Acts 1:14

1:14 All these continued together in prayer with one mind, together with the women, along with Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. ¹ 

Acts 4:31

4:31 When ²  they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken, ³  and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak ⁴  the word of God ⁵  courageously. ⁶ 

Acts 6:4

6:4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

Romans 12:12

12:12 Rejoice in hope, endure in suffering, persist in prayer.

Ephesians 6:18

6:18 With every prayer and petition, pray ⁷  at all times in the Spirit, and to this end ⁸  be alert, with all perseverance and requests for all the saints.

Colossians 4:2

Exhortation to Pray for the Success of Paul’s Mission

4:2 Be devoted to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving.

Hebrews 10:25

10:25 not abandoning our own meetings, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and even more so because you see the day ⁹  drawing near. ¹⁰ 

Jude 1:20

1:20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith, by praying in the Holy Spirit, ¹¹ 

¹ sn Jesus’ brothers are mentioned in Matt 13:55 and John 7:3.

² tn Grk “And when.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

³ sn The place where they were assembled…was shaken. This signifies that God is in their midst. See Acts 16:26; Exod 19:18; Ps 114:7; Isa 6:4.

⁴ tn The imperfect verb has been translated as an ingressive imperfect (“began to speak”). Logical sequencing suggests that their speaking began after they were filled with the Spirit. The prayer was answered immediately.

⁵ tn Or “speak God’s message.”

⁶ tn Or “with boldness.”

⁷ tn Both “pray” and “be alert” are participles in the Greek text (“praying…being alert”). Both are probably instrumental, loosely connected with all of the preceding instructions. As such, they are not additional commands to do but instead are the means through which the prior instructions are accomplished.

⁸ tn Grk “and toward it.”

⁹ sn The day refers to that well-known time of Christ’s coming and judgment in the future; see a similar use of “day” in 1 Cor 3:13.

¹⁰ tn This paragraph (vv. 19-25) is actually a single, skillfully composed sentence in Greek, but it must be broken into shorter segments for English idiom. It begins with several subordinate phrases (since we have confidence and a great priest), has three parallel exhortations as its main verbs (let us draw near, hold, and take thought), and concludes with several subordinate phrases related to the final exhortation (not abandoning but encouraging).

¹¹ tn The participles in v. 20 have been variously interpreted. Some treat them imperativally or as attendant circumstance to the imperative in v. 21 (“maintain”): “build yourselves up…pray.” But they do not follow the normal contours of either the imperatival or attendant circumstance participles, rendering this unlikely. A better option is to treat them as the means by which the readers are to maintain themselves in the love of God. This both makes eminently good sense and fits the structural patterns of instrumental participles elsewhere.