Should I use bible verses when praying?

To have a healthy relationship with God, we need to have healthy communication with him. The Bible is a part of this communication with God; it is God speaking to us. The God-given means for our communicating with him is prayer. 

So Bible reading and prayer should go together: God speaks to us through his written Word, and we respond through prayer. In fact, we are commanded in Scripture to pray (Philippians 4:6), and more than that, to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17 NASB). This is because God knows how vital prayer is to our spiritual health.

Because prayer is so important, God has provided models for prayer in the Bible. The most obvious and best known is the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9–13 and Luke 11:1–4. The latter reference is Jesus’ direct response to his disciples’ request that he teach them to pray. So I would certainly recommend this prayer model to you, but since it is covered so well in so many other sources, I would like to draw your attention to a few other prayers in the Bible that are also worth imitating.

One example that might not immediately seem like a model for prayer is found in Genesis 32:22–32. This passage tells about a strange event in the life of Jacob in which he finds himself wrestling with a mysterious person late at night. This person demands to be let go, but Jacob says, 

“I will not let you go unless you bless me” (v. 26). In response, the man changed Jacob’s name to Israel. Why? “Because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome” (v. 28). Israel means “he struggles with God,” or essentially, “God-wrestler.” 

It turns out that Jacob was wrestling with none other than God himself, which he indicates by naming the location Peniel, which means “I saw God face-to-face” (v. 30). But also note that God granted Jacob’s request for a blessing (v. 29). 

I believe this is a model for prayer in the sense that God wants us to come into his presence (now, through Jesus Christ), “wrestle” with him in faith, and seek his blessing. God desires this because he loves us and wants the best for us, and the best certainly includes his blessing. God is honored by this because it is our way of acknowledging that he alone is the source of highest blessing, and that we will not settle for anything less. The prayer of Jabez, in 1 Chronicles 4:10, is another illustration of this.

Moses provides two more models that show us how to use the Bible in our prayers. 

The first is in Exodus 32:11–13. God had just told Moses that he intended to judge Israel because they were worshiping the golden calf idol. Moses prayed that God would forgive them. In the prayer, Moses said, “Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel [Jacob’s new name], to whom you swore by your own self: ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever’ ” (v. 13). Of course God had not forgotten his promise, but the important thing is that Moses had not forgotten God’s promise either. 

The promise to which Moses appeals is the Abrahamic covenant. Moses was “wrestling” with God on behalf of the people of Israel and making a request of God based upon God’s own promises. Our lesson is that we, too, should pray based upon the promises of God. Where do we find those promises? In the Bible. So know what God has promised you in the Bible and then ask him to do what he has already promised. God doesn’t need reminders, but it is important for us to know and remember God’s promises and base our prayer requests on them.

The second example from Moses is in Numbers 14:13–19. The situation is the same: God planned to judge his rebellious people. Again, Moses wrestled with God on their behalf. Note the basis for Moses’ request for forgiveness this time: “Now may the Lord’s strength be displayed, just as you have declared: ‘The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.’ 

In accordance with your great love, forgive the sin of these people” (vv. 17–19). The request is based now upon God’s own character, specifically his love. Moses even quoted God’s own description of himself back to God—“The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving” (Numbers 14:18). Moses’ request boils down to “God, forgive your people because you are a forgiving God.” The lesson here is to pray prayers based on the character of God. Where do we find this? In the Bible. So know who God is from the Bible and make your prayer requests in keeping with his character.

A few other great models for prayer in Scripture include Ezra’s prayer in Ezra 9:5–15; Nehemiah’s prayers in Nehemiah 1:4–11; the Levites’ prayer in Nehemiah 9:5–38; and Daniel’s prayer in Daniel 9:3–19. Observe how they worship God in prayer. This is important because it reminds us of our great God and that we can have confidence in him as we bring our requests to him. Also observe their humility and confession of sin. This should remind us of our sinfulness, weakness, and need. 

That is why we are coming to God in prayer. These together illustrate the proper perspective we should have in prayer toward God and ourselves. Study Paul’s prayers in 1 Thessalonians 3:11–13; Ephesians 1:15–19; and Colossians 1:9–14. Observe what Paul prays for, and pray for the same kinds of things. Finally, use the psalms, which are great models for prayer. Relate to and identify with the emotions evident in the psalms—from praise, exultation, joy, and thankfulness, all the way to anger, frustration, sorrow, fear, loneliness, and humiliation. All our emotions can be found here. Then make these psalms your own. Let them help you express your own emotions in humble, trusting honesty to God, for the sake of a healthy relationship with him.

God delights in his own Word, and therefore he also delights when we use his Word in our prayers.







Aaron, D. (2012). Understanding Your Bible in 15 Minutes a Day (pp. 181–184). Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House Publisher.