₦airaland Forum

Was Jesus Opposed To Long Prayers?

If Jesus was opposed to long prayers, it means Jesus was opposed to His own manner of daily prayers, because Jesus was generally depicted by the Bible as a man of long prayers.

Before Jesus fully began His ministry on earth, He was led of the Spirit into the wilderness where He prayed and fasted for 40 days and 40 nights before He overcame all the temptations of the devil. Matthew 4:1-2.

Jesus was also said to have risen up a great while before daybreak to pray. Mark 1:35

On another occasion, He had climbed up a mountain and prayed alone for several hours before walking on the sea to meet His disciples in a boat. Matthew 14:23-25

He also went up a mountain to pray and continued all night In prayer to God before appointing His 12 apostles. Luke 6:12

Towards the end of His ministry and when His hour had come to fulfill the purpose He was sent to earth, which to die for the sins of mankind, Jesus being in agony had prayed earnestly for several hours in the garden of Gethsemane, to the point "His sweat became as great drops of blood falling down to the ground." Matthew 26:38-44, Luke 22:44.

Therefore Jesus wasn't just a prayer man but a long prayer man, as He literally started and ended His ministry on Earth with long prayers.

Hence the idea of many so-called Christians that Jesus was opposed to long prayers is totally false and ignorant.

Jesus was only against the wrong example of long prayers, as those of the Pharisees who devoured widows houses among other evils they did, but for a pretence made long prayers, not when long prayers were done the right way and according to His own example. Matthew 23:14

Moreover Jesus rebuked His disciples for not praying for long with Him, and even urged men to pray always and not faint. Matthew 26:40-41, Luke 21:36, Luke 18:1-7.

God bless.

If Jesus, the only begotten Son of God who had literally seen and been with God in heaven, who wasn't conceived in sin but of the Word of God that became flesh or God in the human form, would still deem it needful to be praying for hours to God on a daily basis, then there's no excuse for any true Christian not to follow suit.

A praying servant can never be above the prayer Master.

God bless.

Even the outstanding results of the short prayers Jesus made in public were also a function of the long prayers Jesus made to God in private.

Jesus didn't wake up and suddenly start producing those gravity of miracles with just a few words of prayer in public.

Jesus did His homework well.

He would wake up a great deal before daybreak and spend ample time talking with God. He would even stay up throughout the whole night praying to His Father.

It's the long time spent with God in secret that manifests and produces the outstanding results of His short prayers in public.

It's the same with all prophets and apostles that have been able to achieve similar results in public.

Some of them would have prayed for days non-stop before their faces would begin to shine and literally reflect the glory of God.

Even the apostles of Jesus who followed Him closely throughout His ministry while He was on Earth, had to patiently wait on God and continued in prayer and supplication for days after His departure, before the day of Pentecost fully came and they could literally heard a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and see cloven tongues as of fire rest of every one of them. Acts 1:14, 2:2-4

Although i haven't yet seen the cloven tongues of fire as they did on the day of Pentecost, i have literally heard the sound as of mighty rushing wind with my ears and felt its movement as breeze upon my body. It happened to the extent I realized what they heard on that day was actually the sound and movement of God breathing in and out as when one is under the nostrils of a human, however in this case it's God the Creator who breathed His Spirit into the lifeless body of man before man became a living soul.

But I didn't just wake up and pray for a few minutes and immediately started hearing that same sound they did on the day of pentecost. It took me thousands, if not tens of thousands of hours, in addition to other drastic steps I took while earnestly seeking to experience the same measure of Spirit and supernatural encounter the apostles did on that day before I began to experience the same thing.

Now it's become a norm as that tangible presence now follows me everywhere I go including here in Nairaland. That's what drawing lost souls to Christ, including those that seem impossible with men, because it's not man but God Himself that drawing lost souls to Himself via His Spirit just as He did on the day of Pentecost.

So any Christian who thinks they can achieve the same by just praying 5 or 10 minutes per day is a big joker and shouldn't be taken seriously.

God bless.

Unfortunately this generation of Christians are not willing to spend as much time with God in prayer, yet they expect to achieve the same results.

They give all sort of of excuses to justify their spiritual laziness, such as, prayer isn't mechanical but by faith and the length of prayer isn't important, etc.

They don't even know what it means to persevere in prayer.

They're not willing to put in the efforts or pay the price that Jesus and His disciples paid, but still expect to achieve their remarkable results.

That's one major reason today's church is in life support if not dead already, because today's set of Christians are the most spiritually lazy in history.

Therefore that is one major aspect that the present day church must address, otherwise it will never have any chance of replicating the glory of the old time church.

God bless.

There's a dimension of power in the spiritual realm a Christian can never attain if the person doesn't pray at least for hours on a daily basis.

So praying long prayer on a daily basis isn't a luxury for every serious Christian but a necessity.

God bless

It's quite baffling how many here who claim to be Christians were still finding it difficult to grasp the need for hours of daily prayers yet, when some of us have come to realize that even praying for hours per day may not even be enough.

