Praying

>>Have you ever spent an hour or more praying?

I have spent up to 4 or 5 hours praying. But usually two or three hours is enough. Of course we are to pray at all times, but I assume you mean just praying and not doing anything else. At the church I attend a lot of people stay after the service to pray. I love to stay and pray with people for their needs. Thanks, JohnR7

James 5:16 The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

1 John 3:22 And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.

my longest time praying is about 2 hours.
and thats the usual for me. people use to talk like the longer time praying makes the better prayer, or that i should strive to pray as long as i could. but ive found the longer amount of time praying isnt neccesarilly making your prayer anymore effective. but there are times while deep in interccession for something that god pushes you, wanting you to spend sometimes long amounts of time, becuase sometimes that means releasing a greater amount of power into the spiritual realm for god to use.
(god uses our prayers as currency, he cant simply do what he wants, the world is satans by rebellion and god needs interccessors)

anyway,
i find it very easy to pray for great lengths of time now, if im having conversation with god, or if i am praying for more than just myself.
i cant pray for myself more than about 30 min, i run out of things to ask for. most of my time praying is confession to god, adoring god, talking with god, or praying for others and other peoples needs. i shouldnt be so selfish as to only pray for myself anyway, people are dying, and many cant pray for themselves.
if someone wants to pray longer, find other peoples needs to pray for, and do that last. but start adoring or loving on god early, get into his presence early while praying, and hell give you motivation, strength and endurance to go the rest of the way.
INTERCESSION by Dutch Sheets! woohoo good book!

I usually combine my prayer time with worship.I put on worship music and just sit in His presense. One of the biggest benefits I have seen to the "longer" sessions is the softening of my heart and greater intimacy with my "Abba".
If I just wanted to bring a list, that would not take very long. When I am asking for something specific, it seems that there is a feeling of release that sometimes takes 30 seconds, sometimes an hour.
Our church had an intercession class once and they said that different people emphasis different things in their praying. They said it is not always a case of being out of balance, but sometimes is a "burden" from G-d for some specific area.Some pray a list, others engage in spiritual warfare, etc. They said we should all in our lifetime engage in all aspects of prayer, but it is not wrong to follow what G-d is placing on your heart for a certain season or time.

Originally posted by solo66 man
Have you ever spent an hour or more praying?

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By the way, I would not advise an hour or more when asked to pray the blessing for a meal. LOL

Intresting topic.
I have a hard time praying for long periods of time. I find my mind wanders. I often find myself praying alot short prayers through out the day. I also find it easier to pray while I am taking a walk.
If anyone has any good ideas of how to keep focused during my prayer time I would appreicate that.

i try to pray more, but there are days when i am just too busy.

well,
i dont believe prayer should ever be shut out by being too busy. i find the best thing to do, is to make your prayer time the very first thing in your entire day, atleast then you know youll get it done, and it will ready you.
have a mastered this? nope.
i find myself oversleeping and waste my time and end up not being able to pray alot. but it is cus im lasy, not becuase i have too be like that.

when i pray, i always go into my room, maybe play some instrumental music, nothing with words. and i turn all the lights off and close the door, i want no distractions. just me and god. and that helps to keep my mind focused, without having pictures and objects distracting me.
i always start out talking to god, and asking for things later. i pour myself out before him and that gets my desire and thoughts focused on him. but it is always a mental battle, keeping focused, untill your in that zone with god, and nothing distracts you.

i think one problem people have is simply the fact that they only know a few types of prayer.
like petitionary prayer.
asking for a need.
they come to god, ask god to give them what they need and then they leave.
but there is so much more than that to praying.
like having conversations with him, loving on him, him loving on you, worshipping him, really getting to know him. not simply using him to get what you need.
i mean, really get to know him. hes not a genie in a lamp, hes a person who wants a relationship more than simply granting your wishes, he wants to walk around and talk with you all day about everything, not simply get rubbed on everyday so he can grant a wish. when you have a relationship with god, prayer may last for hours, like conversations with other people may last for hours, becuase both sides are contributing.

Thank you Psalms.

I think the most important thing i do in my prayer time is to worship and give thanks to the Lord in all the wonderful things he has done.

Mu average prayer time is 1 -2 hours, altho many times it ends in 15 minutes. It just depends on the time, circumstances, etc. I often have somewhat of a running dialogue with God all day, but I don't consider that prayer so much as just relating. I too usually combine my prayer time with worship. And I almost ALWAYS have my Bible open, and am often thumbing through it. Many, many times during prayer God uses a particular scripture passage to direct me in prayer. I also keep a prayer journal which has really benefited me. I look back and see what God has done through the years and my faith grows.

Prayer is a Great thing! I have found God speaks to us all day long. Amen to that. I have had some interesting trials in my life for many years, all day long. There are demons everwhere and without being in constant prayer and constantly learning from your bible, I'd say or better yet, I know you are at risk. Thank God he is always there for us, protecting us, watching over us every second of the day.

Jesus is comming soon! If you'd like to Join a world wide organization that shares Jesus Christ with every person on the face of the earth, please visit http://www.thegiftsoftheholyspirit.org

Everyone should be sharing Jesus with everyone. Follow the link and email your language to everyone you know. God will bless you a million times more than you could ever imagin!

Amen my friends in Christ Jesus,
Prince Charming

Originally posted by bananaman


By the way, I would not advise an hour or more when asked to pray the blessing for a meal. LOL

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Actually, we pray for an hour or so, while the meal is in the oven. Praying that it will be edible.

John