The Biblical meaning of supplication

25-08-2025 - Posted by Geert-Jan
Originally posted on July 21, 2025 – by Andre Piet

“Open your mouth, boldly demand of Me, on My covenant of mercy…”
— Psalm 81:11 (old metrical psalms)

Those familiar with the old psalm rendering may recognize this line. Although the phrasing “boldly demand of Me” is a poetic paraphrase and not an exact match with the original text, it captures a deep biblical truth. In Scripture, supplication is not a cry of desperation, but rather a confident appeal to what God Himself has promised.

Supplication: hopeless or hopeful?

In many translations, the word “supplication” sounds like a last resort—a pleading beggar praying without any assurance of receiving. But when we examine the root words in the Bible—Hebrew (tachanoen) and Greek (deēsis)—a very different picture emerges. In Scripture, supplication is an intense and fervent appeal to God’s faithfulness and promises. It reflects deep trust—an expectation resting on His Word.

Think of a child saying to their father, “You promised we’d go to the playground today?” That child is not begging like a pauper, but appealing to what their father has already said. That is biblical supplication.

Appealing to God’s faithfulness – four biblical examples

Through Scripture, we find people invoking God’s prior word in prayer. Their pleas are therefor not desperate cries but profound expressions of faith: appeals to God’s promises, His loyalty, and His righteousness.

1. David in Psalm 143 – appealing to God’s character

In Psalm 143, David prays:

“Hear my prayer, O LORD; give ear to my supplications; answer me according to Your faithfulness, according to Your righteousness.”
— Psalm 143:1–

David finds himself here in great distress. Yet he does not attempt to convince God with his own goodness or devotion – on the contrary: he explicitly does not appeal to his own merit, but to God’s faithfulness and righteousness.

That is telling. God’s faithfulness (Hebrew: chesed) and righteousness (tsedaqah) refer to His reliability in keeping His promises. David knows: God has promised that he, as the anointed one, would come to the throne. And so, precisely because he is in mortal danger, he appeals to that promise. He knows that God is just in what He has spoken. That is not a desperate pleading, but trust that God does what He says.

2. Solomon at the temple dedication – based on a promise

At the dedication of the temple in 2 Chronicles 6, Solomon speaks an impressive prayer in which he asks God to listen to the prayers that are spoken in and toward that place:

“So that Your eyes may be open day and night over this house… the place of which You said that You would place Your name there; that You may hear the prayer… and the supplication of Your servant.”
— 2 Chronicles 6:20

Solomon does not pray on the basis of piety or merit, but because God Himself said that He would place His name there. It is therefore an appeal to a concrete promise. And further on in the same prayer he adds:

“Then You hear in the heavens their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their right.” (verse 35)

Here too we see the pattern: supplication = an appeal + expectation. This is also evident from the addition “maintain their right” – which means: do what You have promised. Supplication is here explicitly connected to bringing about justice on the basis of the covenant.

3. Daniel in chapter 9 – at the moment of fulfillment

Daniel studies the prophecies of Jeremiah and reads that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years (Jer. 25:11-12). When he determines that this period has passed, he begins to pray:

“Then I set my face to my Lord, God, to inquire of Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.”
— Daniel 9:3

What exactly does Daniel do? He does not devise his own desires or timelines – he bases himself entirely on the Word that God had spoken. He appeals to the name of God, to His covenant and mercy, and says:

“For not on the ground of our just doings are we casting our supplications before You, but on the ground of Your many compassions.”
— Daniel 9:18

This is supplication in the biblical sense: not out of uncertainty, but out of trust. And the remarkable thing is: even before he has finished speaking, the answer comes through the angel Gabriel (verses 20–23). Why? Because he prayed on the basis of God’s promise. That is what makes his prayer powerful.

4. Jesus in the days of His flesh – obedient and hopeful

The letter to the Hebrews says about Jesus:

“In the days of His flesh, offering both petitions and supplications with strong clamor and tears to Him Who is able to save Him out of death, He is hearkened to also for His piety.”
— Hebrews 5:7

This passage seems especially to refer to Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane. In utmost intensity – “strong clamor and tears” – He prays to His Father. Yet this is not a crying into the void. Jesus knows what is written. He knows that the Messiah must suffer, die, and rise. He says, after all: “On the third day I shall be roused.” (Matt. 16:21)

His prayer was saturated with the Word. He appealed to God’s plan. And the letter to the Hebrews explicitly states: He is hearkened . Not because He was spared the cross, but because He was raised from the dead – as promised. Even in suffering He held fast to God’s Word. His supplication was an appeal of faith.

A righteous one who appeals

James writes: “The petition of a just one is availing much, being energized.” (James 5:16)
Once again, the word deēsis is used: it is about a supplication, an appeal. Not just anyone is calling out, but a righteous one – someone who believes God’s words (Rom. 4:3). And that is why it is energized: the prayer is in line with what God Himself has spoken.

Trusting in the unchanging Word

What a peace that gives: our prayer is not a lottery. Supplication is not a desperate cry into the darkness, but a fervent appeal to the light of God’s promise. He has spoken, and therefore it is so. Faith is: saying amen to what He has said. In that way, supplication becomes: speaking to God in the certainty of what He Himself has already said.

That is not presumptuous. That is faith.

See also this study: demand of Me with boldness

Delen: