From 🙏 and 🤲 and 🛐 to “Thoughts and prayers!”, references to prayer are all around us. Saying you’re praying for someone has become a way to let people know you care about them and are thinking about them when things get hard. We also hear prayer mentioned in line with meditation as a way to harness or release anxious thoughts. The Serenity Prayer is a great example of this: “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”1
In truth, each of these are great uses for the practice of prayer. It is an important part of loving others well. And it does help to focus our anxious thoughts on God and away from our circumstances. But is this all there is to prayer? According to the Bible, no. Not by a long shot.
From the garden in Genesis 3 to John’s cry, “Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!” at the close of Revelation, the Bible is full of examples of when, where, why, and how the children of God can talk to Him. And that’s what prayer really is about; it’s an invitation into a never-ending conversation with the God of the universe. As you study the prayers recorded in Scripture, some clear categories begin to surface, types of prayers that teach us different ways words and postures we can take when we enter into conversation with God. Below is insight into five of the most frequently voiced categories of prayer in the Bible along with Jesus’s model prayer—a beautiful example set for us.
- Prayers of Praise
Prayers of praise focus on the attributes of God revealed to us in the Bible—things like His holiness, goodness, generosity, justice, love, mercy, and grace. The author of Hebrews encouraged us to “continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name” (Heb. 13:15, ESV).
In Jesus’s model prayer, He encouraged us to begin our prayers with praise: “Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:9-10). Beginning prayer with praise rightly orients you before the Lord as His daughter in conversation with her heavenly Father.
- Prayers of Petition
To petition God is to ask Him for something, and He wants us to bring our requests to Him (Matt. 7:7). As we learn to pray in ways that affirm who God is and seek an alignment with His will, then over time our prayers of petition become about asking for things according to His will, too (1 John 5:14). No matter your need, God wants to be the person you bring it to. Prayers of petition can cover everything from your daily bread to your deepest longings.
Often in Scripture, prayers of thanksgiving are combined with prayers of petition (Phil. 4:6). Prayers of thanksgiving voice gratitude to God for the ways He has acted in and through your life. We want to develop a habit of petitioning God that always bears in mind the many reasons we have to be grateful in Christ.
- Prayers of Lament
Prayers of lament in the Bible are some of the most honest and raw examples of prayer available to us. To lament can be defined as a passionate expression of grief or sorrow, so prayers of lament are when we direct that sorrow to God. This is a type of prayer we see over and over again in Psalms and Lamentations.
When David, Solomon, Jeremiah, and others lamented to God, they didn’t hold back the pain in their circumstances or the grief over their sin. They laid bare the full range of their emotions before Him. But they didn’t stop there. In the same breath that David prayed, “Rise up, LORD! Save me, my God,” he also prayed, “Salvation belongs to the LORD; may your blessing be on your people” (Ps. 3:7-8). Biblical prayers of lament go beyond an expression of grief or sorrow to an acknowledgment that even in the deepest pain and grief, God is still good and He is still in control.
- Prayers of Intercession
Second only to personal petition, our prayers most often focus on intercession—praying for the needs of other people. Covering everything from physical health to eternal life, prayers of intercession are the way we petition God for the needs of others. This is another example of prayer we see repeated throughout Scripture, from Abraham who petitioned God on behalf of the residents of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 18), to Paul’s intercessory prayers in many of his epistles (Phil. 1:3-5, for example), to Jesus’s prayer for His disciples then and now in the hours leading up to His crucifixion (John 17). It is clear from the Bible that an important part of our ongoing conversation with God involves those we love and want to see drawn closer to Him.
- Prayers for Unity
Like intercessory prayer, prayers that unify highlight the power of prayer in Christian community. Just as Jesus prayed that His followers would be one (John 17:20-21), it is important for us to pray the same. Prayers for oneness in our homes, our churches, our local communities, and the global church echo back to God His will for the church to reflect His love to the world.
The writers of the New Testament give us many great examples of unifying prayers, like the early church’s prayer for boldness in the face of persecution: “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them . . . grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness . . .” (Acts 4:24-31, ESV). We share God’s love best when we do it together, and prayer plays a vital part in helping us be one.
- The Lord’s Prayer—Our Ultimate Example
There’s a reason Jesus’s prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 is often referred to as “the model prayer.” It’s a perfect example for us of how we can pray biblical, God-honoring prayers that rightly position us to hear from Him and know Him more.
“Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy” (v. 9). – PRAISE
“Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven (v. 10). – INTERCESSION
“Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” (vv. 11-13) – PETITION
The variety of prayers in the Bible teaches us there’s no one “right” way to pray. (But Jesus warns us there are some wrong ones. Don’t miss Matthew 6:5-8.) As you study the prayers of the Bible and adopt their rhythms as your own, you’ll learn that prayer is about so much more than asking God for things. It’s about a never-ending conversation with your heavenly Father. When you pray, God is listening.
- The Serenity Prayer is often attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr, Lutheran theologian.
Ready to renew your prayer life? Check out When You Pray: A Study of Six Prayers in the Bible. Over 7 sessions, you’ll join six beloved Bible teachers—Kelly Minter, Jackie Hill Perry, Jen Wilkin, Jennifer Rothschild, Jada Edwards, and Kristi McLelland—to study prayers in the Bible that can inspire your own. As you draw near to God through prayer, you’ll find your faith strengthened and your heart united to Christ. Order your copy today at lifeway.com/whenyoupray.
Laura Magness is a content editor for Lifeway Women and has worked for Lifeway in a variety of editorial roles since 2008. A graduate of Samford University and Dallas Theological Seminary, she lives in Nashville, Tennessee, with her husband Nathan and their sons. You can find her writing online for Lifeway Women, Lifeway Adults, and smallgroup.com.
