Prayer

[Coreopisis]

How many times should we pray for something? How many times is sufficient?

I was thinking about my prayers today and realized that I’ve been praying for certain things or people, every night for 20 years. Is that even necessary? I am just curious…

Is there anywhere documented in the bible or through the Catholic Church that says how many times is sufficient to pray for something?

 

[InLight247]

The Bible tells us to pray without ceasing.

For example, as a mother, I will always pray for every area of my children’s wellness. As a disciple of Jesus, I will always pray for myself to be kept in the center of God’s will, to repent my sins, to love God more and more. As a Catholic, I will always pray for our church and our priests. For other special intentions, I will keep on praying as long as God has not said “NO”.

How much prayers are enough? Or should we ask how much love is enough?

Do not be discouraged if the answer has not come yet. If you are praying for someone’s conversion or salvation, or some other specific needs, keep on praying. The answer could be just one more prayer away.

 

[blessedstar]

How many times and how long?

Unceasingly this side of life and in heaven, unceasingly too.

In the Living Prayer of my life

 

[water]

Have we realized that those in Heaven pray even longer than we are.

Now, who doesn’t want to go to Heaven?

 

[LilyM]

St Monica prayed at least 20 years for the conversion of her husband and son (who went on to become the great St Augustine) - of course in both cases achieved her desired end, and in Augustine’s case much more of course.

 

[BarbaraTherese]

How many times should we pray for something? How many times is sufficient?

I was thinking about my prayers today and realized that I’ve been praying for certain things or people, every night for 20 years. Is that even necessary? I am just curious…

Is there anywhere documented in the bible or through the Catholic Church that says how many times is sufficient to pray for something?

No time limit, Coreopisis:thumbsup: …just pray until you feel you have your answer. As another poster pointed out St. Monica prayed for 20 years before her son, St. Augustine, was converted and she felt she had an answer. Then she spent the rest of her life praising and thanking God.

Of course, prayer is not simply intercession - but praise and thanksgiving too. One only has to look outside one’s back door for one to start counting God’s many gifts to us. They are in and around us everywhere.

Luke Chapter 18: 1 And he spoke also a parable to them, that we ought always to pray, and not to faint

Paul to the Thessolonians Chapter 5: 16 Always rejoice. 17 Pray without ceasing. 18 In all things give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you all. 19 Extinguish not the spirit. 20 Despise not prophecies.

**God’s Blessings and His Peace…Barb **

 

[thistle]

How many times should we pray for something? How many times is sufficient?

I was thinking about my prayers today and realized that I’ve been praying for certain things or people, every night for 20 years. Is that even necessary? I am just curious…

Is there anywhere documented in the bible or through the Catholic Church that says how many times is sufficient to pray for something?

My wife prayed for 10 years for me to see the truth and become a Catholic. Her prayers worked.

 

[thistle]

How many times should we pray for something? How many times is sufficient?

I was thinking about my prayers today and realized that I’ve been praying for certain things or people, every night for 20 years. Is that even necessary? I am just curious…

Is there anywhere documented in the bible or through the Catholic Church that says how many times is sufficient to pray for something?

My wife prayed every day for 10 years for me to see the truth and become a Catholic. Her prayers worked.

 

[St_Gabriel]

I like to think of the parable Jesus taught in Luke 11 about the man who knocked on the door for some bread.

(Luke 11:8) I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

 

[Coreopisis]

The Bible tells us to pray without ceasing.

Do not be discouraged if the answer has not come yet. If you are praying for someone’s conversion or salvation, or some other specific needs, keep on praying. The answer could be just one more prayer away.

Before I reached the age of 8 years old our family had 5 deaths. Some cancer, one car accident. At 8 I started praying for each of them every night because I was told we should but I never really knew why. I would just say an Our Father for each of them before bed. Or I would ask God to bless them. It has only been in recent years that I started having purpose to my prayers so there was really nothing to be answered. Now I still pray for them partially out of habit and also because I now understand the concept of purgatory and I really hope they are in heaven.

Should we have pointless prayers? Now that I can have more focused prayer for a reason is it still ok just to pray an Our Father for a person for no real reason?

 

[JimR-OCDS]

The instruction from scripture to “pray unceasingly” isn’t about prayers of petition per se, as the OP’er is asking, but prayer in general.

To pray unceasingly is the essence of contemplative prayer.

But prayer, as a petition, some pray until they get their answer, as some here have suggested. Some people make their prayer request once, trusting that their prayer is heard and doesn’t need to be repeated.

At this point, its up to the individual.

Myself, when I make a prayer petition, I pray that I receive the answer, whether its in the affirmative or the negative. I usually get the answer either way.

Jim

 

[blessedstar]

A person may pray unceasingly in the Living Prayer of their life and in this all intentions and people and all kinds of prayer are encompassed and prayed for unceasingly.

I don’t think Jesus made a distinction when He said ‘Pray unceasingly’ this is for all prayer, so we pray prayers of petition unceasingly, prayers of praise and thanksgiving unceasingly etc.

If you offer your life for another you lay your life down daily for another and this is the spirit of the Gospel, to love God and your neighbour as yourself. Your life is a prayer and you pray unceasingly. Once a person is offered with the Living Prayer of my life they are offered everyday to God until I die this side of life, once they are in the Living Prayer of my life they are in it unceasingly. How else can I offer so many to God and continue unceasingly to offer them. How else do I live the Eucharistic life. How else do I die for my brother’s and sister’s.

