Prayers of Abraham

When God called to him, Abraham heard and responded, “Here I am, Lord.”  When God asked him to intercede for a man he had wronged, Abraham obeyed.

This patriarch of God’s people is lauded as an example of true faith and closeness to God, but few of his actual prayers have been recorded.

Genesis 15:2

O Lord God, what will You give me?

Will I need an inheritance

if I have no child?

Genesis 17:18

Oh, that my child

might live in Your

presence, Lord,

and be under Your

blessing!

Genesis 18:23, 32

Lord, would You really sweep away

the righteous with the wicked?

What if ten honorable people

are found?

And God answered:

For the sake of ten,

I will not destroy the town.

Paraphrased by Mary Harwell Sayler, ©2019, in  the Book of Bible Prayers.

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Praying with Abraham for our children

Abraham, the great patriarch of three major religions, talked with God often, but the Bible records very few of his actual prayers. Here’s one we, too, might pray for our children.

Genesis 17:18 – a prayer of Abraham

Oh, that my child

might live in Your

presence, Lord,

and be under Your

blessing!

paraphrased by Mary Harwell Sayler, ©2019

from the Book of Bible Prayers: actual Bible prayers 

collected and prayer-a-phrased from God’s Word

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Bible Prayers: forgive us

Almost every church family prays the Matthew 6 version of the “Lord’s Prayer” aka “Our Father” with regularity, unity and only one notable difference. i.e., When we get to verse 12, some say, “Forgive us our sins,” while others pray, “Forgive us our trespasses” – a word that doesn’t appear in the prayer itself but in the next two verses.

I like that word choice, however, because, from childhood on, I’ve seen “No Trespassing” signs and understood what they meant. Conversely, the idea of a debt wasn’t clear until much later, and, even now, “sin” is an abstract word that’s hard to envision, difficult to clarify, and open to interpretation.

As prayers for the Book of Bible Prayers came together, they remained in the order they appear in most translations. Then, each of those prayers was paraphrased into every day language with one exception – the Matthew 6 version of Jesus’ prayer as recorded in the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible:

Matthew 6:9-13 – a prayer of Jesus

“Our Father which art in heaven,

Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come,

Thy will be done in earth,

as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,

as we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil:

For thine is the kingdom,

and the power, and the glory,

for ever. Amen.”   

In King James' day, a "debt" may have been a particularly big deal as people sometimes wound up in debtors prison! 

Besides the beautifully poetic and powerful lines in Matthew 6, a lesser known version of the Lord’s Prayer has been paraphrased below as it appears in the prayer book but can be easily found in your favorite translation of the Gospel of Luke:

Luke 11:2-4 – a prayer of Jesus

Father in heaven,

may Your Name

be kept holy among us.

Bring us into Your kingdom.

Give us bread for the day.

Forgive us

as we forgive those who

have wronged us.

Keep us from temptation.

Deliver us

from a time of hard trials.

Amen!

MarySayler, ©2019

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NEW! the Book of Bible Prayers

After decades of researching what the Bible has to say about prayer and buying a bunch of prayer books that weren’t quite what I wanted, I felt led to collect the actual prayers in the Bible then prayer-a-phrase (prayerfully paraphrase) them into THE prayer book I personally want and need. If you do, too, you’ll be happy to know the Book of Bible Prayers is now available on Amazon.

With the gathering of these prayers, I saw things I’d never before noticed. As the Foreword notes, for example, “The prayers in the Hebrew scriptures (aka Old Testament) are frequently pleas, praise, thanksgiving, complaints, and petitions, but in the New Testament such requests or responses are less likely to occur. Instead, Paul and other apostles typically ask believers in Christ to pray for them. Or, more often, they offer parental blessings over the Christian communities they’re addressing. Similar to the priestly blessing of Aaron in Numbers 6, these New Testament blessings are directed toward the people rather than God, but I felt I would be remiss to exclude all of them, so a few of those blessings have been prayer-a-phrased as prayers."

An exception is the prayer of Melchizedek, which remains the blessing given over Abraham and now over us!

“May you be blessed by God most High,

maker of heaven and earth.

May you be blessed by God most High,

Who has delivered you from the hands

of those who wish you harm,”

Genesis 14:19-20.

