Prayer

How Nave’s arranged it

• MISCELLANY OF MINOR SUB-TOPICS
• Prayer test proposed by Elijah1 Kings 18:24–39
• Daily, in the morningPsalms 5:3Psalms 88:13Psalms 143:8Isaiah 33:2
• Twice dailyPsalms 88:1
• Thrice dailyPsalms 55:17Daniel 6:10
• All nightLuke 6:12
• Without ceasing1 Thessalonians 5:17
• Boldness in
• EnjoinedHebrews 4:16
• Exemplified by Abraham in his inquiry concerning SodomGenesis 18:23–32
• By Moses, supplicating for assistance in delivering IsraelExodus 33:12Exodus 33:18
• SecretGenesis 24:63Matthew 6:6

The passages, in Bible order (614)

The same references, sorted Genesis to Revelation. The first 16 are quoted in full; the rest are one click beneath them, book by book.

1. Genesis 4:13–15

   But Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is greater than I can bear.

   ›Commentary on Genesis 4:13–151 voice

   “My punishment is greater than I can bear - The margin reads, Mine iniquity is greater than that it may be forgiven. The original words, גדול עוני מנשוא gadol avoni minneso, may be translated, Is my crime too great to be forgiven? words which we may presume he uttered on the verge of black despair. It is most probable that עון avon signifies rather the crime than the punishment; in this sense it is used Lev 26:41, Lev 26:43 1Sa 28:10; 2Ki 7:9; and נשא nasa signifies to remit or forgive.

   Everything gathered on Genesis 4:13–15→

   Verse page →Original language →

2. Genesis 12:5

   And Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions and people they had acquired in Haran, and set out for the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan,

   ›Commentary on Genesis 12:51 voice

   “The souls that they had gotten in Haran - This may apply either to the persons who were employed in the service of Abram, or to the persons he had been the instrument of converting to the knowledge of the true God; and in this latter sense the Chaldee paraphrasts understood the passage, translating it, The souls of those whom they proselyted in Haran.

   Everything gathered on Genesis 12:5→

   Verse page →Original language →

3. Genesis 12:8

   From there Abram moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built an altar to the LORD, and he called on the name of the LORD.

   ›Commentary on Genesis 12:82 voices

   “Where there is Bethel, that is, the house of God, there is also the altar. Where there is the altar, there is also the calling on the name of God. It is not by chance that he made such great progress. He hoped in the help of God. The athlete of God exercised and strengthened himself in adversity. He went into the desert.

   “Beth-el - The place which was afterwards called Beth-el by Jacob, for its first name was Luz. See Gen 28:19. בית אל beith El literally signifies the house of God. And pitched his tent - and - builded an altar unto the Lord - Where Abram has a tent, there God must have an Altar, as he well knows there is no safety but under the Divine protection. How few who build houses ever think on the propriety and necessity of building an altar to their Maker!

   Everything gathered on Genesis 12:8→

   Verse page →Original language →

4. Genesis 15:1

   After these events, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”

   ›Commentary on Genesis 15:12 voices

   “The word of the Lord came unto Abram - That is, God manifested himself to Abram, in a vision - Which supposeth Abram awake, and some sensible token of the presence of the divine glory, saying, Fear not Abram - Abram might fear lest the four kings he had routed, should rally and fall upon him.

   “Because Abraham did not seek recompense from man, he received it from God, as we read in Scripture: "After these words the Lord spoke to Abraham in a vision saying, Fear not, Abraham, I will protect you. Your reward will be exceedingly great." The Lord is not slow to reward. He is eager to promise, and he gives in abundance, lest any delay cause weak souls to repent of having despised visible things.

   Everything gathered on Genesis 15:1→

   Verse page →Original language →

5. Genesis 16:7–13

   Now the angel of the LORD found Hagar by a spring of water in the desert—the spring along the road to Shur.

   ›Commentary on Genesis 16:7–132 voices

   “(Verse 7) And the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the desert, by the fountain on the way to Shur. Then the Egyptian woman hurriedly went on the way to Shur, which leads through the desert to Egypt.

   “The angel of the Lord - That Jesus Christ, in a body suited to the dignity of his nature, frequently appeared to the patriarchs, has been already intimated.

   Everything gathered on Genesis 16:7–13→

   Verse page →Original language →

6. Genesis 17:20

   As for Ishmael, I have heard you, and I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He will become the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation.

   Verse page →Original language →

7. Genesis 18:23–32

   Abraham stepped forward and said, “Will You really sweep away the righteous with the wicked?

   ›Commentary on Genesis 18:23–322 voices

   “Whenever we draw near to God, it becomes us reverently to acknowledge the vast distance that there is between us and Him. He is the Lord of glory, we are worms of the earth.

   “Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? - A form of speech similar to that in Gen 18:17, an invariable principle of justice, that the righteous shall not be punished for the crimes of the impious. And this Abraham lays down as the foundation of his supplications. Who can pray with any hope of success who cannot assign a reason to God and his conscience for the petitions he offers? The great sacrifice offered by Christ is an infinite reason why a penitent sinner should expect to find the mercy for which he pleads.

   Everything gathered on Genesis 18:23–32→

   Verse page →Original language →

8. Genesis 19:20

   Look, there is a town nearby where I can flee, and it is a small place. Please let me flee there—is it not a small place? Then my life will be saved.”

   ›Commentary on Genesis 19:202 voices

   “Behold now, this city is near to flee unto,.... Pointing to Bela, afterwards called Zoar, from what follows: it is said to be two miles distant from Sodom (z).

