The benefits of prayer are huge! Prayer is simply talking to God. It’s a way to express yourself and your feelings without judgment. It’s one thing that I know I can always rely on no matter how good or how bad things are going. There is one benefit of prayer that is particularly close to my heart, but first, let’s look at all the benefits and how prayer can help in your life.
What is Prayer?
Prayer is a form of communication with God. It is your direct pathway to an audience at the Throne of God. This is how you tell God your problems, ask him questions, request guidance, or pour out your heart to him. It’s a way to express your feelings while still keeping them private.
What benefits do you get from talking to God?
Some of the benefits of prayer include:
- guidance
- comfort
- hope
- peace
- tranquility
- better focus
Who couldn’t use more of that in their life? The benefits of prayer can be applied to all kinds of problems too; whether it’s a huge issue like cancer or something small like what to cook for dinner tonight.
There are many benefits of prayer.
What do you gain by prayer?
The benefits of prayer cannot be measured. If you have ever heard the saying “You get out of it what you put into it,” you can apply that to prayer as well. When you pray you get all of the above benefits. The more you put your heart into it and honestly seek and wait for God’s answer, the more you will gain.
What is the power of prayer?
Simply put, the power of prayer is access to the power of God. He may or may not choose to act on our behalf, but we have the ability to speak to the Almighty Creator of the Universe whenever it is convenient for us. We can come to him with any problem big or small, day or night. We can ask for his mercy, his guidance, and feel his love any time we need it. That’s a pretty powerful benefit of prayer!
Why Should We Pray?
The many benefits of prayer listed below are reasons why we should pray, but they are not the most important reason. We should pray because we are commanded to pray and to follow the example of Jesus.
What are the Different Types of Prayer?
There are as many different types of prayer as there are people that pray. Here are a few:
- Individual prayer
- Group prayer
- Public prayer
- Thanksgiving prayers
- Praise prayers
- Prayers of forgiveness
- Asking for Guidance
- Written prayer
- Verbal, spoken aloud prayer
- Internal prayer – spoken in your mind and heart
Benefits of Prayer
This is by no means a comprehensive list of the benefits of prayer. These are a few, but they are powerful. Some can be backed up by scientific evidence, others can be felt in your heart, but they are all real. Praying and turning to God is one of the things that I cover in my course, Questing for Contentment.
Health Benefits of Prayer
When you pray, your heart rate slows down and blood pressure decreases.
Your body releases endorphins – natural painkillers that also make you feel happy. People who pray have less stress and anxiety. Prayer also helps with sleep, better breathing, and digestion.
Interestingly enough, there have also been studies done that praying on a regular basis physically changes your brain. It enlarges the frontal lobe of the brain, which is in charge of concentration and focus. The frontal lobe of the brain is also in charge of problem-solving, language, memory, impulse control, rationality, and social behavior.
Mental Health Benefits of Prayer
Prayer may be utilized as a means of self-reflection. Praying to express gratitude and forgiveness is an excellent method to improve communication with others. We can feel good while praying for other people because it makes us feel better about ourselves. Praying is also a place where you can process your emotions. You can be angry, you can be sad and cry, you can be unspeakably happy.
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Benefits of Prayer That Connect us to Others
Pray for others who are in need – it’s more than just talk. Prayer may help you find serenity during times of turmoil. God is accessible through prayer. Prayer allows us to work through our difficulties and achieve inner peace. Prayer can assist you in feeling more connected with people in your life.
Stress-Busting Benefits of Prayer
Simply uttering God’s name and talking about whatever enters your thoughts without restraint may help you profit from prayer. It’s a fantastic method to get rid of tension. Prayer is an excellent technique to relieve stress and anxiety. Praying for a situation you’re going through benefits your mental health and can help you feel calmer.
Spiritual Growth Benefits of Prayer
The more we pray, the stronger our relationship becomes with God. It is not unusual for the benefits of prayer to inspire individuals to serve others. It is easier to pray when problems are being resolved.
Prayer benefits your spiritual life too! When you pray, you are more connected with God and make him the center of your life. If there is something troubling you about your relationship with God, you can pray and ask him to help. Prayer benefits your spiritual life in that it brings you closer to God.
Benefits of Prayer for Self-Improvement
Prayer may be used as a way of striving for self-improvement or seeking forgiveness from God. Prayer allows you to focus on the good things in life. When you feel stress, you can pray for relief. Prayer is also good for helping you build self-awareness. When you humble yourself and are willing to see your faults, you are at a great place for growth. Prayer benefits are numerous, and it’s time to start praying!
