@alafia loro.
Good comment.Well appreciated.

Atheist:-D:


It is no joke. Some churches are now looking like mental wards when you pass by.

Your comments are quite funny though there are some elements of truth in them.

Keep them coming!

Whether you pray silently like Hannah did @ Shiloh or you cry aloud like blind Bartimaeus, "Son of David, have mercy on me!", one thing is clear: if your action is genuine, the Holy Spirit affects it.

Good point Shola4me.I'll still love more comments.

Alaafia l‘oro:
Either way is good. But there are situations when one is more suitable than the other. For example,you can‘t be praying at night in your home with loud voice,that will only call unnecessary attention.
Personally,I believe in praying solemnly when alone and praying as directed by the one leading the pray when with a congregation,though I pray solemnly atimes when the pray seems secretive. Praying loudly when with congregation helps atimes to revive others who might not be so spiritually matured and curb all chances of sleeping or wandering of minds.

Praying loudly increases the level of concentration, no wandering of minds, it is so direct and powerful.
Try it.

God bless you.

God2man.

God2man:

Praying loudly increases the level of concentration, no wandering of minds, it is so direct and powerful.
Try it.

God bless you.

God2man.

Do you know that praying quietly and moving back and forth can also help increase concentration. In fact, from experience, it helps reduce the possibility of getting tired or falling asleep especially during long prayer sessions. Try it.
God bless.

Keep the comments coming!

God2man:

Praying loudly increases the level of concentration, no wandering of minds, it is so direct and powerful.
Try it.

God bless you.

God2man.

I rarely pray alone during the day. Due to my schedule,I usually pray at night and praying loudly is uncalled for during that period. So praying loudly is definitely out of option but going front and back is very vital because of sleeping/dosing .

Happy Sunday guys!
Just to bring up the main points of creating this thread.
1) Do you think praying loudly or otherwise in a congregation should be used to determine one's level of spirituality?
2) Do you think praying loudly makes God know you are serious with your demands.
3) Do you think praying loudly brings fast answers.

Keep the comments coming!

^^^ Answers to ur questions above:
1. Praying loudly does not show your level of spirituality.
2. Praying loudly doesn‘t show how serious you are with the prayer, only consistency in offering the prayer does.
3. Praying loudly won‘t give quick answers to ur prayers. Your faith, heart with which the prayer is offered and God‘s will as regards the prayer are the determinants of answering of prayers.

Alaafia l‘oro:
^^^ Answers to ur questions above:
1. Praying loudly does not show your level of spirituality.
2. Praying loudly doesn‘t show how serious you are with the prayer, only consistency in offering the prayer does.
3. Praying loudly won‘t give quick answers to ur prayers. Your faith, heart with which the prayer is offered and God‘s will as regards the prayer are the determinants of answering of prayers.

Thanks. I actually brought up those questions which form the basis of creating this thread up in respect of your earlier post that praying loudly in a congregation helps revive those who are not so mature spiritually. Now the question is would you consider someone praying quietly beside you in a congregation where everybody is praying loudly as an immature christian? I'm asking this because this is one thing that happens in many churches and fellowships nowadays. Everybody wants to be noticed and given the title and respect of a mature Christian while forgeting the reason they came to Church. I wouldn't want to mention names but if you have ever been tapped by someone while praying quietly in a congregation where everybody is praying loudly and told to raise your voice, then you might get a picture of what I'm saying.

Keep the discussion alive!

Well, certain churches put so much emphasis on shouting while praying but I think it‘s erroneous to think that anyone who doesn‘t pray loudly is immatured spiritually. In the case where someone ignorantly advises you to pray loudly, you may just decide to do so since there is no crime in doing so and may decide not to.
Generally, just like we said earlier the benefit of praying loudly and standing up is just to increase your level of concentration.

Heb 5:7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;
Rom 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
Isa 40:9 O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!
Lam 2:19 Arise, cry out in the night: in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord: lift up thy hands toward him for the life of thy young children, that faint for hunger in the top of every street.

Many are of the opinion that praying loudly is wrong, hence the focus on praying loudly. Jesus Himself prayed LOUDLY when He had to. When you cast out devils for instance, as is supposed to be the characteristic of the believer, you don't just whine "come out you filthy devil". It's like telling your dog to go back(like Baba Wigglesworth remarked). Or when you have to really speak to a 'mountain'. Or you have a need desperate before God. Elijah was a man of like passions.

^^^
Thank God you said it is the Holy Spirit that helps us to pray. So tell me, is it everytime that you pray especially in a congregation that the Holy Spirit would lead you to pray loudly. Though I'm not against praying loudly but the truth is it has been turned to something else these days.
Another issue is that of vigil. You see a church in choked up places (like some areas in Lagos) and neighbourhoods holding loud prayer sessions in the middle of the night and the leader keeps telling them to pray even louder without considering those that are sleeping in the neighbourhood. Yet they would go on evangelism and expect unbelievers in the neighbourhood to come running to the church. I think it's high time we Christians started controlling the way we bring culture, emotions and sentiments into Christianity and allow the Holy Spirit himself take over.
I agree with you on the issue of demon casting.

