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Young Christians and prayer habits

Young Christians and prayer habits.

Teleios’ most recent survey explored ways people pray. 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 men and for government leaders. This provides opportunity for teaching about prayer from pastors and youth leaders.

Teleios Research Surveys Young Christians About Prayer

Teleios Research recently evaluated adolescents and millennials regarding their 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 for what the Bible instructs them to pray, they most often indicated praise (87%) and gratitude 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 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 it 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 then those who did not or prayed in tongues. In addition, those who studied scripture the most frequently also had better wellbeing (P=0.026). 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 men 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.

WC Stewart, JA Stewart, LA Nelson

For questions or comments please contact [email protected]. 

How do you pray? A biblical explanation

Thank you for your interest and/or participation in Teleios surveys. Teleios’ most recent survey explored ways people pray. There were 428 responses. Below we have tried to provide Bible verses that support the specific responses. 

9/10. The Bible teaches Christians should pray for these categories:

  • My own concerns – 1 Peter 4:11
  • Other people’s concerns – Colossians 4:5 as an example
  • Gratitude to God for my blessings – 1 Thessalonians 5:18
  • Thankfulness for other Christians – Start of all of Paul’s letters Colossians 1:3 by example
  • Forgiveness of my sins
  • Recognize my sins, but not to ask for forgiveness as I am already forgiven through faith in Christ- Basically ‘we obey’ Romans 6:16
  • Praise to God Hebrews 13:16
  • My church
  • Social justice
  • For everyone – 1 Timothy 2:1
  • Government and political leaders – 1 Timothy 2:1
  • Health and wealth
  • The peace of Jerusalem
  • Other
  • I am not sure
  • No prayer guidance is given

11. The setting for my prayers to God at least weekly is: No direct guidance is given

  • At home by myself
  • Someplace private
  • In public
  • Outdoors
  • In church Acts 2:42 as example
  • Prayer group
  • With a close friend
  • Other
  • I am not sure
  • I do not pray

12. The timing of my prayers – No guidance is given

  • In the morning
  • At night
  • Late afternoon
  • When I exercise
  • During breaks throughout the day at home, work or school
  • Intermittent short prayers throughout the day (praying without ceasing)
  • On an as needed basis
  • Other
  • I am not sure
  • I do not pray

13. I typically organize my prayers by: No guidance is given

  • Using a predetermined list of prayer concerns
  • Using a rosary
  • Using pre-written prayers developed from someone else
  • Using a devotional
  • My prayers are spontaneous
  • Other
  • I am not sure
  • I do not pray

14. In regard to God answering prayers:

  • God answers all prayers just as I pray them
  • God answers all prayers according to His will – I John 5:13
  • We should pray in faith – James 1:7Romans 14:23
  • A lack of answered prayer shows a lack of faith
  • Getting the answers we want in prayer is a way to fulfill our desires
  • Not being rich or healthy is a sign of lack of faith
  • Other
  • Unsure

15. Is tongues or your native language more effective in prayer?

For public prayer the native language is preferred as to not give the appearance of chaos in the church and so others can understand and be edified by the prayers (1 Corinthians 14:6-12) Prayer by nature is a communication to God so if one does not understand what they are hearing or saying then the communication is ineffective (examples Paul’s prayers in Ephesians 1 and 3 and Colossians 1).

16. Biblical spiritual aspects of prayer are the following

  • Christ prays for us – Romans 8:34Hebrews7:24
  • The Holy Spirit prays for us – Romans 8:26
  • Angels pray for us
  • Christians should pray in faith – James 1:7Romans 14:23
  • The more people praying for us the more will likely our prayers will be answered
  • Asking others to pray benefits them as they can see God’s faithfulness in the answer
  • The more frequently we pray the more likely our prayers will be answered
  • Praying in tongues will bring a better result than praying in a person’s native language
  • We should pray according to scripture – 1 John 5:13
  • Other
  • Unsure

17.  When I agree to pray for another person I typically – No guidance is given

  • Tell my other friends about the prayer request
  • Do not share the request unless asked to tell others
  • Forget to pray
  • Pray for them once
  • Pray for them routinely for a while then stop
  • Pray for them routinely until I follow up with the requesting person about the answer
  • Follow up with the requesting person so I can rejoice in the answered prayer
  • Follow up with the requesting person so I can learn of a follow-up prayer request
  • Other
  • I am not sure
  • I do not pray for others

You can find the complete data for this survey here

 

Teleios Research Surveys Young Christians About Prayer

 
 

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Aug. 21, 2018 – PRLog — Teleios Research recently evaluated adolescents and millennials regarding their 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 for what the Bible instructs them to pray, they most often indicated praise (87%) and gratitude 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 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 it 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 then those who did not or prayed in tongues. In addition, those who studied scripture the most frequently also had better wellbeing (P=0.026). 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 men 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 as well as other findings from Teleios Research are on our website.

WC Stewart, JA Stewart, LA Nelson

About Teleios – Teleios is a non-profit foundation that seeks to demonstrate the truth of scripture and the Christian faith through scientific methods by providing evidence for the positive results of a biblically-based lifestyle. Prior studies conducted by Teleios have shown that the practice of the Christian faith (praise, prayer, fellowship, service and Bible study) and security of salvation increases well-being while reducing guilt.

Contact
Lindsay Nelson
Teleios Research
lindsay.nelson@prnorb.com
 
 
You can find the original Press Release here.
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