How long should you pray every day?
And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? (Mark 14:37, ESV)
Did you realize that the scriptures do not prescribe for us any specifics about how long we should pray or study the Bible or do this or that? Your life is meant to be lived by the Spirit and not ceremonial rules as such.
So how long should we pray a day? Or should we even pray every day? Let me quickly share a profound truth with you to answer these questions. Your performance in prayer does not change God’s love for you. Praying more does not make you more of a child of God than someone who does not. But there is a catch. Our practical relationship with God and especially our experiences of His presence, power and blessings in this present life are conditioned on the maturity of our relationship with Him.
God loves all of us the same, but not all of us have the same intimacy and relationship with Him. This is a crucial truth. We are all loved, and are children but we live in what I call different circles of intimacy. And God has left it up to each of us to decide where we want to be. If you pray 5 minutes a day and read one scripture a day, it will never change how much God loves you. But you will experience Him proportional to 5minutes a day prayer and one scripture a day. This is one of the greatest deceptions I have found amongst us believers today. People want to pray, for example, 1 minute a day but experience the presence or the exercise power reserved for those who have greater intimacy with Him. For example, a believer can spend his entire day entertaining themselves and when a problem arises, they get up and try to speak to their circumstance like their pastor did and wonder why nothing happens. Many of them see the results their pastor or that man of God on TV obtains but never pay attention to know what these men and women of God do behind the screens.
How long should you pray? It depends on where you want to be with God. How long should you read the Bible a day? It depends on what you are looking for. The treasures of the kingdom are for those who are practically closest. Pray five minutes a day, God will still love you but expect to get five minutes a day spiritual results.
MEDITATE
What kind of relationship are you looking for with God?
APPLY THE WORD
Brethren, we are in very challenging days and it is geting more challenging each day. However, those who are planted by the rivers of living water will flourish while the rest of the world around them is drying up. I lay before you an intimate or superficial relationship with the Father today. Choose to be intimate with the Spirit and enjoy the glory of His presence and power here and now! Pay the price. Go after God more than silver or gold.
PRAY
Ask the Spirit to put a desire in your heart for intimacy with Him and to make you to be restless until you see His glory and power in your life.
Read & Watch
The Worst Prayer Request in the Bible
Why is Prayer So Difficult?
Coming Before the Throne in Prayer
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Thank you Brother Patrick for all your insights and encouragements to grow in our relationship with God. They are unique. Please share how one can have intimacy with God through prayer, that might not necessarily come with the reading of a scripture passage and praying for various needs, which I think is what most Christians do.
You are welcome Lalitha. Thank you for those encouraging words. Prayer is a mystery, a heavenly device that connects us to the Lord is a way beyond our comprehension. Yes, many of us have only known prayer as a means of asking God for our needs. Yes, this is part of what prayer does but it is not where the greatest benefit of prayer lies. The mystery of prayer lies in the fellowship or communion we have with the Father, whether it is in asking things from Him or even just sitting there in His presence and saying nothing. If believers will cultivate a habit of daily prayer as our Lord demonstrated, seeking time to be with the Father in fellowship and allowing His presence bath us in glory and power daily, the world will be turned up side down for the good by the Church. I have written extensively about prayer which you will find under the category called “prayer”. This is the link for your convenience.https://patrickoben.com/category/prayer/ I will encourage you to also read this devotional explaining dimensions of prayer https://patrickoben.com/three-dimensions-prayer-explore/. Prayer is just one device for the building up of our spiritual lives as I shared in the devotional of April 16h. We also need the Word to grow. I will encourage you to cultivate that determination you already have in your heart to pray, not with the purpose of asking this or that from God as you have rightly said, but to be in fellowship with the Father in prayer consistently as Jesus did. Do it repeatedly, daily for a few weeks or months and see what happens to you. You will begin to know God’s voice and presence in a way that will surprise you. And the sweetest part of it all is that the Father so much enjoys our time in fellowship with Him in prayer. Many of us do not know but it is important we do!
Please ensure you have obtained a copy of our book “The Devotional Life: Your key to a spiritual life with results”. The PDF copy was made free a few days ago. If you did not obtain it, please let me know and I will send a free PDF to you. My joy is to see believers with such a heart as you have for growing in the faith and becoming more intimate with the Father.