There are a lot of Bible verses about prayer and faith found all throughout scripture.
Most of us know how it feels to pray for God to move in our lives but not see immediate responses to our prayers. During these times, we need the faith to trust that God hears our prayers and cares about our concerns.
Faith is the certainty that God hears us and is working our lives. It is trusting that God is on our side even when we don’t see his hand working in our lives.
Learning to pray with faith changes the way we pray.
Instead of pleading with God, we cast our cares at his feet and trust in him to move in his perfect timing.
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The Importance of Faith When We Pray
Why is Faith Necessary When We Pray?
Faith is especially important in effective prayer because, without faith, we begin to doubt that God hears us. This kind of doubt can lead to prayerlessness.
God calls us to pray because he wants us to draw near to him in a close, loving relationship. When our lives lack prayer, our intimacy with God suffers. For this reason, it’s important to pray with the faith that God hears, cares, and will respond in his timing.
Additionally, faith builds expectancy. Instead of allowing doubts to direct our lives, we live with the eager hope that God is working on our behalf. This kind of hope is a gateway to life and peace.
Lastly, faith and gratitude go hand in hand. As we stand on faith, our hearts overflow with gratitude while we wait to see God’s answers to prayer.
Bible Verses About Prayer and Faith
The Bible has a great deal to say about prayer and faith. God hears the prayers of his people, and he wants to make his presence and his power known in this world. He often waits to display his power in response to our prayers.
Do you want to learn to pray with faith?
Let’s look at 20 important Bible verses about prayer and faith.
Hebrews 11:1
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” Hebrews 11:1 ESV
The writer of Hebrews lays the foundation for how to pray by faith. We pray with faith when we stand assured that the Lord will respond to our hopes and bring to pass what we cannot see.
Faith is active trust in God’s plans, purposes, and goodness. We pray by faith when we pray with confidence that God will respond to us in ways that align with his plans.
Ephesians 3:20
“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us.” Ephesians 3:20 ESV
When we pray with faith, we eagerly await the fulfillment found in Ephesians 3:20. Faith-filled prayers expect God to answer in ways that far exceed human reasoning.
Including the words of this verse in our prayers can help us remember that our loving Father wants to answer our prayers in magnificent ways.
1 John 5:14
“And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.” 1 John 5:14 ESV
In his first letter, John reminds us that we can have confidence that God hears our prayers when we pray according to his will. We discern God’s will by staying close to him in an intimate relationship, spending time in Scripture, and pursuing him in community with other believers.
As we grow closer to God, our hearts begin to look more like his heart. We have confidence that he hears us because our desires begin to align with his desires.
Luke 17:5
“The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’” Luke 17:5 ESV
This wonderful verse encourages us to ask God to increase our faith. When unbelief and a lack of trust cloud our relationship with the Lord, he provides opportunities for us to grow in faith.
We don’t need to be ashamed of the weakness of our faith; instead, we can pray, “Lord, increase our faith!”
Mark 11:23
“Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.” Mark 11:23 ESV
Jesus’ words challenge us to boldly trust the Lord to move in response to our prayers. The secret to this kind of prayer is cultivating an intimate relationship with the Lord.
God draws his children into such a close relationship with himself that our will is conformed to his will. When this happens, God begins to move mountains, and he uses us as his vessels.
Mark 5:34
“And he said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.’” Mark 5:34 ESV
After twelve years of ceaseless illness—and after spending all of her savings visiting various doctors—the woman who reached out to touch the hem of Jesus’ garment was desperate. She also believed that Jesus had the power to heal her.
Immediately after touching the hem of Jesus’ garment, the woman was healed. In the same way, when we draw near to Jesus in faith, his power is still present to heal us.
Matthew 17:19-20
“Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, ‘Why could we not cast it out?’ He said to them, ‘Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:19-20 ESV
A mustard seed is among the smallest seeds, and yet it produces a bountiful harvest after being planted and cultivated. In the same way, we need only a small amount of faith for God to move in response to our prayers.
God is a good Father, and he waits to make himself known in mighty ways in the lives of his children. Plant your mustard seed of faith, stand on it in prayer, and watch to see what God does.
1 Samuel 1:15
“But Hannah answered, ‘No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord.’” 1 Samuel 1:15 ESV
Hannah offers a beautiful example of the power of faithful prayers. She urgently prayed for the Lord to give her a child. Her prayers were so passionate that others assumed she was drunk.
God wants us to pour our souls out to him like Hannah. In response to Hannah’s passionate faith, God gave her a son. God is waiting to answer our prayers, too.
