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I guess this could fall under theology, and it was spurred by a thread in theology; but when you guys perform intercessory prayer, just how do you go about doing it? It seems to be different for different people I guess...I just hear people say that they pray for hours, yet as far as what I have heard about prayer, you normally speak during prayer; and then naturally, I wonder what someone can say for four hours that is different from what they said in the first five minutes. (Actually, as I write this, it applies to any sort of prayer). Can prayer be wordless?
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Gosh, I hope so. Mine is...
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Romans 8:26
Matthew 6: 5-15
Luke 18: 1-8
1 John 5: 14-15
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Originally Posted by jengoesup I guess this could fall under theology, and it was spurred by a thread in theology; but when you guys perform intercessory prayer, just how do you go about doing it? It seems to be different for different people I guess...I just hear people say that they pray for hours, yet as far as what I have heard about prayer, you normally speak during prayer; and then naturally, I wonder what someone can say for four hours that is different from what they said in the first five minutes. (Actually, as I write this, it applies to any sort of prayer). Can prayer be wordless? When you start praying regularly you start finding out that there is more and more to pray about. For instance, say that you're praying for your friend who just got pregnant as a high schooler. This may take five to ten seconds. Then you remember that that friend will be in a tough financial situation. This takes a bit longer. Then you remember that maybe you could help ease that financial burden, maybe even by babysitting, but you don't want to because you're selfish, so you pray for yourself. Then you remember that that friend will feel ashamed at school and church, so you pray for you with that. Then you remember that she will feel ashamed at church because the people there are self-righteous, so you pray for them. Then you remember that you're self-righteous in that you look down on the people at church for being so self-righteous, so you pray for yourself. Then you remember that one of your other friends asked you to pray for her because she is so self-righteous. Etc.
If you pray for two minutes, that's perfectly fine. There's no magic formula for prayer. As a matter of fact, Jesus speaks against people who use long, wordy, repetitive prayers in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) because they think that their prayers are so great that God will just have to listen to them. Prayer seems ineffective because it can be short and simple -- but the Cross seemed ineffective to the world as well. We don't trust that prayer will work because it seems powerless in itself. But in our powerlessness lies God's power; in our weakness is God's strength.
Is it possible to pray for a long time? Yes, especially if you get caught up in something like the first paragraph. But you don't have to pray for a long time at all. The Bible has some very looong prayers in it, and some three-word prayers in it.
If you're interested in prayer, you might start praying through the Psalms -- one a day, one at morning and one at night, or whatever else you'd like. Feel free not to do that if it doesn't interest you, though.
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Prayer certainly can be wordless, and I engage in my fair share of it throughout the day, but I've found that it's a lot better for maintaining focus if you speak it aloud.
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Just remember that prayer (as many people I have met believe) is not just you talking "at" God. Prayer is you talking "with" God. Its not deep at all. Its a simple two way convorsation. When you are praying you should ALWAYS have some quiet time because in this quiet time is when God will talk to you, so completing the two way thing. So if you pray and are quiet before God, then yes. You are doing everything right in my opinion
Also, the Bible talks of many different kinds of prayer, and its important to know about them. However... it would take up a lot of space for me to type them here and I dont know if you are even interested... so if you are you can PM me and I will gladly send you them
God Bless
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I pretty much agree with everyone so far....you don't have to pray for hours, unless you feel inclined...but prayer is often helpful when its a conversation....
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Prayer can be short and it can be long. Nehemiah had really short prayers.
I know at times when I talk with God at night, we'll talk into the wee hours of the morning. Just because its not just you talking to God and you coming up with things to talk about but God talks to you about things too.
But prayer can also be...well I wouldn't call it wordless...but more like you do it with out thinking about it. Like praying in the Spirit- You can do it all day long with out really thinking about it.
And I know that when my folks will pray for someone they will do it for hours. Because often they will wait on the Lord, linger in His presence. and wait for Him to reveal things, then they pray that or pray for what they saw. Hope that helps. If not let me know.
Lord bless ya.
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Wow, can you ever pray without words. Sometimes you just find yourself in the presence of God, and you only want to rest and drink in the healing, the power.
I recently found myself praying for rather a long time, but I wasn't keeping track. It may only have been a few minutes or even an hour. I was writing out the prayer and it was one about something that I had been deeply concerned about for a long time, but somehow thought it was probably none of my business, didn't think I should waste my time praying, or was fairly sure I shouldn't.
It was a back and forth thing, emotionally, listening and writing. So it took a while.
I'm not sure most of my prayer is that lengthy at all, just when I am feeling a need to pray about major changes. I wonder if people who pray for four hours are very deep into a ministry*. I have a feeling that would be the case. I'd never go for praying like a marathon, like set a goal to pray for two hours and see how much stuff I could get in, but I would pray for ten if I really felt the need.
I think prayer is a muscle you build, plus you grow more intimate with God when you get on in your years with him.
*or just very into a family problem? Or like God a lot!
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Prayer is a conversation. When you approach God in prayer, you don't always need words, though. Can you speak to someone without words? I'd say that you could. Often, being there for someone to speak what you have to say, and make yourself available to that person wait to see if they have something to say, even when it ends up that there are no words passed between you, is the most valuable time you have. If you approach God with the attitude of prayer, it's much more important than physically saying a prayer.
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Simply yes. Sometimes how I express my emotions reveals more than words ever could for a particular moment.