Everyone wants to be more patient and prayer can make a huge difference because patience is a spiritual virtue.  Things that make us impatient happen often, so these thirty-second prayers for patience are based on Scripture to connect you closely with God’s help in any situation you encounter.

Thirty-Second Prayers for Patience Based on Scripture

Preventing battles by waiting

Proverbs 16:32  Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper then one who takes a city.

Prayer: Dear God, prevent my impatience with others from creating battles that could be prevented by waiting.  Amen.

Whose patience are we trying?

Isaiah 7:13:  Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David!  Is it not enough to try the patience of men?  Will you try the patience of my God also?”

Prayer: Dear God, make me aware of the things I am doing that are trying your patience and the patience of those around me.  Amen.

Looking toward the good outcome   

James 5:7  See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains.  You too, be patient and stand firm.

Prayer: Give me a vision of the harvest that will eventually come as I stand patiently waiting today. Amen.

Finding role models

James 5:11.  You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about.

Prayer: Dear God, Focus my thoughts on stories of people whose patience you rewarded with glorious outcomes.  Amen.

Patience shining through me

I Timothy 1:16  But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example of those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.

Prayer:  Dear Jesus, open my eyes to your unlimited patience with me so it might shine for all the world to see. Amen.

Patience as an effective tool

2 Timothy 3:10  You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings…”

Prayer:  May my patience grow into an effective tool in your hands as I seek to fulfill your purpose for my life.  Amen.

Waiting for the right time

Proverbs 25:15:  Through patience a ruler can be persuaded, and a gentle tongue can break a bone.

Prayer: Dear God, keep me from immediately insisting on my way.  Instead, help me patiently await the right time and way to speak persuasively to others.  Amen.

Giving grace periods

Proverbs 19:11  A man’s wisdom gives him patience, it is his glory to overlook an offense.

Prayer: Dear God, Increase my wisdom by pausing before I fault others and show me how to offer grace periods instead.  Amen.

Gathering other good qualities  

Colossians 3:12,13  Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.  Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

Dear God, increase my compassion, kindness, humility and gentleness so I might become more patient with others.  Amen.

Granting learning curves

2 Timothy 4:2  Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season, correct, rebuke and encourage –with great patience and careful instruction.

Dear God, Help me to realize that we’re all on a learning curve.  Give me the ability to encourage learners and to allow them the time to catch up and catch on.  Amen.

Not following those who take short cuts

Psalm 37:7  Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.

Dear God, It bothers me that others get things by taking short cuts and doing questionable things.  Help me let it go so I can go forward with you.  Amen.

God hears       

Psalm 40:1 I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry.

Dear God, I’m waiting patiently.  Thank you for promising to hear my cry and turn to me.  Amen.

Letting anger cool  

Proverbs 15:18  A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict, but the one who is patient calms a quarrel.

Dear God, When tempers flare, give me the ability to wait until things simmer down.  Then give me wisdom to rationally talk through disagreements.  Amen.

Trusting God is at work

Roman 8:24,25  But hope that is seen is no hope at all.  Who hopes for what they already have?  But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

Dear God, please use the things I am impatiently awaiting to teach me how to hope and to trust that you are at work.  Amen.

Waiting in pain

Romans 12:12  Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Dear God, It’s really hard to be patient when I am in pain or in difficult situations.  Help me pray faithfully and place my hope in you.  Amen.

Patience equals love  

1 Corinthians 13:4.  Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

Dear God, Deepen my love and care for others so I will gladly be patient with them today.  Amen.

Learning from trailblazers of patience  

2 Corinthians 1:16  If we are distressed it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer.

Dear God, Thank you for others who have gone before me whose lives exemplify endurance while suffering.    Amen.

Being humble

Ephesians 4:2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

Dear God, Remind me that when I get impatient with people, it means I think I’m more important than they are.  Instead, help me be humble so I can gracefully bear with others.  Amen.

Allowing time to improve

1 Thessalonians 5:14  And we urge you, brothers and sister, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone.

Dear God, Once I warn, encourage and help people, help me to give them time to improve.  Amen.

Trusting God’s promises

Hebrews 6:15  And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.

Dear God, I’m waiting to receive what you have promised.  Amen.

Dealing with delays

1 Peter 3:20  …To those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built.  In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water.

Dear God, help me be among the small group who don’t see your delays as signs nothing is going to happen or you aren’t going to act. Amen.

When things are moving slowly

2 Peter 3:9.  The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness.  Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

Dear God, Help me understand that although things seem to be coming too slowly, there are others you want to reach who need more time to get ready.  Amen.

Faithful friends who endure with us   

Revelation 1:9.  I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.

Dear God, Thank you the encouragement of faithful friends who are with me as I wait.  Amen.

Rewards of patience

Revelation 3:10.  Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trail that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.

Dear God, Thank you for that you will reward my patience with you protection and grace.  Amen.

Strength in waiting

Psalm 27:14  Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

Dear God, help me to see my times of waiting as a strength. Amen.

My help and shield

Psalm 33:20.  We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield.

As I wait, may my hope in you be my help and shield.  Amen.

Not too proud to wait

Ecclesiastes 7:8  the end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride.

Dear God, never let me to be too proud to wait.   Amen.

About this Thirty-Second Prayers for Patience Based on Scripture

I don’t know why, but when our prayer committee asked for volunteers to write one-sentence prayers on the fruit of the spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control), I immediately volunteered to do patience.

After writing the previous sentence, it is ironic that I would volunteer to do patience because it’s something none of us want to have to ever do in our busy lives.  Yet patience is something all of us need and want.

To write these thirty-second prayers for patience, I looked up Bible verses on patience and wrote them all down, then thought about what each was saying.  I realized that God’s view of patience goes well beyond our prayers that we shoot up during moments of frustration, “Lord give me patience!”

I believe such prayers are perfect in the moment, because they connect us and God and our situations in the heat of the moment.  But after meditating on the Bible verses on prayer, I found that patience is a powerful tool in our spiritual and earthly lives.  It’s a virtue, which means a behavior showing a high moral behavior or spiritual excellence.

When I thought about patience as a behavior instead of as a commodity that we have or don’t have at the moment, I realized that patience is not passive.  It is something we choose to do.  It requires strength, fortitude, courage, hope, love and faith.

So as we pray for patience, let’s remember that we are really praying that we might be able to behave in a loving, productive and heavenly way.

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All scriptures are from the NIV version of the Bible

Copyright Karen Barber 2023  All right reserved.