That blessing also brought another surprise: i.e., It’s the first prayer-blessing recorded. Prior to that, we had God’s blessings over all creation in Genesis, and by the time of Adam and Eve’s grandson, we hear how “All people began to call on the Name of the Lord.” But it’s the actual prayers spoken to God that bring us this prayer book.

Lord willing, I’ll post a prayer from the book with some regularity on this site with the hope and prayer the Book of Bible Prayers will bring unity to the Body of Christ and more power to your prayer life and mine.

MaryHarwell Sayler, ©2019

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Praying Bible prayers and Bible promises

For several years, the Bible Prayers blog has focused on actual prayers in the Bible – prayers that have been prayer-a-phrased (prayerfully paraphrased) into contemporary language after comparing many of the translations found in my home and also on the Bible Gateway website.

If you’ve followed this blog (thank you very much and God bless you!) you’ve probably noticed long gaps between posts, which I pray will be only temporary.

Meanwhile, I’ve been collecting and paraphrasing Bible prayers for a book, which, Lord willing, will soon be available because I believe so strongly in its importance – first as a means of providing an up-to-date version of actual Bible prayers in one easy-to-read book - and also because praying those prayers means we automatically have prayer partners from the past, present, or future, who agree with us in prayer as two or more of us gather in Jesus’ Name.

In addition to that goal, a thought recently came to remind me that powerful, timeless, and relevant prayers are also available as we appropriately claim God’s promises in the Bible. Lord willing, this blog will soon include those prayers too.

For example, consider Psalm 119:165 in the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible: “Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.” Or, according to the Amplified Bible (AMP), “Those who love Your law have great peace; Nothing makes them stumble.” Or, the Contemporary English Version (CEV) says, “You give peace of mind to all who love your Law. Nothing can make them fall.”

With those translations and others in mind, a prayer that claims this biblical promise might go like this:

Oh, Lord, we praise You for Your encouraging Word to us through scripture. Thank You for promising to give us great peace of mind if we take Your will to heart, mind, and spirit. Thank You for showing us Your will in the instructions and commandments You’ve given us in the Bible. Praise You for the guidance of Your Holy Spirit, for the strength of Your Word, and for Jesus Christ, Who keeps us from falling away from You. In His Name we pray, amen.

Mary Sayler, ©2019

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One Lord, One Praise, One Power

May our God,
Who encourages us
and empowers us to endure,

help you to hold yourselves in harmony
with one another and
with Christ Jesus,

so that you may praise and glorify
the God and Father of our Lord,
Jesus Christ,

with one voice -
always
on-key.

Mary Harwell Sayler, ©2018, prayer-a-phrased Romans 15:5-6 after referring to these and other translations on Bible Gateway.

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A prayer request gets a “no”

Mark 10:35-40

James and John, the sons of Zebedee,
asked Jesus if He would do for them
whatever they asked!

So Jesus said, “And what do you want Me
to do for you?

They told him that, when His kingdom
comes in glory,
they want to sit beside Him – one
on the right, the other on the left.

But Jesus said,
“You do not know what you’re asking,”

and He questioned if they would be able
to drink the cup of suffering He must drink
or be baptized with what He must bear,
and they said, “We can!”

Then Jesus said, “You may drink
the cup I must drink and you may be baptized
with which I Am to be baptized,
but to place you by My right side or My left
is not My place to give.
That is for those
for whom it has been prepared.”


© 2015, Mary Harwell Sayler prayer-a-phrased today’s reading in Mark with the help of translations provided online by Bible Gateway.

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The Lord’s Prayer after the resurrection

Our Lord Jesus
Who’s now in Heaven,
Holy is Your Name
in Which we pray.

Let Your Kingdom come!
Let Your will be done
on earth
as happens in Heaven.

Give us this day
Your living Bread,
and forgive us
our trespasses
as we forgive those
who cross
the line with us.

Lead us not into
terrible trials,
but deliver us from evil,
for the Kingdom of God
is Yours!

And the power of God
is Yours.

And the glory
of God is Yours –
now
and forever –

in You,
in us.

May we all be One in Jesus’ Name.

©2014, Mary Harwell Sayler.


The Holy Scriptures for this prayer-a-phrased prayer-poem by Mary Sayler resulted from resources she found on Bible Gateway.

