Prayer: Importunity In
Source: Nav
Genesis 18:23–32
Abraham stepped forward and said, “Will You really sweep away the righteous with the wicked? / What if there are fifty righteous ones in the city? Will You really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous ones who are there? / Far be it from You to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Will not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?”
Genesis 32:24–29
So Jacob was left all alone, and there a man wrestled with him until daybreak. / When the man saw that he could not overpower Jacob, he struck the socket of Jacob’s hip and dislocated it as they wrestled. / Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
Exodus 32:32
Yet now, if You would only forgive their sin.... But if not, please blot me out of the book that You have written.”
Deuteronomy 9:25
So I fell down before the LORD for forty days and forty nights, because the LORD had said He would destroy you.
Judges 6:36–40
Then Gideon said to God, “If You are going to save Israel by my hand, as You have said, / then behold, I will place a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that You are going to save Israel by my hand, as You have said.” / And that is what happened. When Gideon arose the next morning, he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew—a bowlful of water.
Judges 16:28
Then Samson called out to the LORD: “O Lord GOD, please remember me. Strengthen me, O God, just once more, so that with one vengeful blow I may pay back the Philistines for my two eyes.”
1 Samuel 1:10, 11
In her bitter distress, Hannah prayed to the LORD and wept with many tears. / And she made a vow, pleading, “O LORD of Hosts, if only You will look upon the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, not forgetting Your maidservant but giving her a son, then I will dedicate him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall ever come over his head.”
1 Samuel 12:23
As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you. And I will continue to teach you the good and right way.
1 Kings 8:22–30
Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven, / and said: “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven above or on earth below, keeping Your covenant of loving devotion with Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts. / You have kept Your promise to Your servant, my father David. What You spoke with Your mouth You have fulfilled with Your hand this day.
Ezra 9:5, 6
At the evening offering, I got up from my humiliation with my tunic and cloak torn, and I fell on my knees, spread out my hands to the LORD my God, / and said: “O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to You, my God, because our iniquities are higher than our heads, and our guilt has reached the heavens.
Nehemiah 1:4–6
When I heard these words, I sat down and wept. I mourned for days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven. / Then I said: “O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps His covenant of loving devotion with those who love Him and keep His commandments, / let Your eyes be open and Your ears attentive to hear the prayer that I, Your servant, now pray before You day and night for Your servants, the Israelites. I confess the sins that we Israelites have committed against You. Both I and my father’s house have sinned.
Psalm 17:1, 6
A prayer of David. Hear, O LORD, my righteous plea; listen to my cry. Give ear to my prayer—it comes from lips free of deceit. / I call on You, O God, for You will answer me. Incline Your ear to me; hear my words.
Psalm 22:1, 2, 19
For the choirmaster. To the tune of “The Doe of the Dawn.” A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from saving me, so far from my words of groaning? / I cry out by day, O my God, but You do not answer, and by night, but I have no rest. / But You, O LORD, be not far off; O my Strength, come quickly to help me.
Psalm 28:1, 2
Of David. To You, O LORD, I call; be not deaf to me, O my Rock. For if You remain silent, I will be like those descending to the Pit. / Hear my cry for mercy when I call to You for help, when I lift up my hands toward Your holy sanctuary.
Psalm 35:22, 23
O LORD, You have seen it; be not silent. O Lord, be not far from me. / Awake and rise to my defense, to my cause, my God and my Lord!
Psalm 55:1, 2, 16, 17
For the choirmaster. With stringed instruments. A Maskil of David. Listen to my prayer, O God, and do not ignore my plea. / Attend to me and answer me. I am restless in my complaint, and distraught / But I call to God, and the LORD saves me.
Psalm 57:2
I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills His purpose for me.
Psalm 61:1, 2
For the choirmaster. With stringed instruments. Of David. Hear my cry, O God; attend to my prayer. / From the ends of the earth I call out to You whenever my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
Psalm 70:5
But I am poor and needy; hurry to me, O God. You are my help and my deliverer; O LORD, do not delay.
Psalm 86:3, 6
Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I call to You all day long. / Hear my prayer, O LORD, and attend to my plea for mercy.
Psalm 88:1, 2, 9, 13
A song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. For the choirmaster. According to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite. O LORD, the God of my salvation, day and night I cry out before You. / May my prayer come before You; incline Your ear to my cry. / My eyes grow dim with grief. I call to You daily, O LORD; I spread out my hands to You.
Psalm 102:1, 2
A prayer of one who is afflicted, when he grows faint and pours out his lament before the LORD. Hear my prayer, O LORD; let my cry for help come before You. / Do not hide Your face from me in my day of distress. Incline Your ear to me; answer me quickly when I call.
Psalm 119:58, 145–147
I have sought Your face with all my heart; be gracious to me according to Your promise. / I call with all my heart; answer me, O LORD! I will obey Your statutes. / I rise before dawn and cry for help; in Your word I have put my hope.
Psalm 130:1, 2
A song of ascents. Out of the depths I cry to You, O LORD! / O Lord, hear my voice; let Your ears be attentive to my plea for mercy.
Psalm 141:1, 2
A Psalm of David. I call upon You, O LORD; come quickly to me. Hear my voice when I call to You. / May my prayer be set before You like incense, my uplifted hands like the evening offering.
Psalm 142:1, 2
A Maskil of David, when he was in the cave. A prayer. I cry aloud to the LORD; I lift my voice to the LORD for mercy. / I pour out my complaint before Him; I reveal my trouble to Him.
Isaiah 38:2, 3
Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, / saying, “Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and with wholehearted devotion; I have done what was good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
Isaiah 62:7
nor give Him any rest until He establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth.
Isaiah 64:12
After all this, O LORD, will You restrain Yourself? Will You keep silent and afflict us beyond measure?
Daniel 9:3, 16–19
So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and petition, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. / O Lord, in keeping with all Your righteous acts, I pray that Your anger and wrath may turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all around us. / O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For Your sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people bear Your name.”
Jonah 1:14
So they cried out to the LORD: “Please, O LORD, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life! Do not charge us with innocent blood! For You, O LORD, have done as You pleased.”
Habakkuk 1:2
How long, O LORD, must I call for help but You do not hear, or cry out to You, “Violence!” but You do not save?
Matthew 15:22–28
And a Canaanite woman from that region came to Him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is miserably possessed by a demon.” / But Jesus did not answer a word. So His disciples came and urged Him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” / He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
Mark 7:25–29
Instead, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit soon heard about Jesus, and she came and fell at His feet. / Now she was a Greek woman of Syrophoenician origin, and she kept asking Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter. / “First let the children have their fill,” He said. “For it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
Luke 7:3
When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to ask Him to come and heal his servant.
Luke 11:5–8
Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose one of you goes to his friend at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, / because a friend of mine has come to me on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him.’ / And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Do not bother me. My door is already shut, and my children and I are in bed. I cannot get up to give you anything.’
Luke 18:1–7
Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray at all times and not lose heart: / “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected men. / And there was a widow in that town who kept appealing to him, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’
Luke 22:44
And in His anguish, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground.
Romans 8:26
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know how we ought to pray, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words.
2 Corinthians 12:8
Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.
Ephesians 6:18
Pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition. To this end, stay alert with all perseverance in your prayers for all the saints.
Hebrews 5:7
During the days of Jesus’ earthly life, 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 reverence.