James 1:5
“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” James 1:5 ESV
Often, our prayers are focused on how to proceed in uncertain situations. James reminds us that God is waiting to impart his wisdom.
Do you need wisdom today? Ask God for wisdom and, by faith, believe that he will answer your prayer.
James 1:6-8
“But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” James 1:6-8 ESV
After asking for wisdom, we are told not to doubt. Those who doubt are waves of the sea—driven and tossed by the wind.
Most of us know how it feels to be tossed by the winds of life. We pray bold prayers, but when doubt creeps in, we lack sure footing. Our emotions ebb and flow.
This passage reminds us that we are to pray without doubt. We pray by faith when we fully believe that God hears us and trust that he will respond to our prayers in his perfect timing.
Colossians 3:2
“Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” Colossians 3:2 ESV
Faithful prayers keep eternity in mind. Instead of focusing on what we can see in front of us in the temporal realm, we remember that God is working to bring his eternal purposes to pass.
This perspective is especially helpful when we have been praying for what feels like a long time without seeing answers to our prayers. We can remind ourselves that God is working for eternal purposes that are far beyond what we can see in the human realm.
Matthew 21:22
“And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” Matthew 21:22 ESV
When our hearts are aligned with God’s heart and our will is aligned with God’s will, we can trust that our prayers will be answered.
Faith enables us to wait and watch with joyful hope. Instead of pleading with God again and again for him to answer our prayers, we can shift to thanksgiving.
Instead of praying the same prayers over and over again as if we had never prayed at all, we shift and begin by thanking God for hearing us and telling him that we are eagerly awaiting his response.
John 15:7
“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” John 15:7 ESV
The secret to answered prayers is intimacy with Jesus. Abiding in Jesus is staying in an intimate relationship with him.
When we learn to abide in Jesus—staying close to him at all times—he transforms our hearts so much that our prayers consistently align with his desires.
James 4:3
“You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” James 4:3
When our prayers focus on our passions and desires of the flesh, we often ask and do not receive. Prayers for selfish gain and excessive comfort often go unmet because these prayers don’t align with God’s will for our lives.
We are wise to examine our prayers and consider whether we are asking with godly motives or self-serving motives.
John 14:14
“If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.” John 14:14
Jesus’ words in this verse imply that when we ask in his name, our hearts are aligned with his heart, and we are praying according to his will.
In this way, when we ask for his will to be done—in his name—our prayers will come to pass.
Ephesians 2:8
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” Ephesians 2:8
By faith, we trust that God hears and answers our prayers. Similarly, by faith, we can rest assured that God hears our prayers for salvation in Christ.
God saves us by faith, and by this same faith, he continues to work in our lives. We can have confidence in God’s redemptive plan for our lives as we trust him by faith.
Genesis 15:6
“And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.” Genesis 15:6
Abram believed that God would fulfill his promise and make his descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky. We can stand on this same faith when we pray.
God will always fulfill his promises to his children. When we believe in God’s faithfulness, God credits it to us as righteousness.
Psalm 77:1
“I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me.” Psalm 77:1
By faith, we believe that God hears us when we cry out to him. Do you ever doubt that God hears your prayers?
Spend some time in the Psalms and you will encounter many heartfelt cries of God’s children as they pursue him in times of triumph and distress. Trusting that God hears our cries requires faith, and the fruit of this faith is peace and joy in the Lord.
Matthew 7:7
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7
God is a good Father, and he wants his children to seek him for provision. We can trust that when we ask, seek, and knock in petition and prayer, the Lord will hear the cries of our hearts.
At times, God waits to grant us blessings because he wants us to ask. We pray in faith when do not neglect the command to keep asking. Our Father is waiting to be pursued.
Psalm 50:15
“And call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.” Psalm 50:15
God waits for us to call upon him in troubled times. He is our defender and deliverer.
We pray by faith when we cry out to him in trouble and expect him to deliver us. In response, we share the testimony of his goodness and give glory to his name.
Our Father in heaven loves us so much that he eagerly waits to respond to our prayers by blessing us in ways far greater than we could ask or imagine.
Are you looking for some tools and tips to boost your prayer life? If so, be sure to visit our Prayer Resources Library where you’ll find everything you need to become a powerful prayer warrior!
Our role is to be faithful in prayer—to believe that God is good and trust that he always hears his children—and to pray on all occasions.
God is waiting to move mountains in our lives, but some of us will never experience these miracles because we have neglected prayer.
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May these 20 verses remind us that God is for us, and he is waiting to work wonders in our lives. Let’s press into his love and watch with eager hopefulness.
