5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. 6 The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. 7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists. 8 Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. 9 Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. 10 They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him. 11 Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from Herod's clutches and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating.”
16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. 17 Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18 Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.
9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. 11 Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’” 4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘'Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!’” 6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
14 If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 16 I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.
2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. 3 And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4 Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. 5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
“The heart of prayer is not getting things from God but getting God.” David Mathis
“One of the great uses of Twitter and Facebook will be to prove at the Last Day that prayerlessness was not from lack of time.” John Piper
“God has clearly revealed that He will hear the prayer of those who call upon Him, and that declaration cannot be contradicted. He has spoken so firmly, so truthfully, so righteously that there can be no room for doubt. He does not reveal His mind in unintelligible words, but He speaks plainly and positively. ‘Everyone who asks receives.’1 Doubter, believe this sure truth—that prayer must and will be heard, and that never, even in the secrets of eternity, has the Lord said to any living soul, ‘Seek me in vain.’ (Hebrews 13:5).” Charles H. Spurgeon
“Yet the range of prayer is as great as trouble, as universal as sorrow and as infinite as grief. And prayer can relieve all these evils that come to God’s people. There is no tear that prayer cannot wipe away. There is no depression of spirit that it cannot elevate. There is no despair that it cannot dispel. Prayer always brings God to our relief to bless and to aid, and it brings marvelous revelations of His power.” E.M. Bounds
“When we pray for ourselves and others, we should not ask for the release from any task or situation, but strength to complete it and endure it. Prayer should be for power and seldom for release: not release but conquest must be the keynote of the church.” William Barclay
“It is by prayer that we couple the powers of heaven to our helplessness ... and make the impossible possible.” O. Hallesby
“Pray as if everything depended upon your prayer.” William Booth
“One of the best ways to discover a Christian's chief anxieties and ambitions is to study the content of his prayers and the intensity with which he prays them. We all pray about what concerns us and are evidently not concerned about matters we do not include in our prayers. Prayer expresses desire. Prayer is the soul's sincere desire...Paul pours out his soul to God....The basis of Paul's prayer was the knowledge of God’s purpose.” John Stott
“Prayer is a direct address to God. Prayer secures blessings and betters people because it reaches the ear of God. Prayer affects people by affecting God to move them. Prayer moves the hand that moves the world. The utmost possibilities of prayer have rarely been realized. The promises of God are so great to those who truly pray, that when He puts Himself fully into the hands of the praying ones, it almost staggers our faith and leaves us amazed.” E.M. Bounds
“What is most necessary for understanding divine things is prayer.” Origen of Alexandria
“The world may doubt the power of prayer, but the saints know better.” Gilbert Shaw
“Do not let us fail one another in interest, care, and practical help; but supremely we must not fail one another in prayer.” Michael Boughen
“No prayer is lost. Praying breath was never spent in vain. There is no such thing as prayer unanswered or unnoticed by God, and some things that we count refusals or denials are simply delays.” H. Bonar
“In all moods and in all seasons pour out the soul in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, and if the Spirit groans in intercession do not be afraid of the agony of prayer. There are blessings of the Kingdom that are only yielded to the violence of the vehement soul.” Bruce Wilkinson
“Prayer must be incessant and should not lack desire, spirit, or action. The knees may not always be bent, but the spirit is always in the act and communication of prayer. The spirit of prayer should sweetly rule and adjust all times and occasions. Our activities and work should be performed in the same spirit that makes our devotion and our prayer time sacred. Blessed is the person of God who thus understand prayer, at any point, at any time. A full current of prayer is seen flowing from him.” E.M. Bounds
“Prayer is not so much a formula as it is a friendship – rote as it is relational. Prayer is a 24/7 access to ‘Abba’ (Daddy) Father Who loves us with an everlasting love as well as Who rejoices over us with singing. Further, He ‘brings out the starry host one by one and calls them each by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength not one of them is missing.’ He is all love and all ability – all achieving power – nothing is too hard for Him. Prayer is coming into His Presence with singing and into His courts with praise. It is listening with Faith for His ‘still, small voice’ as well as pouring out our hearts in Trust resting our heads gently ‘between His shoulders’. It is knowing His answer always has our best interest at heart because He loves us. It is an unspeakably high gift from the Creator to the created. Prayers moves the hand and heart of God.” BHY