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Jesus’ parable on prayer attitudes

Jesus told this parable to show how some people trust their own goodness rather than God from Whom all goodness comes:

And Jesus said:

Two guys went up to the Temple to pray.
One collected and kept all the rules of the law.
The other collected taxes. So the Rule-Keeper
stood by himself and said:

“Thank God, I’m not like the other people in this place!
Thank God, I’m not a thief or a scoundrel, and I don’t
cheat on my wife. And, oh, thank goodness, I’m not
a tax collector like that guy over there! Twice a week,
I fast, and I tithe ten-percent of every last penny.

Meanwhile, in the back of the Temple,
the tax collector stood away from everyone else.
Beating his chest, he said:

“Oh, God, have mercy on me, a sinner!”

And Jesus said:

I tell you, that child of God went home justified. For who
can be made right with God while lifting themselves
above God?

But God will exalt anyone who comes humbly in prayer.

Prayer: Dear LORD God, we praise and worship and exalt You, for You alone are holy and not we ourselves. Help us to check our attitudes before we come to You in prayer, bringing You our reverence, respect, and love before we ask anything in Jesus’ Name.

©2013, Mary Harwell Sayler prayer-a-phased Luke 18:9-14 from today’s Bible readings

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Ash Wednesday: piety, priorities, and prayer

As Jesus taught His disciples, then and now:

Be careful
not to get showy
with your good deeds
to gain anyone’s admiration.
That brings its own little reward
from others but not from
your Father in Heaven.

Instead
give to those in need
without even letting yourself
know how important you are!
Yet, as you give, your Father will
see and know and reward you.

And when you pray,
don’t be like those hypocrites
who want approval so much
they blow their own horn
wherever they can be seen or heard,
not knowing that’s their only reward.

Instead
when you pray, go away
by yourself and close off
everything else
as you talk to your Father,
Who you cannot see, but Who
sees and rewards you as you pray –
even when you’re hidden away.


© 2013, Mary Sayler, prayer-a-phrase poem to begin Lent from today's Gospel reading, Matthew 6:1-6

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Moses: Bible Model for talking with God

As Christians and Jews enter Holy Week leading to Passover and Easter, the conversations between God and Moses in Exodus give us some of our best and blessed examples of Bible prayers – especially conversational prayer.

In Exodus 3, God initiates prayer-talks that continue throughout this second book of the Torah. Instead of posting those pages, I’ll summarize highlights found in chapters 3 and 4 but encourage you to read all of Exodus this week to see what you notice too:

Exodus 3:
• God gets Moses attention with a Burning Bush.
• Moses takes the time to stop and see what's happening.
• God calls Moses by name.
• Moses immediately responds.
• God establishes a relationship with Moses by identifying with his forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
• Moses expresses fear.
• God immediately lets Moses know that the LORD is aware of the suffering of the Hebrew people and has called Moses to lead them.
• Moses does not ask who God is, but asks, “Who am I to lead?” (Exodus 3:11)
• God reassures Moses that God will be with him.
• Now Moses asks God Who God Is.
• God says, “I AM Who I Am,” (Exodus 3:14.)
• God also gives Moses a job description of what to expect and what to say.

Exodus 4:
• Moses worries that people will not believe him or respond.
• God gives Moses signs and powers that would get anyone’s attention!
• Moses gives God excuses!
• God again reassures Moses that God will be with him.
• Moses asks God to please get somebody else for the job!
• God gets annoyed yet provides someone else to help – Moses' brother Aaron.


Questions: From his early childhood, Moses lived with Pharaoh’s daughter, so he might not have been too confident about speaking Hebrew! What other occurrences could have made him hesitate to take on the task God gave him? Does lack of confidence in your God-given talents, experiences, or ability ever get in the way of the work you feel led to do?

Prayer: LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and me, thank You for providing everything needed to do the work that You have given. Help me to be clear about what that is! Help me also to stay focused and close to You in prayer. Praise You, LORD, for the reassurance, encouragement, human help, and heavenly power needed for the task at hand, and thank You for helping us to overhear Your patient, lively, and loving conversations with Moses.

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© 2012, Mary Harwell Sayler, all rights reserved. If you can use these articles in your Bible study group in your church or synagogue, just let everyone know where to find this site. For articles on a variety of topics, see Blogs by Mary.

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