Does the AMOUNT of prayer have any effect? What does the Bible say?

Question

I also do what I can from my end to make my life better. But things can get very discouraging and I see lots of prayer as one solution. Is a lot of prayer good, especially about the same things. I am not asking about praying in general but is it more effective if you pray MORE, even about the same things.

This verse seems to say no:

Matthew 6:7
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.

These verses seem to say yes:

Luke 18:1
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.

Psalm 86:3
Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I call to you all day long.

Answer 1

Matthew 6 is the canting with a Buddhists monk like repetition or continuous chanting of a rosary like set.

Luke 18 says contact God often ask for the knowledge of His will and the strength to carry out this guidance.

These short lines says that God answers prayers quickly if it is His will and that the judgments of man may be faulty but if you go to God His judgments are always correct and He will take action for the elect.

In Psalms 86 David asks for mercy because he knows he made and makes mistakes. He also says that he converses with God throughout the day (asking for strength and guidance).

Prayer is very powerful and if you choose God and He has chosen you then a person need not worry. Prayer works.

Answer 2

If you are praying to ask God to make your life better, then you are "babbling like the pagans" and no amount of repetition is going to make it more "effective". On the other hand, if your prayer is in your constant attitude toward life (calling to the Lord all day long), or if you are basically asking God to help you develop the strength you will need to do the right things (always pray and not give up), then you are on a better track. It isn't about taking a buckshot approach, it is about having your heart in the right place.

Just don't forget that those bible verses are translations, and may not convey all the shades of meaning of the originals. What is translated as "prayer" may have different meanings in different languages.

Answer 3

The only time you have to pray is now.

Ultimately time is an illusion.

That is one problem that many many Christians get hung up on. They think it's important to live a certain way to ensure going to heaven. A future event.

I think you just need to be in communication with God now. Prayer is one way. But, if you really believe that God is omnipresent and within yourself, then it's not necessary to pray. If you like praying, then go ahead. Why not? It sounds good.

Christians also seem to forget that though, that God is right here, right now. God isn't some entity far away that must be phoned up. If you believe that's the case, then you don't believe that God is omnipresent.

That's where we get screwed up. We always think that God is somewhere else and can't possibly be right here. How can God be here when I'm having difficult times? Well, God is right here. You believe it, or you don't. God is so intimately here.

Meditation is similar to prayer and I also think that far too many Christians have lost touch with this valuable way of knowing God. In it's simplist form all you do is focus on your breath, letting thoughts pass through.

Don't get stuck on thoughts about God. Just let thoughts pass through. Thoughts, like anything, come and go.

Forget about praying more, just pray now. Make your life a constant prayer. It really isn't that hard.

Answer 4

The ever prolonged Holy Prayer does indeed have an immense soothing effect on your soul's health and on your whole person.

You should humbly kneel down most of your day and pray and pray and pray, not just five? times as our good friends the Mosleem do, but continuously until you die because your life shall not be of this sinful world, not of this vale of tears, but of yonder Paradise.

You should purchase yourself a Holy Rosary from a religious shop so that you may use it to keep count of your Prayers when you shall pray on your own so much the whole day long.

A place for you in yonder Paradise will be kept ready by an army of ever shining Angels so that you may blissfully stand there and for ever and ever enjoy the glowing nearness of Almighty God.

Think what beautiful heavenly destiny is awaiting you out there past the nearby hills of your soul. You are just in the beginning to make your life inundated in Holy Blessedness. Never ever doubt about it!

Answer 5

Persistence in prayer is a good thing but we have to be careful not to engage in the sort of thinking where if I pray X number of prayers for Y result, God is obligated to open up His goodie bag and grant my request. This turns God into some sort of Cosmic Cash Register or genie.

Prayer is not about manipulating God into getting what we want, it's about transforming us. When we have a difficult situation and pray about it, we sometimes begin to wonder why we haven't received the answer we desired.Yet God has already answered -sometimes His answer is "No" or "Not yet" . We don't understand what's best for us, He does. So as we persist in our prayers, we see that our will begins to line up with God's.

For example, I prayed and prayed that a particular situation in my life would happen such a way. I asked God why He wouldn't allow me to have this, afterall it seemed to line up with what He would will for most people (as from what the Bible teaches). At times, I even got angry that He hadn't already done this for me. However, as the circumstances later revealed, had I gotten my way, I would've been completely devasted. He saw my path way ahead of me and knew the disaster that would befall me, so He said "no" to protect me.

Answer 6

I don't think it matters how long a prayer is... as for the babbling pagans, they purposefully use(d) long, unnecessary words and phrases solely for the purpose of making them sound smarter/more educated than the poor people.

There's a quote that says "If the only prayer you ever said was 'Thank You' that would be enough." Prayers may be as short as that, or if you have more to say, so be it. I think the main message of Matthew 6:7 is about not showing off while you pray.

Answer 7

well I dont think that God would ask us so many times to pray if it didnt do any good. I think praying does a lot of good! But I dont really know how much or how often you should pray...It seems like God would hear you the first time you prayed and you shouldnt have to ask again, is that what you are saying? I dont know the answer to that question but I do believe you should pray as much as possible for people who need it.

Answer 8

First passage - He was talking about just what it says - babbling. They would go on and on, just to be heard by others and to hear themselves.

2nd and 3rd - These speak of a life of prayer. God wants a personal relationship with us. We should be talking with Him all the time.

There is nothing which says we should badger God by aking Him for the same thing, time and time again. He heard us the first time and has not forgotten.

I believe Joyce Meyer has written a good book about prayer, I don't know the name off hand. Go to her site (JoyceMeyer.org, I think) and look at her list of books.

Answer 9

I pray and pray and I don't seem to have anything happen. I think the thing with prayer is you can pray as much or as little as you want. God will answer when he is ready to, not when you think the time is right.

Answer 10

babbling would be to go on and on like in a wordy way.....or even in a very intellectual but non-sincere way to get everyone's attention. Ephesians 6:18 tells us to pray always...and with all perseverance. Elijah prayed for rain I think 7 times. If he had not persevered he would not have gotten his answer. We do always need to pray that God's will will be done though. Maybe we would be better off without that million dollars that we would really really like. Sometimes I think God wants to see how much we want something.
If your child asks you for every toy he sees on a commercial you would not get everything..most likely. But if you heard him ask for one thing for a long time....I but you would be more likely to get THAT thing for Christmas because you would know that he really really wanted it...right?
God says that if we give good gifts to our children...how much MORE he wants to give good things to those that love Him. Matthew 7:11