Jesus pray in the Bible?
By: Steve Shirley
A: The Bible tells us in (1 Th 5:17) to “pray without ceasing.” While I don’t believe this literally means to never stop praying, I would say that Jesus probably came closer to never stopping than any person who has ever lived on this planet. He was continually in a prayer mode. He is shown to pray: alone (Mt 14:23)(Mk 1:35)(Lk 9:18)(Lk 22:39-41), in public (Jn 11:41-42)(Jn 12:27-30), before meals (Mt 26:26)(Mk 8:6)(Lk 24:30)(Jn 6:11), before important decisions (Lk 6:12-13), before healing (Mk 7:34-35), after healing (Lk 5:16), to do the Father’s will (Mt 26:36-44), among other things. He also taught on the importance of prayer (Mt 21:22)(Mk 11:24-26)(Mt 7:7-11)(Lk 11:9-13)(Jn 14:13-14)(Jn 15:7,16)(Jn 16:23-24)(Mt 5:44)(Lk 6:27-28)(Mt 6:5-15: including the Lord’s Prayer)(Lk 11:2-4)(Mt 18:19-20). If you take all of the places that show Jesus praying, you will have a PERFECT outline of how to pray (check out Jn 17).
Below are all of the verses I could find in the Gospels that show Jesus praying.
(Lk 3:21-22) At His Baptism.
(Mk 1:35-36) In the morning before heading to Galilee.
(Lk 5:15) After healing people.
(Lk 6:12-13) Praying all night before choosing His 12 disciples.
(Mt 11:25-26) While speaking to the Jewish leaders.
(Jn 6:11) Giving thanks to the Father before feeding 5000.
(Also see: Mt 14:19, Mk 6:41, Lk 9:16)
(Mt 14:23) Before walking on water.
(Also see: Mk 6:46, Jn 6:15)
(Mk 7:31-37) While healing a deaf and mute man.
(Mt 15:36) Giving thanks to the Father before feeding 4000.
(Also see: Mk 8:6-7)
(Lk 9:18) Before Peter called Jesus “the Christ.”
(Lk 9:28-29) At the Transfiguration.
(Lk 10:21) At the return of the seventy.
(Lk 11:1) Before teaching His disciples the Lord’s Prayer.
(Jn 11:41-42) Before raising Lazarus from the dead.
(Mt 19:13-15) Laying hands on and praying for little children.
(Also see: Mk 10:13-16, Lk 18:15-17)
(Jn 12:27-28) Asking the Father to glorify His name.
(Mt 26:26) At the Lord’s Supper.
(Also see: Mk 14:22-23, Lk 22:19)
(Lk 22:31-32) Prayed for Peter’s faith when Satan asked to “sift” him.
(Jn 17:1-26) Prayed for Himself, His disciples, and all believers just before heading to Gethsemane.
(Mt 26:36-46) In Gethsemane before His betrayal. (He prayed 3 separate prayers.)
(Also see: Lk 22:39-46, Mk 14:32-42)
(Lk 23:34) Right after being nailed to the cross, Jesus prayed, “Father forgive them; for they know not what they do.”
(Mt 27:46) While dying on the cross, Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
(Also see: Mk 15:34)
(Lk 23:46) In His dying breath, Jesus prayed, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.
(Lk 24:30) Prayed a blessing on the bread before He ate with others after His resurrection.
(Lk 24:50-53) He blessed the disciples before His Ascension.
Some also believe there are verses outside of the Gospels which show that Jesus is still praying (making intercession) on our behalf (Rom 8:34)(Heb 7:25)(Heb 9:24)(1 Jn 2:1), even though He is now in Heaven.
12 Bible Verses to Show How Jesus Prayed
1. Mark 1:35
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.
2. Matthew 6:9-13
“This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
3. Matthew 11:25-26
At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.
4. Matthew 14:23
After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone.
5. Luke 6:12
One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.
6. Luke 22:32
But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
7. Luke 22:41-44
He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
8. Luke 23:34
Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
9. John 11:41-42
So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”
15 Bible Verses that Jesus Speaks about His Second Coming
10. John 12:27-28
“Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.”
11. John 17:1-26
After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name–the name you gave me–so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”
12. Hebrews 5:7
During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.