Keep the comments coming!

Still @Image.
That you have a desperate need doesn't qualify as a reason to pray loudy. It's part of the emotions and sentiments that I talked about earlier. Remember the Bible says that God knows our needs even before we pray. So why should I shout. He looks at your heart not how desperate you are with your demands.

^
I've shown you reasons and instances of praying loudly, even by Jesus the one you think is against praying loudly. Why pray at all, even in whispers when God already knows what you want? you think He didn't know what Jesus wanted? You think He had brain loss when He commanded folks to cry aloud and spare not? I'm not interested in endless talk, I've done what's required on the thread.

Image123: ^
I've shown you reasons and instances of praying loudly, even by Jesus the one you think is against praying loudly. Why pray at all, even in whispers when God already knows what you want? you think He didn't know what Jesus wanted? You think He had brain loss when He commanded folks to cry aloud and spare not? I'm not interested in endless talk, I've done what's required on the thread.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not against praying loudly as Jesus himself did so in quite a number of instances. I just don't like what we Christians are turning it into nowadays.You hear statements like 'that man is not mature spiritually. Look at the way he was praying the other time'. Another one is found in frosbel's post where his son went to a church and was told to pray louder and louder because 'A shut mouth is a shut destiny'. These statements are unfounded in the Bible. I personally believe prayer should be a dialogue strictly between you and God and that it is your heart that matters during prayer.I also believe one should be sensitive enough to know when to pray loudly or otherwise. In otherwords, your prayer should not be a disturbance to the next person or people around who may be sleeping or doing other things unconnected with prayer.

NB: I opened this thread not to condemn praying loudly but for people to share opinions, experiences they had during prayer sessions and biblical referencies on praying eitherway.

Atheist:-D:
Why does anyone need to pray loudly or with emotion? Can the omnipotent God not hear you or know your minds desires?

Screaming and shouting like possessed ppl is just an unfortunate by product of certain branches of xtianity. It is a psychological means to shake ppl up mentally. Once you pray aggressively you feel good about yourself. Nothing to do with the spiritual. Have you seen how ppl speak in tongues too . You would expect half the ppl there to be sectioned instantly under the mental health act.

And why scream and shout commands at God? Some pray with the ferocity as if they would physically assault God if they ever met. That their prayers must be answered by fire by force!!!!!

The current practices in xtianity are breeding a new group of schizophrenics and psychologicaly impaired ppl.

It's not a current practice bro.. this thing has been in existence even before you and your parents were born...take a look at this excerpts from Kenneth e hagin:
God Is Not Nervous!
I wasn't used to church services where everyone would pray all together at one time, and this
bothered me at first. I started to say something about it a time or two to straighten these Full
Gospel folks out. In fact, I once heard someone else tell them, "Now God's not hard of hearing,
you know."
But the Full Gospel folks just replied, "He's not nervous either!"
When these Full Gospel folks invited Christians
to come and pray at the altar, I would go forward to pray with them. But I would get as far away
from them as I could because they bothered me all praying at the same time like that. I would
get off in the corner somewhere and pray quietly.

However, after a while the thought occurred to me, These folks knew about divine healing and
my church didn 't. They might know something more here in this area of praying than I do too.
So I decided I would read through the Book of Acts and see how the Early Church prayed.
As I read, I couldn't find one place where they called on "Deacon Brown" or "Sister Jones" to
lead in prayer while everyone else remained silent.
Instead, I found to my utter amazement
that the Early Church all prayed at the same time!
ACTS 4:23,24
23 And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief
priests and elders had said unto them.
24[b] And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God WITH ONE ACCORD...[/b].
The thing that cinched it with me was when I got down to Acts chapter 16 where it says that
Paul and Silas were in jail. Their backs were bleeding; their feet were in stocks. Yet at midnight
they prayed and sang praises to God. And the Bible says, ". . . and the prisoners heard them"
(Acts 16:25). Until that time, I had believed in praying to God, but I believed in being quiet
about it. But then I saw that Paul and Silas didn't pray quietly, not even in jail.
The next time I went to the Full Gospel service and they called us to the altar to pray, I got right
in the middle of them and lifted my voice just like they did. When I did, I felt a release in my
spirit. The Word of God will set you free. Jesus said, ". . . ye shall know the truth, and the truth
shall make you free" (John 8:32). God's Word is truth, and it will set you free.

Both are very good depending on your mood.

whether loudly or quietly. It is the heart that matters and also full concentration

God knows ur heart, He sees ur mind, knows ur worries, unless u r shouting out 2 impress pastor or congregation about d new vocabularies u just learnt...all u need is a silent prayer & He gives a listening ear.

Do native doctors mumble incantations quietly?

