9 Helpful Lessons from 3 Inspiring Bible Stories about Prayer

Inside: Boost your prayer life, strengthen your faith, and uplevel your relationship with God with 9 foundational lessons from 3 Bible stories about prayer. Don’t forget to download the guide for how to power up your prayers when you’re struggling with doubt and uncertainty.

I spent a lot of years feeling like I was constantly talking to God, asking Him to make me happy. If anyone ever prayed without ceasing about their problems, it was me. But it also felt like God wasn’t answering my prayers…at all.

As you can imagine, in such a season all I could wonder was if He even heard me. On my way out of that season, I realized I’d missed Him speaking to me all along. By the time I was well away from it, I’d blessedly learned a few enlightening lessons from Bible stories about prayer which could have helped while I was on the biggest struggle bus of my life.

You’re probably there now too, wrestling with your unanswered prayers and wondering if something is wrong with how you’re praying. Wondering if maybe you missed the week of Sunday School when they taught how to pray from an epic Bible story about prayer.

Don’t worry, I’ve got your back. Let’s look at 9 lessons you can learn about how to pray from 3 short but powerful stories in the Bible about prayer.

Bonus: As a bonus for joining my weekly newsletter, get this free printable download—Your Faith & Trust Reboot. It gives you 5 simple tweaks to power up your prayers for direction so you can triumph over doubt and fear.

But First, These Are a Must

Before we dive into our first Bible story about prayer, let’s clear up the question of what exactly prayer is: Prayer is communicating with God.

As you know, communication is part of maintaining a healthy relationship, divine or human. So talking to God is an essential part of praying, but not all of it. You have to listen, too.

Related: 6 Clear Signs God Is Speaking to You (And You’re Missing It)

Of course, you may have gotten early prayer lessons where people:

• Prayed for a really long time.
• Used lots of thee’s, thou’s, and thine’s.
• Sounded overly holy.

Sure, you can pray this way if you want to, but you don’t have to.

You also don’t have to be intimidated by people who prefer this prayer style. And you don’t have to let it plant seeds of doubt about how “good” you are at praying.

Remember, when you communicate, you talk to someone then you listen to what they have to say in return.

Prayer can be as simple as this: Talking to God using your everyday language and listening for His response.

Related: How To Know For Sure That God Hears Our Prayers

Now, when you pray, you enter God’s presence. So before we get into our first short bible story about prayer, let’s learn 3 foundational lessons about how to approach God in prayer.

Bonus: As a bonus for joining my weekly newsletter, get this free printable download—Your Faith & Trust Reboot. It gives you 5 simple tweaks to power up your prayers for direction so you can triumph over doubt and fear.

Now, when you pray, you enter God’s presence. So before we dive into our Bible stories about prayer, let’s learn lessons from 3 Bible verses about how to approach God in prayer.

1. Be respectful when you pray.

When you go to God in prayer, you’re talking to the God of the universe and beyond. He loves you and wants a close relationship with you. But He’s still GOD—to be revered and respected.

They were calling out to each other, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies! The whole earth is filled with his glory!”

Isaiah 6:3 (NLT)

So even when you’re railing at Him in frustration, remember who you’re talking to.

2. Submit to God when you pray.

Popular culture has a way of making it seem like God is your buddy or your personal genie, waiting around to magic up whatever your heart desires. He isn’t.

Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”

Isaiah 6:5 (NLT)

You’re not on equal footing with God; no one is. And He knows infinitely more and better than you do or ever can.

Remember this when you go to Him in prayer. Then you’ll be better able to submit your will to Him, knowing His plan will always be unimaginably better than yours.

3. Tell God everything in prayer. Everything!

He already knows everything you’re thinking, feeling, and doing. But healthy communication is about honest sharing.

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.

Philippians 4:6 (NLT)

While you’re praying, don’t miss the side benefit: Talking things through with God helps you to process your thoughts and feelings in productive ways.

3 Instructive Bible Stories about Prayer

The Bible is chock full of prayers and stories about people praying to God in different ways, in all kinds of circumstances. Elisha, Samuel, and David, to name a few.

But several great examples of prayer in the Bible come from Moses. He had some seriously unforgettable encounters with God.

Remember the burning bush incident in Exodus 3? Moses had quite a back-and-forth talk with God then, and we can learn some great prayer lessons from it, like submitting to God.

Plus, don’t forget the time in Exodus 34 when God’s glory came down and passed by Moses. In this Bible story, Moses’ prayer took the form of worship.

Other memorable Bible stories about prayer come from Daniel, who was always fasting and praying.

For example, in Daniel 2 when he prayed to God for clarity and wisdom, which would save his and his friends’ lives. And in Daniel 9 when he said intercessory prayers for his people.

