How Often Should you Pray?

[jimmyjimmy]

What's the rule of thumb? Is it monthly, weekly, daily, hourly? Also, can one be a Christian and only pray once a year? Can one pray too much?

 

[Stabat Mater dolorosa]

unceasingly (did I spell that right???), isnt that what our Lord tells us to do?

 

[Stillicidia]

There is such a thing as a prayer closet, which people who are in touch with the Holy Spirit stress upon.
They say go in there and pray if you're feeling toward glorifying him,
asking for something,
seeking what it is you're supposed to do is very common,
seeking learning something,
really just getting in touch with God,
but if you never ask you'll never receive, yet ask but once with faith.

Those people heavily communicate with the Lord though. So, as I don't do that, I glorify, thank, and ask, as I walk, and as my heart compels me.

 

[YouAreAwesome]

You need another option: 100% of the time. Prayer is communion with God and we commune with Him all day even when our mind isn't specifically focussed on Him, our spirit lives in Him and communes. This is prayer.

If you mean focussed prayer with specific intent, there is no should, only desire.

 

[Shane2336]

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

 

[Celestial Warrior]

I believe our Heavenly Father prefers prayers that are done out of necessity and desperation, because we are "most real" when we pray to him - rather then "robotical" prayers done at scheduled times.

Psalm 51:17 "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise."

Psalm 34:18 "The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit."

Isaiah 57:15 "For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones."

What's the rule of thumb? Is it monthly, weekly, daily, hourly? Also, can one be a Christian and only pray once a year? Can one pray too much?

 

[smithed64]

You eat, right?
Then you should pray.
You sleep, right?
Then you should pray.
You got up this morning, right?
Then you should pray.

For everything we do, is because He let's us do it.
Prayer is worship, and we should worship Him all the time.
Using a bit of common sense helps, to. I say this, because I know right now there is someone reading this and will come back and say...well, you have to live, work, eat, sleep and all that jazz, you can't possibly pray all the time.
To that person I say, you need to pray more...because you don't get it. It's not about you. it's All about Christ. Not what He can do for us, because He's done it all. It's what we can do for Him, for which we don't do enough.

 

[Galatea]

Someone already said it- but unceasingly, you don't stop praying. I don't think it means necessarily asking Him for things (actually making requests is the least of it). It means talking to God, telling Him everything, your sins, your fears, your hopes, your problems. It means giving Him praise, too. Like seeing something beautiful and thanking Him for it. Or just thanking Him for who He is. Being constant in season and out of season. It's not a formal thing at all.

When you are saved, God is your Father, so it is sometimes as simple as a child talking to His father.

 

[Celestial Warrior]

I agree with that regarding how often we should pray. But the only way we can do anything for God is by what we do for our neighbor, There is nothing we can do for him, because he is so Great

You eat, right?
Then you should pray.
You sleep, right?
Then you should pray.
You got up this morning, right?
Then you should pray.

For everything we do, is because He let's us do it.
Prayer is worship, and we should worship Him all the time.
Using a bit of common sense helps, to. I say this, because I know right now there is someone reading this and will come back and say...well, you have to live, work, eat, sleep and all that jazz, you can't possibly pray all the time.
To that person I say, you need to pray more...because you don't get it. It's not about you. it's All about Christ. Not what He can do for us, because He's done it all. It's what we can do for Him, for which we don't do enough.

 

[Stabat Mater dolorosa]

I know it depend on the denomination to some extent.
In the ecclesiastical structures of the RCC, EOC and the Anglicans there are clergy dedicating their lives to prayer.

We have the divine office which are prayed at the canonical hours and since there is time differences across the globe it means the church is always praying.

This is in our eyes a way of fulfilling the exhortation of Christ to pray all of the time.

As we see it the church is one body so when somebody prays all of the time others fulfill other works and tasks for Christ such as charitable work for the poor for example.

Im aware that it's just one way of interpreting Christs words and that other denominations may see it differently.

Just so its clear this doesnt mean praying is reserved for clergy only not by a long shot, they just have a special vocation to pray.

Every Christian should pray as much as possible.
Make your life and your very being a living prayer.

 

[Stabat Mater dolorosa]

You eat, right?
Then you should pray.
You sleep, right?
Then you should pray.
You got up this morning, right?
Then you should pray.

For everything we do, is because He let's us do it.
Prayer is worship, and we should worship Him all the time.
Using a bit of common sense helps, to. I say this, because I know right now there is someone reading this and will come back and say...well, you have to live, work, eat, sleep and all that jazz, you can't possibly pray all the time.
To that person I say, you need to pray more...because you don't get it. It's not about you. it's All about Christ. Not what He can do for us, because He's done it all. It's what we can do for Him, for which we don't do enough.

Amen brother, amen.

 

[Galatea]

I should have said this, too- that what you do can be a form of prayer, if it is done unto God. I don't just mean performing a service in a church or in Christian work. But even if you are just sweeping the floor, it can be a form of prayer.

 

[Stabat Mater dolorosa]

I should have said this, too- that what you do can be a form of prayer, if it is done unto God. I don't just mean performing a service in a church or in Christian work. But even if you are just sweeping the floor, it can be a form of prayer.

Precisely.

 

[jimmyjimmy]

unceasingly (did I spell that right???), isnt that what our Lord tells us to do?

Chapter and verse?

 

[Celestial Warrior]

Chapter and verse?

1 Thesselonians 5:17 Pray without ceasing.

 

[jimmyjimmy]

There is such a thing as a prayer closet, which people who are in touch with the Holy Spirit stress upon.
They say go in there and pray if you're feeling toward glorifying him,
asking for something,
seeking what it is you're supposed to do is very common,
seeking learning something,
really just getting in touch with God,
but if you never ask you'll never receive, yet ask but once with faith.

Those people heavily communicate with the Lord though. So, as I don't do that, I glorify, thank, and ask, as I walk, and as my heart compels me.

The "prayer closet", is taken from something Jesus said about praying in private. Taking His words literally in that instance is, IMO a mistake.

So, it's evident that you think people who stress the Holy Spirit, over the Father or Son, have some advantage over the rest of us. Am I understanding you correctly?

 

[jimmyjimmy]

1 Thesselonians 5:17 Pray without ceasing.

I asked because the person who posted said, "unceasingly (did I spell that right???), isnt that what our Lord tells us to do?"

I don't recall Christ saying those words.

 

[jimmyjimmy]

You need another option: 100% of the time. Prayer is communion with God and we commune with Him all day even when our mind isn't specifically focussed on Him, our spirit lives in Him and communes. This is prayer.

If you mean focussed prayer with specific intent, there is no should, only desire.

You pray when you are sleeping? How about when you are speaking to someone?

 

[jimmyjimmy]

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

What does, "without ceasing" mean?

 

[smithed64]

I agree with that regarding how often we should pray. But the only way we can do anything for God is by what we do for our neighbor, There is nothing we can do for him, because he is so Great

Your right.
We obey him...we spread the Gospel, we pray for the sick, we feed the hungry, we clothe the poor, we do all those things which Christ told us to do. That is how we do His work. In Faith. For we will be judged by Christ on our works of faith for Him, come judgment day. We do this because He first loved us, not because of the reward we will receive. Because if you do that, then you will have already received your reward here.

Matthew 6:1-34
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. ...“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. ...