   “It is a little one - Probably Lot wished to have it for an inheritance, and therefore pleaded its being a little one, that his request might be the more readily granted. Or he might suppose, that being a little city, it was less depraved than Sodom and Gomorrah, and therefore not so ripe for punishment; which was probably the case.

   Everything gathered on Genesis 19:20→

   Verse page →Original language →

9. Genesis 20:17

   Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maidservants, so that they could again bear children—

   ›Commentary on Genesis 20:171 voice

   But it does not seem to me superfluous that mention is made not only of Abim-elech's wife but also of his handmaids, especially in that place that says, "God healed them, and they bore children. For he had closed [their wombs] that they might not bear."

   Everything gathered on Genesis 20:17→

   Verse page →Original language →

10. Genesis 24:12

    “O LORD, God of my master Abraham,” he prayed, “please grant me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham.

    Verse page →Original language →

11. Genesis 24:14

    Now may it happen that the girl to whom I say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink,’ and who responds, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels as well’—let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. By this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master.”

    Verse page →Original language →

12. Genesis 24:63

    Early in the evening, Isaac went out to the field to meditate, and looking up, he saw the camels approaching.

    ›Commentary on Genesis 24:632 voices

    “Merciful providences are then doubly comfortable, when they find us in the way of our duty: some think Isaac was now praying for good success in this affair, and meditating upon that which was proper to encourage his hope in God concerning it; and now when he sets himself, as it were, upon his watch-tower, to see what God would answer him, he sees the camels coming.

    “Isaac went out to meditate - לשוח lasuach, to bend down the body, or the mind, or both. He was probably in deep thought, with his eyes fixed upon the ground. What the subject of his meditation was it is useless to inquire; he was a pious man, and could not be triflingly employed.

    Everything gathered on Genesis 24:63→

    Verse page →Original language →

13. Genesis 25:22

    But the children inside her struggled with each other, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So Rebekah went to inquire of the LORD,

    ›Commentary on Genesis 25:222 voices

    “The children struggled within her - The commotion was altogether extra-ordinary, and made her very uneasy: If it be so, or, since it is so, why am I thus? - Before the want of children was her trouble, now the struggle of the children is no less so.

    “So therefore also now it is related of Rebekah: "She departed to inquire of the Lord." As we have said, she should be considered to have departed not by the steps of her feet but by the advances of her mind.You also therefore will be said to have de-parted "to inquire of the Lord" if you have begun to contemplate not those things "which are seen but those which are not seen," that is, not carnal but spiritual things, not present but future things.

    Everything gathered on Genesis 25:22→

    Verse page →Original language →

14. Genesis 25:23

    and He declared to her: “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”

    ›Commentary on Genesis 25:232 voices

    “Two nations are in thy womb - She was now big not only with two children, but two nations, which should not only in their manners greatly differ from each other, but in their interest contend with each other, and the issue of the contest should be that the elder should serve the younger, which was fulfilled in the subjection of the Edomites for many ages to the house of David.

    “I think that this can be said also of each of us as individuals that "two nations and two peoples are within you." For there is a people of virtue within us, and there is no less a people of vice within us. "For from our heart proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, thefts, false testimonies" but also "deceits, contentions, heresies, jealousies, revelings and such like." Do you see how great a people of evil is within us?

    Everything gathered on Genesis 25:23→

    Verse page →Original language →

15. Genesis 32:9–12

    Then Jacob declared, “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, the LORD who told me, ‘Go back to your country and to your kindred, and I will make you prosper,’

    ›Commentary on Genesis 32:9–122 voices

    “O God of my father Abraham, etc. - This prayer is remarkable for its simplicity and energy; and it is a model too for prayer, of which it contains the essential constituents: - 1. Deep self-abasement. 2. Magnification of God’s mercy. 3. Deprecation of the evil to which he was exposed. 4. Pleading the promises that God had made to him. And, 5. Taking encouragement from what God had already wrought.

    “(Verse 9 and 10.) And Jacob said, O God of my father Isaac, Lord, who said to me, Return to your land and I will bless you: I am less than all your mercies, and all your truth, which you have shown to your servant. For because of what we have done, I am less, something else I do not know, which disturbs the meaning, is contained in the Greek and Latin codices.

    Everything gathered on Genesis 32:9–12→

    Verse page →Original language →

16. Genesis 32:24–28

    So Jacob was left all alone, and there a man wrestled with him until daybreak.

    ›Commentary on Genesis 32:24–282 voices

    “Therefore Jacob, who had purified his heart of all pretenses and was manifesting a peaceable disposition, first cast off all that was his, then remained behind alone and wrestled with God. For whoever forsakes worldly things comes nearer to the image and likeness of God. What is it to wrestle with God other than to enter upon the struggle for virtue, to contend with one who is stronger and to become a better imitator of God than the others are?

    “And there wrestled a man with him - This was doubtless the Lord Jesus Christ, who, among the patriarchs, assumed that human form, which in the fullness of time he really took of a woman, and in which he dwelt thirty-three years among men. He is here styled an angel, because he was μεγαλης βουλης Αγγελος, (see the Septuagint, Isa 9:7), the Messenger of the great counsel or design to redeem fallen man from death, and bring him to eternal glory; see Gen 16:7. But it may be asked, Had he here a real human body, or only its form?

    Everything gathered on Genesis 32:24–28→

    Verse page →Original language →