Matthew 26:40-45 New Living Translation (NLT) He said to Peter, “Couldn't you watch with me even one hour? Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!” Then Jesus left them a second time and prayed, “My Father!
“The psalms confirm that we know God's presence at all times only if we set asidecertain times of prayer,” Boers says. The Gospels and Acts refer to praying at the third, sixth, and ninth hours—respectively referring to about three hours after sunrise, noon, and three hours after noon.
Fifteen minutes is a reasonable goal for most lay people who are just starting out. Sometimes with lots of distractions a 15-minute prayer time might yield only a few minutes of heartfelt prayer. It might take five minutes just to set aside your other thoughts so that you can begin to focus on God.
Pastors, as well as all believers, should strive to “pray without ceasing,” however, a good discipline would be to pray at least one hour per day. It is important to mention though that there should be no distinction between a pastor's spiritual life and the life of an ordinary believer.
The typical schedule for the Divine Hours follows a three-hour pattern, with prayers at 6:00 a.m., 9:00 a.m., noon, 3:00 p.m., and 6:00 p.m. In addition, there are evening prayers and morning prayers outside of these times.
From the time of the early Church, the practice of seven fixed prayer times have been taught; in Apostolic Tradition, Hippolytus instructed Christians to pray seven times a day "on rising, at the lighting of the evening lamp, at bedtime, at midnight" and "the third, sixth and ninth hours of the day, being hours ...
So, there is no rule of the thumb on how long we should pray. Examples of brief prayers abound in the Bible. Moses cried out to the Lord for mercy at a crucial time, and his prayer takes up four verses (Deut. 9:26–29).
Torrey asserts that Jesus prayed early in the morning as well as all night, that he prayed both before and after the great events of his life, and that he prayed "when life was unusually busy".
It should be as natural as eating and sleeping -- and as necessary. No wonder the Bible tells us to "pray continually" (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
Prayer is the second pillar in Islam and is considered an obligatory religious duty for all Muslims. There are five prayers throughout the day which have specific time slots in which they can take place. This will vary throughout the year. Each prayer varies in time and can last between 10 to 15 minutes.
Yet Scripture reminds us in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, “Always be joyful and never stop praying.” Never stop praying even when you're weary, disappointed, and disillusioned. Never stop praying even when your words have grown brittle and cold from years of praying. No matter what, keep praying.
Americans who pray do so for an average of 18 minutes per day, the survey showed. These prayers are often focused on someone other than the person doing the praying.
Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.
The bible tells us that David had a vow of praise unto the Lord. Seven times a day he would praise the Lord, and three times a day he would pray.
The Bible speaks of bowing in prayer, kneeling on one's face before God, standing, sitting and walking. The most important thing isn't the position of the body but the condition of the soul. If the heart is attuned to God, one can pray in any posture imaginable.
Amid our busy workdays and weekends, it is not unusual for most of us to let the 3 pm hour pass by as any other hour in the day. Yet after reading the Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, Divine Mercy in My Soul, the 3 pm hour has become a deeply significant time for me.
First, Jesus woke up “a long while before daylight” which probably means anywhere from 4 am to 5 am considering daylight is probably 7-7:30 am. In addition to this, He didn't stop praying until His disciples found Him.
Prayers don't need to be long and eloquent to be effective. Short ones—“Help!”—whispered or cried from a heart that truly recognizes one's need for God's provision or intervention can stir Him to answer.
Frequent short prayers are of more worth than a few lengthy prayers. Martin Luther (16th century) recommended prayers be numerous but short in duration. The fewer the words the better the prayer.
Prayer can also be short. We can turn to God earnestly and with a totally ready mind, open to His guidance and goodness.
In the final part of the discourse (John 17:1-26) Jesus prays for his followers and the coming Church. This is the longest prayer of Jesus in any of the gospels, and is known as the Farewell Prayer or the High Priestly Prayer.
Jesus emphasized the need to persevere in prayer, and by this, He meant that Christians ought to pray for at least two set times per day, during the day and at night. Notice in the following parable what the text says in verse 1 of Luke 18. He tells them how they should always pray.
The Talmud gives two reasons why there are three basic prayers each day: Each service was instituted parallel to a sacrificial act in the Temple in Jerusalem: the morning Tamid offering, the afternoon Tamid offering, and the overnight burning of this last offering.