What Difference Does Prayer Make? Does Prayer Really Work?
The simple answer is yes. You may have heard from skeptical friends that prayer is just a crutch. Not so. When I pray, I know that it puts my mind at ease, it makes me thankful and grateful, and it reminds me where I need to put my focus each day. Yes, prayer really works.
Does Prayer Always Work Exactly the Way We Want it to?
No, it does not. I have prayed for someone to be healed that, passed away, and for things that did not come. Some of my prayers did come, but totally not the way I expected them to.
God answers prayers, but he answers them “yes” “no” and “wait.” God’s time is not our time and his ways are not our ways. I don’t always understand, but I can always trust that his way is the best way. You cannot command the power of God. That is not ours. We can ask our Heavenly Father, and know that he is able, even when and if he chooses not to intervene or say “yes.”
How to Include Prayer into Your Daily Routine
I don’t think about it that much, but there are many benefits to praying every day. For years, I struggled with carving out time in my daily routine to read my Bible and pray. Now, I sit down with a cup of coffee after I get the kids off to school, and I pray before I read my Bible. I pray after I read. I pray before each meal, and with my husband and kids before we go to bed at night.
Think about places where you could incorporate prayer into your daily routine. It might be:
- When you get up in the morning
- Your shower
- On your way to work
- Over your cup of coffee
- On a walk
- Over meals
- On your way back from work
- When your kids get home from school
- When you go to bed
Where works best for you? It does not have to be a prayer aloud. It can simply be spoken in your heart. God will hear it.
Things to Pray For
Now that we know the benefits of prayer, what things should we pray for? First off, pray what is on your heart. Sometimes we don’t know what to pray for, and that’s ok. God understands that too. If you would like a list of things to pray for, here are a few practical prayer ideas to get you started:
- That God’s will be done
- Spouse
- Children
- Parents
- Your country’s leaders
- Gratitude
- Praise
- Wisdom
- Better Understanding
- Closer relationship with Christ
- God’s churches
- Ministers
- Those that have lost loved ones
- Those that are going through hard times
- Yourself
- Firefighters, Nurses, Paramedics, Police
- Those defending liberty and peace
The Last Thing You Need to Know About the Benefits of Prayer
Research shows that the benefits of prayer include improved mental well-being, reduced depression and anxiety, physical benefits, increased sense of purpose in life, stronger relationships with others, and benefits at work or school. The benefits of prayer include benefits that improve your entire life.
Prayer benefits give you the opportunity to thank God for everything he does for you and how he has blessed you with the benefits of prayer. The benefits of prayer will allow you to notice more things throughout the day that you can be thankful for. Not only does prayer allow me to strengthen my relationship with God, but it also sets my mind at ease better than anything else. What does prayer do for you? Leave me a comment below!
It’s was so serendipitous that I came across the piece. Just the other day, my hubby and I were talking about how our daily prayer routine makes such a difference in how we feel, not just individually but as a family as well.
For us, we usually pray together at night before bed. We have two children, a son who’s ten and a baby girl, and one of the biggest benefits we’ve found in praying out loud as a family is that we get to set an example for our children on how to have faith and the importance of being able to find something to be grateful for, even on the most difficult of days.
By praying together, we are able to show our children how to be thankful for the good things that come our way; how to use prayer to ease anxiety; how to let go of our attachment to outcomes and how to deal with the passing of a loved one.
There will come a time when my husband and I will no longer be here to physically support our children in their journey through life, but on that day, we can rest easy in the knowledge that we tried to cultivate in them a strong foundation in faith and gratitude to help them in troubled times.
Another beautiful benefit of praying out loud together at the end of the day is that it also serves to bring us closer as a family. By each of us getting a chance to pray out loud, we are able to gain a deeper insight into the hopes, joys and worries of our loved ones.
As a parent, this is also so important for us to be better able to understand our son and the things that matter most to him on any given day. It also deepens the empathy we have for each other and when we are openly grateful for our relationships, we cement the love we have for each other.
It’s only been a few years since we started this practice of praying together as a family and I can attest to all you said in your post about the benefits of prayer. It is a gift. Truly. And we should accept it with open arms and make use of it as often as we can.
But the trick, I think, is to find what works best for us as individuals and within the context of our families and our circumstances. Like you said in your post, there are many different ways to pray and some will resonate more strongly with us than others. But we should persist until we find what works for us, and once we do, there’ll be no going back ????
Thank you for this post and all the best to you and your loved ones…
Absolutely beautifully said. Thank you so much for sharing that. ❤