How many times is prayer mentioned in the Bible?
The word prayer appears 109 times in the King James Version, in 104 verses. Counting every form (prayer, prayers), it appears 133 times in 128 verses across 32 of the 66 books. The World English Bible uses prayer 101 times (122 with every form).
Pray and prayed are not counted: the KJV often uses "I pray thee" to mean please, so the verb would inflate the count.
Prayer in the King James Version and the World English Bible
Each form of prayer counted in each translation.
| Form | KJV | WEB |
|---|---|---|
| prayer | 109 | 101 |
| prayers | 24 | 21 |
| Total | 133 | 122 |
Which books mention prayer most
Prayer appears in 32 books of the 66 in the King James Version. Psalms has the most (30), then 2 Chronicles (12) and Acts (9).
Also in: 1 Peter (3), Revelation (3), 2 Kings (2), Jeremiah (2), Lamentations (2), 2 Corinthians (2), Ephesians (2), Colossians (2), Philemon (2), James (2), 2 Samuel (1), Jonah (1), Habakkuk (1), 1 Corinthians (1), 1 Thessalonians (1), 2 Timothy (1), Hebrews (1).
First and last mention of prayer
For thou, O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, hast revealed to thy servant, saying, I will build thee an house: therefore hath thy servant found in his heart to pray this prayer unto thee.
And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.
The verse that uses it most is 1 Kings 8:28, 2 times (tied with 2 Chronicles 6:19, Nehemiah 1:11, Psalm 102:17, Isaiah 56:7):
Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee to day:
Where the two translations differ
13 verses match in the KJV but not in the World English Bible, and 2 verses match only in the World English Bible, usually because the other translation chose a different word there.
Job 15:4: counted in the KJV only
Yea, thou castest off fear, and restrainest prayer before God.
Yes, you do away with fear, and hinder devotion before God.
Psalm 5:3: counted in the KJV only
My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.
Yahweh, in the morning you shall hear my voice. In the morning I will lay my requests before you, and will watch expectantly.
2 Samuel 21:14: counted in the World English Bible only
And the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son buried they in the country of Benjamin in Zelah, in the sepulchre of Kish his father: and they performed all that the king commanded. And after that God was intreated for the land.
They buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin in Zela, in the tomb of Kish his father: and they performed all that the king commanded. After that, God answered prayer for the land.
Matthew 23:13: counted in the World English Bible only
But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and as a pretense you make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.
Verses with prayer on our topic pages
21 verses that use prayer in the World English Bible are in our topic collections.
In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and prayer.
Continue steadfastly in prayer, watching therein with thanksgiving;
On: Gratitude, Prayer, Thanksgiving
rejoicing in hope; enduring in troubles; continuing steadfastly in prayer;
On: Prayer, Leadership
with all prayer and requests, praying at all times in the Spirit, and being watchful to this end in all perseverance and requests for all the saints:
Confess your offenses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The insistent prayer of a righteous person is powerfully effective.
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears open to their prayer; but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
“Hear my prayer, Yahweh, and give ear to my cry. Don’t be silent at my tears. For I am a stranger with you, a foreigner, as all my fathers were.
On: Prayer
All things, whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”
On: Prayer
He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing, except by prayer and fasting.”
You husbands, in the same way, live with your wives according to knowledge, giving honor to the woman, as to the weaker vessel, as being also joint heirs of the grace of life; that your prayers may not be hindered.
But the end of all things is near. Therefore be of sound mind, self-controlled, and sober in prayer.
On: Self Control, Rest
Common questions
How many times is prayer in the Old Testament and the New Testament?
In the King James Version, counting every form, 80 of the 133 uses are in the Old Testament and 53 in the New Testament. Prayer appears in 32 books of the 66 in the King James Version. Psalms has the most (30), then 2 Chronicles (12) and Acts (9).
Where is prayer first mentioned in the Bible?
The first use in the King James Version is 2 Samuel 7:27: "For thou, O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, hast revealed to thy servant, saying, I will build thee an house: therefore hath thy servant found in his heart to pray this prayer unto thee." The last is Revelation 8:4.
Read the full collection: Bible Verses About Prayer (36 Verses).
More word counts: peace, joy, Satan, devil, angel, forgiveness, worry, anxious, or all 107 words.
Counted by Bible Says About from the full public-domain text of the King James Version (1769 edition) and the World English Bible. Verse text only: headings and psalm titles are left out. A word is a run of letters: a hyphenated name like Beer-sheba counts as two, and an apostrophe stays inside its word (LORD'S is one). Matching ignores capital letters. Data compiled 2026-10-02.