Overview
The Bible addresses prayerlessness across 15 verses, drawn from the Old Testament. These passages cluster most in Job, Psalms and Isaiah. Closely related themes include Amusements and Worldly Pleasures, Infidelity, Rich, The and Scoffing. Figures whose stories touch this theme include Moses.
Key Bible verses about prayerlessness
Old Testament
Job
Yea, thou castest off fear, and restrainest prayer before God. castest: Heb. makest void prayer: or, speech
Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.
What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?
Will he delight himself in the Almighty? will he always call upon God?
Psalms
Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the LORD.
Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread: they have not called upon God.
Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name.
Isaiah
But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob; but thou hast been weary of me, O Israel.
And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities. consumed: Heb. melted because: Heb. by the hand
Jeremiah
For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the LORD: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered.
Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name: for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate.
People in the Bible and prayerlessness
Biblical figures whose stories intersect with this theme.
In the Bible dictionary
Studying prayerlessness for yourself
- Begin with Job 15:4, then read the passages below in canonical order.
- Compare how Job, Psalms and Isaiah each treat the theme.
- Consider the lives of Moses and how their stories intersect with it.
- Widen the study to related themes: Amusements and Worldly Pleasures, Infidelity, Rich, The and Scoffing.
Frequently asked questions
What does the Bible say about prayerlessness?
The Bible addresses prayerlessness across 15 verses, drawn from the Old Testament. These passages cluster most in Job, Psalms and Isaiah. Closely related themes include Amusements and Worldly Pleasures, Infidelity, Rich, The and Scoffing. Figures whose stories touch this theme include Moses.
How many Bible verses are about prayerlessness?
The Bible references prayerlessness in 15 verses (King James Version).
Where does the Bible first mention prayerlessness?
In canonical order, the first of these passages is Job 15:4: “Yea, thou castest off fear, and restrainest prayer before God. castest: Heb. makest void prayer: or, speech”
Which people in the Bible are associated with prayerlessness?
Moses.
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