When the Ogboni guys are chanting their "erioooo waaa...." incantation, do they do it quietly?

When in church, I pray loudly as everyone does. It is my prayer, my needs and my supplication to God. When at home in my closet, I do not pray so loudly because I have neighbours, but I pray with the force that the situation requires. When in a social gathering and called upon to offer prayers, I do not use a loud voice, but I make myself audible so everyone knows when to say "amen".

Do as occasion suits you. But frankly, I cannot be in church or at home and I am praying against the plans of the enemy and I will be quiet. There is a man in my village who has had problems with my family who is forever going to his spiritualists with our names. You ask me to whisper my prayer with such a known adversary when I am praying in church or in my house? NO WAY!

Religious people -Christians, traditonalists & muslims- need to pray loud because their God is partially deaf.
Never mind how Christ said his disciples should pray -quietly in a secluded place.

This topic kinda reminds me of an ongoing discussion with my siblings.

They regale us with stories of how my grandma was when they were younger, how they couldn't get one past her. ..her ears and eyes were so sharp, it was like she could hear and see anything they did from miles away. My During our own time, my younger brother could be right in her face and still she wouldn't know what we were up to. Of course it's no big mystery why that is. ..old age.

I think some Christians think old age is affecting God so they have to shout to be heard. They probably think the Christians of old who used to just go to one corner to pray quietly were lucky because they existed when God was still spry.

I guess it explains why they think they need intermediaries between them and God. ..someone who understands old people language. It also explains why God always seems to need money. ...I remember back then my grandma was so independent, she used dash people money but now. ...well she's on the receiving end.

Old age is a bummer

Heatblast: Tho I'm not a christian, this was a question that bothered me when I was. When I was little(in a pentecostal church), my sunday school teacher would was always insisting that she must hear us pray out loud(it suposedly made demons scared of us and made god hear our prayers faster)... They would also use this "a shut mouth is a shut destiny" to threaten us.

But to my suprise this verse contradicted their teachings
Mat 6:6: But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

Today, you'll see so many xtians screaming and shouting all in the name of personal prayer

Even the so called praying in tounges is a contradiction to this verse
Mat 6:7: But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen [do]: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

Today you'll see so many christians shouting:
ba ba ba ba.. Bo bo bo bo... Ray ray ray ray x100

And the last verse to prove my point;
Mat 6:8: Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

LOL ba ba ba ba.... Bo bo bo bo? X100? Na chorus?

THE EFFECTUAL FERVENT PRAYER OF A RIGHTEOUS MAN AVAILETH MUCH

JAMES 5:16

Thanks mods

it all depends on your heart. if your heart is not clean, you can scream, cut yourself, HE will not hear you

[b]I currently suffer from mild insomia, that is I find it hard to sleep. Now I have this neighbour that prays so loudly that she might as well be standing inside my room when she is praying. It drives me mad. all I hear when she prays are 'Father let them die', 'they will drink their own blood', 'I place a curse on them and their children and childrens children', 'They shall die' e.t.c.. How does this constitute the type of prayer Jesus taught his disciples to pray?! And she is shouting at the top of her voice like she is talking to a deaf mute God.

I grew up to understand that prayers was supposed to be talking to God and making requests.. I have never seen any human talk to their earthly parents in such loud harsh tones, so I wonder why any sane person would shout at God as if he is a kid or he has a hearing problem..

When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, he didnt shout like a mad lunatic.

Even Jesus when he wanted to pray, went to a quiet place to pray [Mark 1:35 ESV ::: And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.]

Matthew 6:5 ESV [size=14pt]“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others.[/size] Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.





I believe that it is very wrong... I intend to confront this neighbour over the weekend, failure for her to comply, and whenever she starts, I will play Eminems 'Marshall Marthers LP (Explicit content version) at full volume...

[/b]

The Bible book of Mathew Chapter 6 Vs 6-8 provides answers to your questions. Jehovah's Witnesses follow that pattern of prayer as modeled by Jesus.

Am not a fan of praying ιϞ high voice, or ure saying that †ђξ dumb can't pray?

Heatblast: Tho I'm not a christian, this was a question that bothered me when I was. When I was little(in a pentecostal church), my sunday school teacher would was always insisting that she must hear us pray out loud(it suposedly made demons scared of us and made god hear our prayers faster)... They would also use this "a shut mouth is a shut destiny" to threaten us.

But to my suprise this verse contradicted their teachings
Mat 6:6: But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

Today, you'll see so many xtians screaming and shouting all in the name of personal prayer

Even the so called praying in tounges is a contradiction to this verse
Mat 6:7: But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen [do]: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

Today you'll see so many christians shouting:
ba ba ba ba.. Bo bo bo bo... Ray ray ray ray x100

And the last verse to prove my point;
Mat 6:8: Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

one day u will be back! That i believe

Now I don't believe God is deaf so why shout? What matters most is a sincere heart.