I already shared here what transpired despite praying an average of 2 hours per day after splitting my daily prayers into 2 parts, and praying by half per day instead of fully a couple of years back.

Though it was more convenient for me and seemed to be going well at first, i later got to realize the big void the lack of the other half of my daily prayers left in the defence line of spiritual attacks of the enemy.

I intially thought the gravity of spiritual attacks I faced during that period was unprecedented, but i later realized it was no different from the magnitude of spiritual attacks I faced on a regular basis being at the frontline of spiritual battles, but the difference now was that the part of my defence line that shielded me from such gravity of attacks, which was covered by the half part of my daily prayer, was now exposed, hence they were now able to get access to me and also some of those my daily prayers was covering through that gap.

It became so severe, even fasting severally couldn't suffice to address the situation.

It wasn't until the length of my daily prayers was restored back to the way it was prior to that, before the attacks began to abate and normalcy was soon restored as previously was.

So i don't need someone to tell me how important the length of my daily prayer life is.

I have learnt the hard way so I don't play with it no matter what.

Instead of reducing it and having a shortage in my daily prayer, I would pray extra and make it to be in surplus.

If I'm not able to meet up with my daily dosage of prayer any day, I would try and make it up the next day, because I know am a soldier fighting in the front lines of the spiritual battle field, so can't afford to give the devil any more room to exploit.

God bless

jesusjnr2020:
There's a dimension of power in the spiritual realm a Christian can never attain if the person doesn't pray at least for hours on a daily basis.

So praying long prayer on a daily basis isn't a luxury for every serious Christian but a necessity.

God bless

Lies from the pit of hell. This statement is unbiblical and false, just like Jesus said people in the last days or end times would preach.

Long prayers mean nothing if you are doing a repetitive word session, acting to be holy like the Pharisees show, or talking gibberish for hours!

God knows your need before you need them! And there's nothing to pray for hours about! Yes, there is nothing to pray about for hours...unless mumbling redundancies just to look good spiritually to please oneself!

Jesus taught to pray short and meaningful in his model prayer, "The Lord's Prayer." Whatever else you are doing is just Pharisee landing!

chatinent:
Lies from the pit of hell. This statement is unbiblical and false, just like Jesus said people in the last days or end times would preach.

Long prayers mean nothing if you are doing a repetitive word session, acting to be holy like the Pharisees show, or talking gibberish for hours!

God knows your need before you need them! And there's nothing to pray for hours about! Yes, there is nothing to pray about for hours...unless mumbling redundancies just to look good spiritually to please oneself!

Jesus taught to pray short and meaningful in his model prayer, "The Lord's Prayer." Whatever else you are doing is just Pharisee landing!

So you mean Jesus who prayed long prayers and repeated the same Words Himself was praying and acting like the Pharisees. He was only wasting His time and we ought not follow His example as Christians according to you?

Matthew 26:44 (KJV)

And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.

chatinent:
I thought you wanted to show me where he repeated or mumbled words like you guys do. He taught his followers what to pray about already.

If you want to compare so badly, why cannot you fast for forty days and forty nights?

I already showed you where Jesus prayed long prayers and used repetitive words in His long prayers that you were critical of to show how ignorant your belief is. You obviously don't know the difference between the vain repetitions of the long prayers of the Pharisees and those of Jesus whose example Christians ought to follow.

jesusjnr2020:
where He prayed and fasted for 40 days and 40 nights before He overcame all the temptations of the devil. Matthew 4:1-2.

He wasn't PRAYING those days rather it's God's Holy Spirit that took him away into a lonely place where he could be informed on what he is about to do.
From birth till the day he got baptized he only knew himself as an adopted son of Joseph when his mother told him the circumstances surrounding his birth but after his baptism God's Holy Spirit led him to the wilderness where he was adequately informed about his mission on earth.
After all the information Satan pretended to be the Holy Spirit and started speaking to him but he later discovered that another spirit is now the one talking to him.
So he wasn't praying rather he was receiving information just as it happened to Moses! Exodus 34:28

MaxInDHouse:
He wasn't PRAYING those days rather it's God's Holy Spirit that took him away into a lonely place where he could be informed on what he is about to do.
From birth till the day he got baptized he only knew himself as an adopted son of Joseph when his mother told him the circumstances surrounding his birth but after his baptism God's Holy Spirit led him to the wilderness where he was adequately informed about his mission on earth.
After all the information Satan pretended to be the Holy Spirit and started speaking to him but he later discovered that another spirit is now the one talking to him.
So he wasn't praying rather he was receiving information just as it happened to Moses! Exodus 34:28

So you mean Jesus was just fasting and not praying for all of those days?

So how did He receive the information from God without communing with God?

jesusjnr2020:
So He was just fasting and not praying for all those days you mean?
And how did He receive the information from God without communing with God?

