Famous Prayers of the Bible
The Lord's Prayer, Psalm 23, the prayers of Hannah and Jonah... We look at how to pray through the Bible's most famous prayers, with examples.
One of the finest answers to the question "how do you pray?" is not a list of rules but examples. The Bible is full of well-known prayers spread over thousands of years: prayers of kings, prophets and ordinary people, in joy and in helplessness. This article offers a short tour of the best-known prayers. We describe each one in our own words; our aim is to show how varied praying can be in different states of mind. As an independent guide, we look at the text's own examples without singling out any tradition.
The Lord's Prayer: the example Jesus taught
Perhaps the best-known prayer is the short one Jesus gave his disciples as a model; today it is known as the "Lord's Prayer" and begins at Matthew 6:9. It highlights simplicity rather than showy words: it opens by honoring God and reaches out to asking for daily needs, seeking forgiveness and forgiving others. With its brevity and balance, it has been remembered for centuries as a "pattern" for praying — a reminder that what matters is not the length of the words but their sincerity.
Prayers from the Psalms
The book of Psalms is, from beginning to end, a collection of prayer and praise; it is therefore the first stop for anyone looking for an example of prayer. The psalms below are only a few examples from this broad collection; each corresponds to a different state of mind and shows that, in prayer, the question is not which emotion is "appropriate" but that every emotion has its place.
Psalm 23 — trust and comfort
Psalm 23:1, which likens God to a shepherd, is perhaps the best-loved prayer of trust. It voices the feeling of not being alone even while passing through dark valleys; it is one of the most-read chapters at funerals and in hard days.
Psalm 51 — a prayer of repentance
Psalm 51 is a heartfelt prayer of repentance after a wrong (Psalm 51:10). It carries the words of someone who confesses their fault and asks for a clean heart and a new beginning. It is a classic example for those seeking the language of sorrow and the hope of being made whole.
Psalm 130 — a cry from the deep
Psalm 130, a cry that begins in verse 1, shows that one can call out even from the edge of despair, and that waiting with patience is itself a form of prayer.
Prayers within the stories
Prayers appear not only in the Psalms but also within the narratives, often at a turning point in a life.
Hannah's prayer (1 Samuel)
Hannah, who had long been without a child, prays in the temple with such deep sincerity that her lips move but her voice makes no sound. When her wish is granted, the prayer of thanksgiving she offers turns into a hymn in which the lowly are lifted up (1 Samuel 2:1). It is one of the most moving examples of heartfelt, silent prayer.
Jonah's prayer (Jonah 2)
When the prophet Jonah is thrown into the sea and swallowed by a great fish, he prays from that hopeless place (Jonah 2:1). This prayer is a powerful example showing that a person can call out even at the very bottom, in the most confined moment; its words carry both the hope of rescue and thanksgiving together.
Solomon's prayer for wisdom (1 Kings 3)
The young king Solomon, able in a dream to ask for anything he wished, asks not for wealth or long life but for wisdom to govern his people well. This prayer in 1 Kings 3 makes us consider that what we ask for is itself a matter of prayer.
A faithful prayer in the face of danger (Daniel 6)
The prophet Daniel keeps up his habit despite a decree forbidding prayer; several times a day, with his window open, he goes on praying quietly (Daniel 6). This scene shows that prayer sometimes becomes a matter of courage and faithfulness; that a familiar, regular prayer can itself be a testimony.
Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane
On the night before his arrest, Jesus prays in deep distress in the garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22). This prayer shows that fear and surrender can coexist; that prayer does not have to fix everything at once but is sometimes simply sharing the burden.
Humble and short prayers
Not all famous prayers are long; some are single-sentence, heartfelt cries. These short prayers are often the ones that stay with us most.
The tax collector's prayer (Luke 18)
In a parable Jesus told, two people praying in the temple are contrasted. While a self-satisfied man lists his achievements, a despised tax official, unwilling even to lift his eyes to heaven, makes a very short and sincere plea for mercy. This parable (Luke 18) shows that what matters in prayer is not the ornament of words but the humility of the heart.
Mary's song (Luke 1)
The song of praise sung by Mary, the mother of Jesus, is traditionally known as the "Magnificat" and appears in Luke 1. Rising from the lips of an ordinary person, this song voices a longing for a world in which the lowly are lifted up and the hungry are fed; it is an example of prayer that carries thanksgiving and hope together.
A prayer on the job: Nehemiah
Some prayers are not ceremonial but very short cries offered in a single moment. Nehemiah, an official at the palace, when faced with a difficult question before the king, prays quickly and inwardly before he speaks (Nehemiah 2). This small detail reminds us that prayer needs no special place or time; it can be offered in the middle of the day, right in the thick of the work.
How do these prayers teach us to pray?
Even in this short tour we see how many faces prayer has: the Lord's Prayer is a model pattern, Psalm 51 a repentance, Psalm 23 an expression of trust, the words of Hannah and Mary a praise and thanksgiving, Jonah's a cry for help, Solomon's a request for wisdom, and the tax collector's a plea for mercy. The Bible imposes no single "right" way to pray; on the contrary, it shows that every human state can find a place in prayer.
What these examples have in common is that none of them tries to appear "flawless." Joy, anger and fear are all spoken openly. They show that there is no single right way to pray; that thanksgiving, repentance, a request for help and even a silent waiting can all be prayer. If you are looking for a practical starting point — where and with what words to begin — our What Is Prayer and How Do You Pray? guide offers a step-by-step path. And you can find the prayer chapters arranged by topic together on our Prayer topic page.
In other words, the secret of praying "rightly" is not a special technique but consistency and sincerity. These famous examples — short or long, joyful or sorrowful — show that every prayer has its place. Today you too can begin in your own words, from where you are; reading these examples often gives good courage to start.
Start reading
Some of the prayers we have mentioned are in the Psalms; you can read the Psalms on this site chapter by chapter, for free. To begin, Psalm 23 is a short and familiar entry. In this way you can come to know these famous prayers not only by reading about them but directly from their source.