10 Prayers of Jesus in the Bible [+Audio]

What We Can Learn from Jesus’ Prayers

One of the great blessings of being a follower of Jesus is to know that right now He is interceding for His people before the Father (Roman 8:34; Hebrews 7:25). While we do not know exactly what Jesus says to the Father, we do have examples of many of Jesus’ prayers from the Bible. For example, in John 17:

First, Jesus prays that the Father would protect His church.

He not only prays for physical protection, but even more He prays for spiritual protection – that the church’s faith would stay strong after Jesus left them to return to His Father (17:11).

Second, Jesus prays for His church to be sanctified…

that they would be made holy; that they would know the truth of God and reflect the glory of God on earth (17:17, 19).

Third, Jesus prays for those who will believe through the message of that disciples (17:20).

Jesus prays that His church will grow and that many people in all the earth will come to know Him through the faithful ministry of all His disciples.

What an amazing gift to believers today to be able to read this prayer and know that Jesus was, and still is, going to God — directly and personally — on their behalf.

~ excerpted from The Jesus Bible.

There are at least 10 of Jesus’ prayers recorded in the Gospels:

>> Listen to a sample clip of some of Jesus’ prayers, narrated by Blair Underwood as Jesus, from The Bible Experience Complete Audio Bible:

Jesus’ three prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane

• Jesus prayer for God to be glorified (John 17:1-5)
• Jesus prays for His disciples (John 17:6-19)
• Jesus prays for all believers (John 17:20-26)

Jesus’ three prayers on the Cross:

• “Father forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34)
• “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34)
• “Father, into Thy hands I commit My spirit” (Luke 23:46)

Jesus’ prayer of thanks

“I thank You, Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was Your gracious will” (Matthew 11:25-26 ESV)

Jesus’ prayer before Lazarus was raised from the dead (John 11:41-42)

“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.”

Jesus’ prayer after entering Jerusalem

“Now My soul 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!” (John 12:27-28)

When Jesus teaches us how to pray –

The Lord’s Prayer

“Our Father in Heaven...” (Matthew 6:9-13)

But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

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.

And forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,[a]

but deliver us from the evil one.”

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Your Turn

Does one of Jesus’ prayers stand out to you the most? What does studying Jesus’ examples of prayer teach you about how He prayed, why He prayed, and what He prayed for? Which one do you relate most to? Leave a comment and share your thoughts on this topic of Jesus’ prayers!