How Often Should you Pray?

AlexDTX said:

Then you misunderstand prayer. Prayer is conversation. God hates religion. He hates religious prayer. He wants intimacy in a one on one relationship. Because the question is absurd, I must respond.

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If you haven't realized by now, no answer is really being sought. Our chains are just being jerked.

I think consistent prayer is the same as constant vigilence

I think everyone has seen the action movies and television shows of a combat force on enemy ground with the little ear-mounted transceivers keeping them in contact with the base station. Or maybe you've seen Secret Service or other security personnel with the little coiled cords trailing from one ear. That's what "pray unceasingly" means--having the communication line constantly open, constantly relaying your sense of your situation to "home base" and getting information about your situation that you can't discern as well as instructions of what to do next.

I think, though, that an underlying false premise to the OP is that "prayer" is only petition. It's not only petition.

I have found that for myself, when I have petitioned in prayer for an answer from God, the answer never comes during a petition of prayer. Rather, it's when I'm in a prayer of praise and thanksgiving--when my thoughts are concentrated on God's greatness rather than my own needs--when I get the answer I sought with my early petition.

jimmyjimmy said:

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?

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Jesus did NOT give us a schedule of praying; nor would he ever do that. This would make praying just another man-made "religion" fomented by satan.

Rather: Jesus made it plain (which MOST disobey sadly) that we were to NOT pray publicly. Matthew 6:5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues (includes churches) and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

Matthew 6:6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

Matthew 6:7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

Later he gave us an example of HOW we should pray:

Matthew 6:9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

Matthew 6:10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Matthew 6:11 Give us this day our daily bread.

Matthew 6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

Matthew 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

NOTE: Under NO circumstance are we to say those "exact" words; rather use your OWN sincere words; because He sees your heart. This means, NEVER:

Write down a prayer or say it repetitiously or quote a prayer you have read, etc.

Sadly and again MOST all that pray, do this and THIS is one of the reasons that MOST prayers are never answered. The right way to do it; is to read Daniel 9 and see that God did note Daniel's prayer; because the prayer was straight from the heart of Daniel. Thus his prayer "was heard in Heaven". Daniel 9:20 And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God; Daniel 9:21 Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. Daniel 9:22 And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding.

Daniel also did something that MOST would never do; and that was to admit, in NO uncertain terms, that he and his people WERE responsible for their pain. As such, God showed mercy on him and his people and shortly thereafter, ENDED their bondage in "Babylon"; where they had suffered for 70 long years!

May Jesus richly bless you always,

patdee

patdee said:

Rather: Jesus made it plain (which MOST disobey sadly) that we were to NOT pray publicly. Matthew 6:5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues (includes churches) and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

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There is an exception to that, or not, depending on how your define "publicly."

They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. -- Acts 1

And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is:

Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?

The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.

For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,

For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.

And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,

By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus.

And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. -- Acts 4

I would argue that a prayer by members of the Body of Christ who are in one accord is not a "public" prayer, but it's also not an individual prayer and not a hypocritical prayer if the members are in one accord.

A prayer broadcast to unbelievers would, IMO, fall into the context Christ decried. That would include, for instance "invocations" over public events like sports games and even Congress.

jimmyjimmy said:

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?

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Can one pray too much? Who has that problem?

RDKirk said:

If you haven't realized by now, no answer is really being sought. Our chains are just being jerked.

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Hey man, definitely not nice. That's not my understanding of the OP or jimmyjimmy's follow-ons. The question of how often a christian should pray is one well worth giving thought to and discussing. No one has jerked my chain. Because of this thread I've done some useful Bible study and maybe another millimeter has been added to my height.
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2PhiloVoid said:

Can one pray too much? Who has that problem?

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O dear, after heartily agreeing with you. It came to me that, well yes, it is possible to pray too much.
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afishamongmany said:

O dear, after heartily agreeing with you. It came to me that, well yes, it is possible to pray too much.
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I suppose that someone could spend all their time doing nothing but prayer in an isolated social context, displacing their opportunities to do "good" on behalf of Christ and His Church. But it seems to me that for someone to be caught in that kind of scenario, he would have to suffer from some form of O.C.D. ... which then would be a realization that he isn't really praying for the right reasons or with the right, God-given priorities.

However, most of us, I think, don't really pray enough ...

Peace,
2PhiloVoid

Anguspure said:

Who would determine whether it's fuzzy or sloppy? The Spirit leads where the Spirit leads at a given time and a relationship will wax and wane in season, like a dance.

I too have found that structured prayer times, places and formulas are even more conducive to feelings of guilt if we are prone to such. Furthermore the religous structure tends to emphasize the person talking bit of prayer over the listening bit.
Formulas also tend to override the leading of the Spirit and often lead to a whole lot of mindless, heartless jabber.

