How Much Do You Pray?

How Much Praying Do You Do?

“Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5:16-18‬

This is a rhetorical question of course. 

I found myself starting my prayer time this morning in deep thought. Deeper than normal. 

Usually my morning starts out like this; I brush my teeth. Head to the kitchen to feed the dogs (three of them), let them out, make my coffee while they’re on their toodle (my wife’s word) and when they’re done I put them back up to sleep a couple more hours. Once they are up I sit at my spot and begin to pray. 

This morning when I sat down I started thinking about all the things I’ve prayed for over the past almost two years. And then the verse above stuck out to me - “pray without ceasing”. We see this verse a lot, and by we, I mean the folks that actually read their Bible and go to church. 

I thought about prayer. Not the actual act of praying, or the content, rather how often we pray. Praying is biblical, it’s commanded.  It’s done at every church service. People tell you they pray for you. Prayer is used in our daily lives - often. And it should be done much much more. 

So how often do you pray?

I sat and thought about this, this morning....

But before I go into that, I have to go backwards a bit. When everything started to fall apart for me I asked a friend of mine about prayer. This friend is the most Godly man I know. He worked with me, he married my wife and I by becoming ordained through the county, he filled-in as a pastor at our old church, held bible studies weekly and he lives his life to honor Christ. He truly is a Godly person. 

I asked him how to pray, how often, what to pray about, should I pray out loud, etc. we had a very lengthy conversations about prayer. It was important that I find out as much as I could about prayer, because I was going to be doing a lot of it. Little did I know, prayer was going to be the center of my life. 

The first thing I wondered was if I had to pray out loud. There are times I get up in the morning or I can’t sleep and I begin having a conversation with God in my mind. I talk to Him all the time like that. I pray out loud as well, but I’ve had more conversations with God in my head all day long than I’ve had with most people all my life. Now, I do both. I start my day off in prayer, aloud. I’ll stop during the day, sit down and pray out loud to God. I’ll sit in my car. I’ll take a walk and pray. Or I’ll simply talk to GOD silently in my head. 

Secondly I wondered about the content of prayer. What things should I pray about. I didn’t want to ask God for things, it felt awkward. It felt selfish. I knew I should bring my problems before God, but I wasn’t sure how I should do that. I definitely didn’t like it when people would come up to me and start complaining. Or how about that person, the only time you hear from them, is when they need something. I didn’t want to be that person to God either. Now I have a prayer template I use. I come to God in my morning prayer time and I praise Him for everything He’s done in my life and the things He’s doing. I give Him thanks. I ask for His help. And I make commitments to God. 

And then I wondered what everyone else wonders, does God truly listen to my prayers?  The very simple answer to this is, yes He does. 

So back to the original question, how often do you pray? There is no set number of times to pray. And as you get further along in your walk with Jesus Christ, you will find that you pray more often and for longer periods of time. 

God will answer your prayers. I’m going to give you a short glimpse of that. I’m not going to go into much detail and to some it won’t make sense. To others, you’ll know. 

I used to pray to God before I was saved, that He would help me with all the stuff (bad decisions) I had going on. I would pray that He would forgive me and that he would help me out. And right now I know what a lot of you are thinking. 

God answered my prayer. Maybe not the way I wanted it to be answered. Definitely not the way most people would prefer. But He answered it in a way only God could. I wasn’t strong enough to do what He needed me to do, and He didn’t want to lose me to the “other” side. This was His way of getting me to stop, pay attention and turn to Him.  Most people will never need that. I did. And I’m not afraid to use it as an example. 

God answers prayer. Period! Don’t believe me, come see me, call me or text me. I will show you my prayer journal. I have pages of answered prayer. I have people and a church full of answered prayer. Prayer works!

So why wouldn’t you pray all the time? You should. I don’t do it enough. I talk to God throughout the day and I thank Him for everything He’s done in my life. Daily! If you don’t have that kind of relationship with God, get it. 

I asked my wife how often she prays, and her answer didn’t surprise me. It would have surprised me two years ago, but it didn’t today. She said she prays all the time. And I believe her. Prayer should be at the center of your life.

Do you know what that looks like? Do you turn to God daily in prayer?

Take time today to get alone with God and pray to Him. Thank Him for what He’s done in your life and ask Him to use you for His glory. 

“Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

‭‭James‬ ‭5:16‬

“Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”

‭‭Mark‬ ‭11:24‬

“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

‭‭2 Chronicles‬ ‭7:14