Famous Prayers Found in the Bible

By Rajesh G, Ph.D.  |   Submitted On March 04, 2011

The famous prayers found in the Bible deserve our close attention. The Model Prayer, Jesus' High Priestly Prayer, and John's prayer at the end of the Bible are among the most important of these noteworthy prayers. We need to learn much from them about how we are to draw near to God.

The Model Prayer

In the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7), Jesus' most famous sermon, Jesus gave the Model Prayer (Matt. 6:9-13; cf. Luke 11:1-4). This may be the most famous prayer of all. Although it is often referred to as the Lord's Prayer, that designation is not the best because it is not a record of what Jesus Himself prayed--it records what He taught His disciples to pray.

Jesus began the Model Prayer by commanding His disciples about the manner in which they are to pray. He thus directed them concerning the key elements that should be a part of their prayer life, but He did not say that they must always say these exact same words. The prayer pattern that He gave has two main sections in it. After addressing God as our heavenly Father, the first section has three requests that focus on the interests of God Himself:

• Hallowed be Thy name.
• Thy kingdom come.
• Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

The second section then has three requests that more directly concern us:

• 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.

The prayer then closes by saying, "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen."

From the Model Prayer, we should learn to put God's interests first when we pray. Although we are also to make our needs known to God, we should have this right perspective in doing so. Using this model on a daily basis, we will fulfill one aspect of being a true disciple of Christ.

Jesus' High Priestly Prayer

Unlike the Model Prayer, Jesus' High Priestly Prayer (John 17:1-26) is a record of what He actually prayed. If any prayer deserves to be called the Lord's Prayer, it is this one. As the Great High Priest, He prayed for His own to the Father. It is the longest prayer of Jesus found in the Bible and reveals much about the heart of Jesus and of God the Father.

Many have ably analyzed this famous prayer; the three points found in the New Open Bible: Study Edition is one good way to cover its key ideas: "Christ prays for Himself"; "Christ prays for His disciples"; and, "Christ prays for all believers." (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1990), 1204. Using these main headings to organize our understanding of the prayer, we should learn some major truths. Like the Model Prayer, Jesus began with a focus on the interests of God: "Father, the hour is come; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee" (17:1). The first section focuses on the glory of the Father and the Son in the remaining verses as well (five total occurrences of words concerned with glory in the section [17:1-5]). From both the Model Prayer and this prayer, we thus learn that we should focus on the glory of God in our prayers.

The second section (17:6-19) includes several key ideas in Jesus' praying for His disciples. He highlighted His giving them the words that the Father gave Him, making known the Father's name to them, and requesting that the Father would keep and sanctify them. We should learn to talk to God about the words that He has given us and to thank Him for sending Jesus to make the Father's name known to us. We should also learn to ask the Father to protect us from the evil of the world and the evil one (note the parallel with the Model Prayer [Matt. 6:13]). Finally, we should also ask Him to sanctify us through His truth.

The final section (17:20-26) reveals Jesus' praying for all believers concerning their unity in the Father and the Son so that the world would believe that the Father sent Jesus. In this prayer, He also prayed for their unity so that the world may know that the Father sent Jesus and loves the world, as He has loved Jesus. Jesus requested as well that all believers might be with Him where He is so that they may behold His glory that the Father has given Him. Jesus concluded by speaking of His making known the Father's name to believers so that the Father's love with which He has loved Jesus might be in them and that Jesus might be in them.

We learn from this famous prayer that we must pray concerning the unity of all believers so that the world might know through that unity both Jesus as the God-sent One and the Father's love for them. We should also ask to be with Jesus that we might behold His glory. We should request as well both that the Father's love for Jesus and that Jesus Himself might be in us.

From this sacred prayer, we see that Jesus focused on the glory of the Father and the Son both at its beginning and its ending. We need to learn to have the same focus in our praying.

John's Closing Prayer

The Bible ends with a promise by Jesus followed by another famous prayer and then a prayer-wish by the apostle John (Rev. 22:20-21). First, John records Jesus' final words by writing, "He which testifieth these things saith, 'Surely I come quickly.'" John's response was to pray, "Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus" (22:20). Saying this, John showed his desire for God's kingdom to come.

John's final prayer is thus based on this glorious promise from Jesus that He surely is coming soon. We should also base our prayers on God's promises to us. Based on Jesus' final promise, we must especially express continually our agreement with that promise and our desire that it would be so by adding our "Amen" and praying, "Even so, come Lord Jesus." When we do so, we pray in agreement also with His teaching in the Model Prayer (Matt. 6:10).

The prayer-wish that ends the Bible provides us with instruction that we all need. John says, "The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you all," and then he concludes with an "Amen" (22:21). His prayer-wish reveals the universal continuous need for the Lord's grace to be with all believers. We should express our desire that it would be so by praying for that same grace to be with us all and by adding our "Amen."

These three famous prayers found in the Bible wonderfully reveal the heart of Jesus, the Father, and the apostle John for all believers. By learning from these famous prayers, especially the Model Prayer, we will be the disciples that we should be.

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