He never fasted at all Matthew used that word "FASTING" because that's what he thought could make someone stay away from food but the case is that Jesus was in a situation where he is not in control of whatever was happening rather it's the Holy Spirit that's in charge.
So for the whole forty days and forty nights he couldn't have eaten anything since he is in the presence of God {Exodus 34:28} who is capable of sustaining a living creature without food! Matthew 4:4

Real FASTING is when the one doing it is in control such a person will ignore food but Jesus didn't shun food he wasn't in a place where anyone could serve him.

jesusjnr2020:
So you mean Jesus who prayed long prayers and repeated the same Words Himself was praying and acting like the Pharisees. He was only wasting His time and we ought not follow His example?

Matthew 26:44 (KJV)

And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.

I thought you wanted to show me where he repeated or mumbled words like you guys do. He taught his followers what to pray about already.

If you want to compare so badly, why cannot you fast for forty days and forty nights?

jesusjnr2020:
Was Jesus Opposed To Long Prayers?

If Jesus was opposed to long prayers, it means Jesus was opposed to His own manner of daily prayers, because Jesus was generally depicted by the Bible as a man of long prayers.

Before Jesus fully began His ministry on earth, He was led of the Spirit into the wilderness where He prayed and fasted for 40 days and 40 nights before He overcame all the temptations of the devil. Matthew 4:1-2.

Jesus was also said to have risen up a great while before daybreak to pray. Mark 1:35

On another occasion, He had climbed up a mountain and prayed alone for several hours before walking on the sea to meet His disciples in a boat. Matthew 14:23-25

He also went up a mountain to pray and continued all night In prayer to God before appointing His 12 apostles. Luke 6:12

Towards the end of His ministry and when His hour had come to fulfill the purpose He was sent to earth, which to die for the sins of mankind, Jesus being in agony had prayed earnestly for several hours in the garden of Gethsemane, to the point "His sweat became as great drops of blood falling down to the ground." Matthew 26:38-44, Luke 22:44.

Therefore Jesus wasn't just a prayer man but a long prayer man, as He literally started and ended His ministry on Earth with long prayers.

Hence the idea of many so-called Christians that Jesus was opposed to long prayers is totally false and ignorant.

Jesus was only against the wrong example of long prayers, as those of the Pharisees who devoured widows houses among other evils they did, but for a pretence made long prayers, not when long prayers were done the right way and according to His own example. Matthew 23:14

Moreover Jesus rebuked His disciples for not praying for long with Him, and even urged men to pray always and not faint. Matthew 26:40-41, Luke 21:36, Luke 18:1-7.

God bless.

Jesus was never opposed to the length of time a man sought the face of God but the outward public show of long prayers, the boasting instead of humility at it and also like the example in Matthew 23:14 you quoted, using prayer in church as a means to hide evil one practices privately.

But neither did Jesus command how long one should pray for but how and the best to approach God our Father.

What's praying really. Prayer is simply communicating with the Spirit of God, touching the Spirit of God, and staying in his presence all the time-with no end. We are adjured to pray without ceasing. From experience, I don't think God is calling us to long sessions of prayer with him but for intimacy. He wants us completely separated from the world and surrendered to him. We should be in an unbroken fellowship with the Lord even while at work(this has been a challenge for me) and we should also desire being alone with the Lord.

Prayer doesn't mean praying in tongues for long hours daily. Prayer means maintaining constant communication with the Spirit of God which includes praying in tongues, praising, pray-reading the word, fasting, etc.

TimiRume:
What's praying really. Prayer is simply communicating with the Spirit of God, touching the Spirit of God, and staying in his presence all the time-with no end. We are adjured to pray without ceasing. From experience, I don't think God is calling us to long sessions of prayer with him but for intimacy. He wants us completely separated from the world and surrendered to him. We should be in an unbroken fellowship with the Lord even while at work(this has been a challenge for me) and we should also desire being alone with the Lord.

Prayer doesn't mean praying in tongues for long hours daily. Prayer means maintaining constant communication with the Spirit of God which includes praying in tongues, praising, pray-reading the word, fasting, etc.

You're very close to the truth. People think prayers is all about the time you close your eyes and start talking. Prayer means communicating with God. It means living your life with the God-consciousness. The type that one always looks up to God before taking a step, and always considering God before taking any action.

Brenbentondiaz:
You're very close to the truth. People think prayers is all about the time you close your eyes and start talking. Prayer means communicating with God. It means living your life with the God-consciousness. The type that one always looks up to God before taking a step, and always considering God before taking any action.

You're still far from the truth if you think how much time you devout to God in prayer is not important, even if you're getting it right and following the example of Jesus and not that of the Pharisees. You can clearly see how Jesus shuts just about everything out when praying His daily prayer to God

So this is not about just living your life in God-consciousness as you think. That aspect is taken care of by obedience, and Jesus always did that, but Jesus also prayed always by talking to God, so that is also very important in the spiritual life of every true believer.

Master of lies is at work again, you never give up do you?

It doesn't matter how long or short you pray. Just make sure the purpose is meaningful

JUMO95:
➜It doesn't matter how long or short you pray. ➜Just make sure the purpose is meaningful

What is this meaningful purpose of prayer you speak of?