Of course, you can find lots of Bible stories about Jesus praying. The Gospels share several examples of Him withdrawing to a quiet place to pray.

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he got up, went out, and made his way to a deserted place; and there he was praying.

Mark 1:35 (CSB)

And notably, Jesus gave us The Lord’s Prayer—the ultimate short Bible story about prayer and the blueprint for how to pray.

But for now, let’s go deeper into 3 favorite, famous stories about prayer in the Bible which cover different types of prayers. Each of these stories is a short Bible study on the power of prayer.

1. Hannah’s Bible Story about Prayer

Hannah’s story is in 1 Samuel 1 and 2. When you read these 2 chapters, you learn a few things:

• Hannah was one of 2 wives to her husband.
• Her husband loved her.
• She was childless.
• Her childlessness seemed to be Hannah’s issue, not her husband’s, since his other wife had kids.

Not only was Hannah infertile, but her husband’s other wife—probably jealous over the special attention their husband gave to Hannah (1 Samuel 1:5)—rubbed it in her face.

On top of this, her husband couldn’t understand why she couldn’t just be happy and satisfied with loving him.

So Hannah, already in emotional pain from being unable to have children, was also:

• Tormented by a classic mean girl.
• Misunderstood by her husband.

No wonder when Hannah went to pray to God, she was an emotional wreck.

She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly.

1 Samuel 1:10 (ESV)

Any woman who’s struggled with infertility can relate to this type of suffering. But really, any woman who’s struggled with deeply desiring something which seems impossible can identify with Hannah.

Reading between the lines, you can assume that while she talked to God and wept bitterly, Hannah poured out her anguish to Him.

A Lesson from Hannah’s Short Bible Story about Prayer

What did Hannah do after pouring out her anguish?

And she vowed a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.”

1 Samuel 1:11 (ESV)

Hannah bargained with God. But isn’t it interesting how she never vowed to give more to her church or start donating to charity if God would only give her the baby she wanted? Instead, the thing Hannah asked God for was the very thing she offered to Him in return.

And when God graciously gave her Samuel, she kept her word.

Hannah took her precious, long-awaited baby right back to the temple where she’d made her vow. And she prayed to God again, this time in praise:

There is none holy like the Lord: for there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God. Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.

1 Samuel 2:2-3 (ESV)

Here’s the lesson from Hannah about how to pray: You can pour out your rawest feelings to God, no matter how uncomfortable or ugly. You can be honest with God and submit your desires to Him.

After you do, be at peace and thank Him, knowing He’ll do what’s best for you.

2. Jonah’s Bible Story about Prayer

You can find Jonah’s story in the Book of Jonah. He was one of Israel’s minor prophets—minor because his book is only 4 chapters long.

Jonah’s story is simple: God called him to go to Nineveh—a city soaked in wickedness—to deliver a warning to its citizens. God would destroy them in 40 days if they didn’t repent.

But instead of following God’s instructions, Jonah ran off in the opposite direction.

Why? Because he didn’t want the city to heed God’s warning and repent. He knew if they did, God would be merciful and relent.

Apparently, Jonah was big into justice at any cost.

A Lesson from Jonah’s Short Bible Story about Prayer

After Jonah ran off, God got his attention in a pretty dramatic way. You probably already know the story in Jonah 1 of how he ended up in the fish’s belly. This is where we first see Jonah praying, humbling himself before God.

See, even though Jonah felt unseen by God because of his disobedience, he knew he had nowhere else to turn.

Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.’

Jonah 2:4 (ESV)

God graciously saved Jonah, who finally did what he was told in the first place. Then, exactly as Jonah feared, the people repented and God forgave them.

This is where we see Jonah praying again.

It’s also where we can learn a prayer lesson from his story.

Jonah was greatly displeased and became furious. He prayed to the Lord, “Please, Lord, isn’t this what I said while I was still in my own country? That’s why I fled toward Tarshish in the first place. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, abounding in faithful love, and one who relents from sending disaster. And now, Lord, take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

Jonah 4:1-3 (ESV)

You can’t miss the irony of Jonah being disobedient, ending up swallowed by a fish, then repenting, and God graciously giving him another chance to do what was right.

You’d think he’d be more merciful towards these people God also wanted to save. Especially seeing as he had just benefitted from God’s mercy.

But even though Jonah acted like a dramatic, petulant child, he still knew well enough to pray to God.

Jonah prayed out his extreme annoyance and God answered him with a lesson on compassion and mercy.

Here’s the lesson from Jonah about how to pray: You can talk to God about your messy feelings, even if you don’t like what He has to say in return.

