Prayer is foundational to our Christian life
and our relationship with God.
Teleios recently evaluated adolescent and
millennial beliefs and habits about prayer. The survey was promoted on the
Christian Instagram accounts, InstaPray and GodsHolyScriptures. Of the 428
respondents, the majority were: female (76%), <35 years old (77%), from the
United States (54%), and evangelical (69%).
The survey found that approximately 80% of participants pray to God every day. The most common topics for their prayers were: their own concerns (92%) and gratitude to God for their blessings (91%). However, when asked about what topics the Bible instructs them to pray, they most often indicated praise (87%) and thankfulness to God (86%).
Participants overwhelmingly prefer to pray at home and alone (93%). Further, they indicated they desire to pray at night (82%) with about 2/3 indicating morning or intermittent prayers throughout the day. Generally, participants preferred their prayers to be spontaneous (62%) while 19% used a predetermined mental or written list. Regarding responses to prayer, the great majority believed God answers prayer according to His will (88%).
Respondents noted Christians should pray in faith (77%), while about half each agreed the Holy Spirit and Christ pray for believers. When asked to pray for somebody else, a plurality of participants indicated they keep the information confidential (42%) and they pray for a while over time before stopping (40%).
Interestingly, when asked if praying in tongues or a person's native language was more useful, 40% noted the native language should at least sometimes be used while 40% expressed praying in tongues made no difference. In contrast, 20% believed that tongues should at least sometimes be used.
Further, those who praise the most often (P<0.0001), and especially in their native language (P=0.026), reported better wellbeing than those who did not or prayed in tongues. These points might emphasize that clearly articulated, biblically based communication with God provides a potential of enhanced wellbeing in the Christian life.
This study shows that young evangelical typically pray daily, preferring a setting alone at home, at night and knowing God will answer prayer according to His will.
The survey found that approximately 80% of participants pray to God every day. The most common topics for their prayers were: their own concerns (92%) and gratitude to God for their blessings (91%). However, when asked about what topics the Bible instructs them to pray, they most often indicated praise (87%) and thankfulness to God (86%).
Participants overwhelmingly prefer to pray at home and alone (93%). Further, they indicated they desire to pray at night (82%) with about 2/3 indicating morning or intermittent prayers throughout the day. Generally, participants preferred their prayers to be spontaneous (62%) while 19% used a predetermined mental or written list. Regarding responses to prayer, the great majority believed God answers prayer according to His will (88%).
Respondents noted Christians should pray in faith (77%), while about half each agreed the Holy Spirit and Christ pray for believers. When asked to pray for somebody else, a plurality of participants indicated they keep the information confidential (42%) and they pray for a while over time before stopping (40%).
Interestingly, when asked if praying in tongues or a person's native language was more useful, 40% noted the native language should at least sometimes be used while 40% expressed praying in tongues made no difference. In contrast, 20% believed that tongues should at least sometimes be used.
Further, those who praise the most often (P<0.0001), and especially in their native language (P=0.026), reported better wellbeing than those who did not or prayed in tongues. These points might emphasize that clearly articulated, biblically based communication with God provides a potential of enhanced wellbeing in the Christian life.
This study shows that young evangelical typically pray daily, preferring a setting alone at home, at night and knowing God will answer prayer according to His will.
However, they generally appear to lack
knowledge over a number of biblical teachings regarding prayer such as: the
Holy Spirit and Christ praying for believers, and that Christians should pray
according to scripture, pray for all people and for government leaders. This
provides opportunity for teaching about prayer from pastors and youth leaders.
All the findings of the survey can be found here.
All the findings of the survey can be found here.
OK so what does scripture say
about prayer?
Prayer is one of the cornerstones of the
Christian life. Scripture tells us that we should pray frequently and
persistently. As Christians we can come boldly before God in prayer,
uninhibited and unafraid, to receive mercy in our every time of need (Hebrews 10:19-22).
·
The content of our prayers
– This should be consistent with what glorifies Jesus Christ (John 14:13,14, 15:7). The content of
our prayer generally should be:
- Thankfulness
to God and for others (Philippians 1:3-4, Colossians 1:3)
- Praise
to God (Hebrews 13:15)
- Petitions
for ourselves and others (Philippians 4:6)
·
Scriptural prayer guide
– The apostle Paul offers 3 model prayers in which he emphasizes what God desires
for us to attain by our prayers, no matter the situation (Ephesians 1:15ff, 3:14ff; Colossians 1:9-15) including:
knowledge of our salvation and the Bible, wisdom, understanding, hope, power,
knowing God’s love, service to God, patience, joy and persistence in our
Christian walk.
These
wonderful prayers can be used as a model for what God wishes us to attain, in
addition to any specific request we might pray for ourselves or others.
·
God answers prayer (John 14:13-14; 1 John 5:14-15) – Wow, what a
great promise! God says He will answer our prayers if we ask according to His
will (i.e., scripture). Therefore, a key to an effective prayer life is knowing
the epistles.
·
How else does prayer help us?
- Prayer
provides a release for our emotions to God, perhaps relieving tension and
frustration (1
Peter 5:7).
- It
engenders a sense that somebody cares and is listening. We also know that
the Holy Spirit and Christ Himself pray on our behalf (Hebrews 7:25; Romans 8:26,34)
- It
causes us to pay attention to scripture as we pray and so provides us help
to consider and form an answer to our problems as we ponder our requests
to God.
- It
reminds us to be thankful for others and for His blessings to us. It is
hard to be angry with someone while you pray for them, which might reduce
tensions and help relationships.
- It
helps us to praise and remember that we have a great God whose purposes are greater than ours. Thus, it helps keep our own problems in perspective.
Therefore, prayer
is a key tool to maturity as a Christian, invoking God’s help yet reminding us
of scripture, praise and thankfulness, all of which may assist our wellbeing.
Prayer is one of the great benefits of our Christian life.
Join us again
next time as we discover the truth and benefits of the Bible together.
For
questions or to view more of our research…
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