The best Bible verses for self control for prayer include passages about God's love, strength, and guidance. This page features 15+ carefully curated Scripture passages for self control for prayer, each selected for its relevance and depth. Read, save, and share the perfect verse for your situation.
"Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined."Titus 1:8
"Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined."Titus 1:8
"Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance."Titus 2:2
"to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God."Titus 2:5
"It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,"Titus 2:12
"Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight."1 Peter 3:4
"In this self-confident boasting I am not talking as the Lord would, but as a fool."2 Corinthians 11:17
"and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator."Colossians 3:10
"But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth."James 3:14
"For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice."James 3:16
"What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?"Luke 9:25
"“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence."Matthew 23:25
"The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains."Philippians 1:17
"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves."Philippians 2:3
A verse used for self control for prayer works differently from one you read once. It gets returned to, repeated, and sat with — so it needs enough depth to reward a second and tenth reading, and enough clarity that you are not decoding it every time.
The 15 passages here hold up to repetition. Each is short enough to carry from memory and substantial enough that it does not wear out.
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The most-cited Bible verses for self control for prayer are Titus 1:8, Titus 2:2, Titus 2:5. This page collects 15 of them, each with its full passage, context and the text in six translations.
Read the verse in its surrounding passage before you use it — a verse that fits in isolation sometimes says something different in context. Compare two translations where the wording is unclear, and pick for the person who will read it rather than for the theme.
Scripture returns to self control for prayer across both testaments rather than settling it in one passage, which is why the verses on this page do not all say the same thing. Read together they give a fuller answer than any single verse does.
There is no single best translation. The NIV and NLT read most naturally and communicate well to someone outside the church; the ESV and NASB stay closer to the original wording; the KJV carries the phrasing most people recognise. Every verse here links to a page showing all six side by side.
More than any page can list. This one carries the 15 that are most often turned to for self control for prayer, chosen so each stands on its own and links through to the full chapter it belongs to.