3. Mary’s Bible Story about Prayer

Mary, mom to Jesus Christ—talk about a woman with a lot to process!

You can easily get lost in the Christmas story and totally discount the position Mary was in. She was an engaged teenage girl whose fiancé found out she was somehow pregnant when they’d never had sex.

Mary must have faced a lot of gossip-mongering and a ruined reputation. I mean, wouldn’t you think she was a liar and a loose woman if you’d heard this story back then?

This season of her life must have overflowed with emotional upheaval and stress.

A Lesson from Mary’s Short Bible Story about Prayer

Even in the middle of this highly stressful situation, Mary didn’t let fear overcome her. In fact, the negative parts of her story seemed to be furthest from her mind.

Mary responded, “Oh, how my soul praises the Lord. How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior! For he took notice of his lowly servant girl, and from now on all generations will call me blessed.

Luke 1:46-48 (NLT)

Read her entire prayer in Luke 1:46-55 and you’ll see how Mary didn’t focus on what she’d have to endure so God’s plan could become real in her life.

From her story, she didn’t seem to care at all about the ‘how.’ Instead, Mary focused on and rejoiced in the ‘what’: the Savior who God was giving to Israel—to the whole world—and the fact that she would be remembered forever.

Here’s the lesson from Mary about how to pray: You can thank God for the call He has on your life, whether you’re struggling with how to know what your calling is from God or you’re in the thick of the hard part.

Don’t Forget 3 Critical Things

These 3 Bible stories about prayer from Hannah, Jonah, and Mary show the power of prayer. Not only do they teach you how to pray, but they also show you can pray to God about whatever’s happening in your life, good, bad, and in between.

Now, the truth is, you may feel like giving up when you’ve been praying without seeing obvious results. Wanting to give up is understandable but it’s also a big mistake.

Remember, God is your ultimate go-to for everything.

Related: 3 Guaranteed Signs God Is Trying to Get Your Attention

Still, 3 critical tips will help when you’re tempted to forget these Bible stories about prayer and throw in the towel.

1. Talk but also listen.

You don’t see God with your physical eyes or hear Him with your physical ears (usually). So you can easily forget that communication goes both ways and make the mistake of doing all the talking when you pray.

Yes, talk to Him. But also listen so you can start hearing God’s voice.

2. Pray the Scriptures.

Sometimes when you’re talking to someone, you don’t know what to say. This can happen when you’re praying to God. It could be because you don’t know how to express yourself or because you don’t know if it’s OK to say what’s really on your heart.

If so, then you can always turn to Scripture and pray God’s word back to Him.

Dive into the Psalms, where the whole range of human emotion is covered in prayer. Or when you need to shore up your faith, pray God’s promises back to Him.

Whatever you choose to do, don’t forget that your Bible is a great resource when you need help praying to God.

3. Pray about your wins.

Remember, prayer is communication between you and God. And healthy communication means being honest. So you never have to sugarcoat or pretty up your feelings before sharing them with God.

But healthy communication in a relationship isn’t only about sharing the bad stuff. You celebrate the wins, too.

Think about your one friend who does nothing but complain all…the…time. Nobody wants to be around a complainer all day, every day.

No, God doesn’t get tired of you complaining. Of course not.

But you sure can’t have a healthy relationship with someone if your relationship is built on nothing but negativity. So talk about your wins—and His wins too!—when you’re praying.

Get Your Free Printable Prayer Power-Up

A Bible story about prayer is always a wonderful way to remember how to connect with God. But sometimes you need a quick reminder, especially when you’re facing doubt and uncertainty.

Use this guide to help you as you pray. You’ll get 5 simple tweaks to power up your prayers plus Bible verses to inspire you as you pray.

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Checklist of Lessons from Bible Stories about Prayer

I spent a lot of years praying—ahem, complaining—without ceasing, feeling like God was ignoring me since He didn’t seem to bother answering me.

This was mainly because I was treating God like my personal genie, as if He should magic up whatever I wanted with a wave of His almighty hand. On top of this, I didn’t stop talking long enough to listen and notice He’d already answered my prayers.

Because of my blindness and lack of understanding of the nature of prayer, I ended up thinking God didn’t love me and I wasn’t special to Him.

But not you. You’re now armed with powerful, inspiring lessons from each Bible story about prayer from Hannah, Jonah, and Mary.

You now also have 3 super helpful lessons from Bible stories on prayer from Hannah, Jonah, and Mary:

Remember, you don’t have to feel pressured to say or do specific things when you pray. Simply keep in mind your goal of building and maintaining a healthy relationship with God. Make it a relationship based on faith, trust, and open, honest two-way communication and you’ll be fine!

Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 (NLT)

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