This is why I say we pray this side of life unceasingly and the other side in heaven unceasingly.

Living Prayer (unceasing prayer) does not make one a contemplative, only God can do this, but it does help the soul to practise the Presence of God, live the Gospel and prepare the soul for the gift of contemplation. No-one canpray unceasingly in contemplation unless God gift this to a soul continually, which God does not tend to do, but gifts the gift of contemplation for short amounts of time intermittently, however we dispose ourselves as best we can with our life making it a prayer humbly waiting on God. Here we pray unceasingly to degrees and degrees again, only truly in heaven we pray fully unceasingly, God willing, in the beauty of the Beatific Vision.

In the Living prayer of my life

 

[Coreopisis]

If you offer your life for another you lay your life down daily for another and this is the spirit of the Gospel, to love God and your neighbour as yourself. Your life is a prayer and you pray unceasingly. Once a person is offered with the Living Prayer of my life I need not repeatedly verbally offer them to God but with my life I offer them menatlly everyday to God until I die this side of life, once they are in the Living Prayer of my life they are in it unceasingly. How else can I offer so many to God and continue unceasingly to offer them. How else do I live the Eucharistic life. How else do I die for my brother’s and sister’s.

I am not sure I fully understand. I need to think about this. Why would one offer their life for another and how would one do it? Maybe an example would help me. Thank you.

 

[Coreopisis]

To pray unceasingly is the essence of contemplative prayer.

Jim

I pray more today than I ever have in my life and I find my self thinking about Christ and God and Mary and various spiritual topics constantly. My mom has begun to tease me about it and has even said that I need to relax. She thinks I think about religion and whether or not I am sinning to much. She said I need to lighten up or I will depress myself. But I don’t feel depressed about it I just really love God and Jesus and church and I don’t want to do anything that might cause Him pain. So I try to be careful but the trouble is I don’t know enough. I know all this sounds corney and geeky but I just do love Him. I wish I could give Jesus a hug. He deserves one and I always think about how horrible it must’ve been to be crucified. If I was there I wouldn’t have been able to let it happen but I am digressing as always.

Anyway is this considered praying unceasingly? Or am I simply thinking alot? Maybe just overanalyzing?

 

[blessedstar]

I am not sure I fully understand. I need to think about this. Why would one offer their life for another and how would one do it? Maybe an example would help me. Thank you.

Everything we, do say and think is a prayer. At the end of our life God will look at those things within the realms of our intent and how we have loved Him and each other with our life, this is the constant offering of ourself and everything at our disposal back to God.

It is no good spending long hours in prayer and not loving people around us. We must pray and love each other. Living Prayer combines the two.

Prayer must manifest into the world and penetrate all we are. Prayer must make us Christ-like. Christ stands with His Sacred Wounds before the Father interceding for us unceasingly. So we too stand constantly before the Father in Christ offering all that we are to Jesus. This is Living Prayer. We can offer ourselves for specific intentions or simply ask for God’s will in all things. Once someone is offered they are offered unceasingly; everyday repeating this offering.

Jesus said,’ Love one another as I have loved you.’ We cannot die for each other literally , but we can die to self everyday and offer our ‘self’, (the time God has given us to serve Him) to God for each other for the glory of God.

I have to go now to get on with some things, but I will come back and expand on this if you are interested.

In the Living Prayer of my life

 

[JimR-OCDS]

I pray more today than I ever have in my life and I find my self thinking about Christ and God and Mary and various spiritual topics constantly. My mom has begun to tease me about it and has even said that I need to relax. She thinks I think about religion and whether or not I am sinning to much. She said I need to lighten up or I will depress myself. But I don’t feel depressed about it I just really love God and Jesus and church and I don’t want to do anything that might cause Him pain. So I try to be careful but the trouble is I don’t know enough. I know all this sounds corney and geeky but I just do love Him. I wish I could give Jesus a hug. He deserves one and I always think about how horrible it must’ve been to be crucified. If I was there I wouldn’t have been able to let it happen but I am digressing as always.

Anyway is this considered praying unceasingly? Or am I simply thinking alot? Maybe just overanalyzing?

When the rhythm of your life is centered in Jesus, you are praying unceasingly.

In the book, “The Way of the Pilgrim,” the young Russian peasant, travels across early 19 century Russia, trying to learn how to pray unceasingly. (I’m going from memory here, so the details may not be exact, but the essence of the story is.) He visits monastery after monastery. He visits Bishops, asking all of them how to pray unceasingly. He meets up with one Abbot of a monastery, who teaches him the Jesus prayer. The abbot tells him, using your rosary beads, say the Jesus prayer on each bead, 500 times per day. The pilgrim does this. The next day, the Abbot tells him to say 1000 Jesus prayers, then next day, the Abbot says 3000. This goes on for a month until the pilgrim is saying the Jesus prayer, 5000 per day. Then the Abbot tells him, not keep saying the Jesus prayer, everyday, all day long. Eventually what happens is, the prayer becomes part of the pilgrim’s life. He finds himself saying it, almost unconsciously, as he travels across Russia. Eventually he’s drawn into the center of his being where he says the pray within his heart. Eventually, he experiences the silence of God’s presence and there he receives the transforming grace of divine love. Now, he experiences the presence of God in everything and everyone, through love.

Its a book I could not put down, when I first read it.

Jim