbor and is required to take an oath and they come and swear the oath(K) before your altar in this temple, 32 then hear from heaven and act. Judge between your servants, condemning the guilty by bringing down on their heads what they have done, and vindicating the innocent by treating them in accordance with their innocence.(L)

33 “When your people Israel have been defeated(M) by an enemy because they have sinned(N) against you, and when they turn back to you and give praise to your name, praying and making supplication to you in this temple,(O) 34 then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them back to the land you gave to their ancestors.

35 “When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain(P) because your people have sinned(Q) against you, and when they pray toward this place and give praise to your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them, 36 then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach(R) them the right way(S) to live, and send rain(T) on the land you gave your people for an inheritance.

37 “When famine(U) or plague(V) comes to the land, or blight(W) or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers,(X) or when an enemy besieges them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come, 38 and when a prayer or plea is made by anyone among your people Israel—being aware of the afflictions of their own hearts, and spreading out their hands(Y) toward this temple— 39 then hear(Z) from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive(AA) and act; deal with everyone according to all they do, since you know(AB) their hearts (for you alone know every human heart), 40 so that they will fear(AC) you all the time they live in the land(AD) you gave our ancestors.

41 “As for the foreigner(AE) who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name— 42 for they will hear(AF) of your great name and your mighty hand(AG) and your outstretched arm—when they come and pray toward this temple, 43 then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know(AH) your name and fear(AI) you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.(AJ)

44 “When your people go to war against their enemies, wherever you send them, and when they pray(AK) to the Lord toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name, 45 then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause.(AL)

46 “When they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin(AM)—and you become angry with them and give them over to their enemies, who take them captive(AN) to their own lands, far away or near; 47 and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead(AO) with you in the land of their captors and say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly’;(AP) 48 and if they turn back(AQ) to you with all their heart(AR) and soul in the land of their enemies who took them captive, and pray(AS) to you toward the land you gave their ancestors, toward the city you have chosen and the temple(AT) I have built for your Name;(AU) 49 then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause. 50 And forgive your people, who have sinned against you; forgive all the offenses they have committed against you, and cause their captors to show them mercy;(AV) 51 for they are your people and your inheritance,(AW) whom you brought out of Egypt, out of that iron-smelting furnace.(AX)

52 “May your eyes be open(AY) to your servant’s plea and to the plea of your people Israel, and may you listen to them whenever they cry out to you.(AZ) 53 For you singled them out from all the nations of the world to be your own inheritance,(BA) just as you declared through your servant Moses when you, Sovereign Lord, brought our ancestors out of Egypt.”

54 When Solomon had finished all these prayers and supplications to the Lord, he rose from before the altar of the Lord, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven.

Read full chapter

39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup(A) be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”(B)

Read full chapter

32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.(A)

Read full chapter

42 He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”(A)

Read full chapter

Bible Gateway Recommends