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Angus, I think we all have a responsibility to try to determine whether what we do or are involved in is fuzzy, sloppy, good, bad, indifferent. Sure walk in The Spirit, dance in The Spirit, but the majority of the time we still have to make decisions and be responsible for them.
I've done a lot of dancing in days past and I'm quite ok with dance as part of a worship service but just as, imo, praying is something different from sweeping floors, so also, imo, praying is not like dancing. Sure, there are many different kinds of, levels of and occasions for praying but my view (as one who does a lot of looking and in whom the Spirit of Christ also dwells) of 'current Christianity' is that fuzzy theology and sloppy piety rule the roost. O that we were spending more time in pray, pulling down strong holds and wrestling against the rulers of the darkness of this world!
Go well
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Teresa C. said:

1Thessalonians 5:17-Pray without ceasing. I believe we should be in continual prayer. I only checked the choice that I did because praying continually wasn't a choice. In all that we do as Christians we should pray.

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Philip.Lee said:

Pray incessantly says the bible in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 so I guess constant prayer is the target but the most frequent you've mentioned is hourly so I voted hourly.

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Hello Teresa C. and Philip.Lee, Welcome to CF.
I don't know if you've picked it up from reading the thread but there is disagreement about what 'without ceasing' in 1 Thessalonians 5, means.
I would be interested to know if either of you believe yourselves to be 'in continual prayer' or that your aim is to pray at least hourly?
Again welcome
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You can pray with just the specific intent of praising God. And I think there is no real reason not to give praise and thanks to God, whether sad or happy, although it can sometimes be difficult in troubling times. But even in the worst of times we have countless blessings we can be thankful for! So although I don't believe there's an exact amount people should be praying , I think a believer should pray very often.

jimmyjimmy said:

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?

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To a christian, a prayer is regular, however regular does not mean pray for a pretence but wholeheartedly (Plasm 49:6-7). A..ng..can uses the book of common payers, meaning there is a common and unique prayer. Common will be common on collective and individual will be anytime without pretence but when need be. Pray is anytime should the person want to talk.

If you want to be technical or legalistic, the God's Word says "pray without stopping". But with God, we are talking about a genuine, communicative relationship. Asking 'How much should a Christian pray?' is the same as asking "How often should you talk to your spouse?" It conveys a heart that only wants to meet some set of minimum requirements. Praying and talking to God are the same thing, except since God is a Spirit who lives within you (if the Spirit of Christ dwells within you), you don't even need to say words with your mouth. You can think them. In fact, you don't even need to think your prayers in words. You can actually pray 'in the spirit'. This is simply reaching out to God with your heart/soul/spirit. You can make any noise you want when you're praying aloud to God, IN PRIVATE. This is called "praying in the spirit" and it is not intended for church/assemblies of the believers, according to God's Word. This is a personal thing between you and God. Speaking (aka Messages) in tongues is different. It always comes with interpretation, and it is for the public edification of the assembled believers. That's not what we're talking about here. Keeping God in your mind and praying are essentially the same things. God wants us in relationship with Him and therefore has told us to pray to Him always. Some denominations get all the types of prayer mixed up. Some say "speaking in tongues" when really what they're doing is "praying in the spirit", except they're doing it in a congregation when God's Word says that is not profitable and can cause confusion. Others believe you have to pray out loud, in words of a known language, but God doesn't need your words to know your spirit. Words are the fruit of a tree, and Jesus wants the whole tree. Praying is simply communicating with God. He wants you to do this all the time. And if you love God, it comes automatically. If we don't want to communicate with God, that's when it becomes a COMMAND because we NEED to talk with God so He can fix our "want-er" LOL. Love God. Talk to Him.

jimmyjimmy said:

You are changing the definition of prayer in order to fit your literalistic view of one text, while ignoring a Bible filled with examples of prayer, none of which match your description. If I'm wrong about that, just back up your view with scriptural references. That's a reasonable request, isn't it? Your opinion means nothing to me, and mine should mean nothing to you. God's Holy Word is what matters. That's my bedrock.

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Jimmy, prayer is communication with God. What is one doing when they pray? They are speaking to God and if they are not giving Him a wish list to fill like a genie, they are ALSO setting off time to listen if God has anything to say back. Therefore, if one is speaking to Him and allowing Him to speak back, that is called, "communication" in English. I avoid, as my own "bedrock" trying to get too pious with my words and definitions.

jimmyjimmy said:

God's Holy Word is what matters. That's my bedrock.

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If you are going to be so strict with me... let me return the favor. You use the term, "Lord's Prayer" at least twice on this page of posts. The phrase, "Lord's Prayer" is not in Scripture. I know you are referring to, but if you are going to be strict with others, be strict with yourself and stop using words and phrases not found in Scripture. And... as you should know... the "Lord's Prayer" is an example, not something to literally repeat like many do. Not that repeating it is a bad thing, but his point wasn't, "repeat after me," it was, "do it LIKE this."

AlexDTX said:

Then you misunderstand prayer. Prayer is conversation. God hates religion. He hates religious prayer. He wants intimacy in a one on one relationship. Because the question is absurd, I must respond.

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Jimmy wants this proved Alex... that prayer is a conversation (I used, "communication"... the root of which is COMMUNE, Jimmy) I would counter with, "prove it is not." What is prayer then, us giving God a wish list like a genie so He can do our bidding? The just live by faith and faith comes by HEARING the Word of God. We hear and then we do... so we pray, we pray for whatever is on our heart and what is that? It is us talking to God, but since faith comes by hearing, it is also us LISTENING to God. Therefore, it is a two-way street, conversation, communication... that is what it is.