With a Subtitle: Disciplined prayer is not legalism. Jesus modeled extended prayer as the path to spiritual strength.
A brief Excerpt: Many Christians dismiss disciplined prayer as legalism, yet Jesus Himself asked His disciples, “Could you not watch with Me one hour?” Consistent, intentional prayer is essential for spiritual strength and victory over temptation.
Is One Hour of Prayer Legalism?
I recently wrote an article titled What the Epstein Files Reveal About the State of the Church, and in that article I talked about the need to pray at least an hour daily if one desires to assume the posture of a gatekeeper in their home.
In that article, I pointed out that this was taught by Jesus Himself when He said to His disciples:
“Could you not watch with Me one hour?” (Matthew 26:40)
The purpose of that hour, as Jesus made clear, was to overcome temptation.
To this, I received a comment that called it legalism.
Instead of responding directly to the commenter, I decided that an article would be best.
Because the response revealed something interesting about the state of many Christians in the United States.
There is an incessant need to poke holes in everything. An impulse to add two cents to every matter — even when the words being examined came directly from the mouth of Jesus Himself.
I thought the entire point of Christianity was to be followers of Christ. Better still, as Paul put it, to be imitators of Him as he imitates Christ.
So if Christ says, “Could you not pray for an hour to stay out of temptation?” who is man to call it legalism?
The Pride of Knowledge
As a people, we have become so prideful because of our access to knowledge that we think we are equipped to criticize direct tutelage from Jesus Christ Himself.
Yet ordinary life teaches us something different.
If you want to become proficient at something, you must dedicate time to it.
You create a regimen.
You build discipline around it.
But when it comes to God, suddenly anything goes — because of grace.
“Just pray however you can. God sees your heart.”
He sees your heart quite alright.
And He also sees that you cannot spend one hour in prayer, yet you can watch several episodes of The Chosen or any other form of entertainment in one sitting.
Suddenly, what once sounded comforting is not so comforting anymore.
Why Many Western Christians Resist Disciplined Prayer
The church in the West is largely designed to keep its congregants as perpetual babies — always needing milk.
Why?
Because comfort has become a god in these parts.
Nobody wants to rock the boat.
So how is the status quo maintained?
By teaching what people want to hear without delving into hard matters — assuming the teachers themselves even know them. This keeps people attending, but never truly apprehending the truth.
Yet if Jesus prayed as much as He did to successfully accomplish His assignment, and if we see that same dedication to prayer carried forward by His disciples, what makes us think we can be casual and lackluster in our approach to prayer and still be effective witnesses for Jesus?
This mindset shocks me.
What Persecuted Churches Understand About Prayer
I often hear Christians in the West admire the perseverance of persecuted churches around the world.
I belong to a body that experiences ongoing persecution — although I have not directly faced persecution myself.
And I can tell you one thing:
They never admonish their congregation to pray whenever or however they can.
That congregation understands fully that prayer is their lifeline.
It is how they overcome temptation.
It is how they remain faithful even in the face of death.
So they pray like their lives depend on it.
They hold:
- 90-day prayer vigils
- 50-hour prayer stretches
- Extended fasts to weaken the flesh and strengthen the spirit
These people have learned the power of regimented prayer and the power of long prayer.
They do not approach Christianity as merely a religion of choice.
They approach it like a militia group.
And the church ground is their cantonment.
Jesus Modeled Disciplined and Extended Prayer
Jesus Himself regularly practiced regimented, prolonged prayer.
Scripture tells us that He often rose a great while before dawn to pray (Mark 1:35).
Perhaps what we miss in the West is that we think the ability to pray long is a spiritual gift.
Except it isn’t.
You have complete autonomy over your prayer life.
You engage it as much or as little as you desire.
But make no mistake:
Capacity is built in the place of prayer.
People who pray long were not gifted the ability to pray.
They trained themselves in prayer by praying — until grace became available to sustain them in prayer.
What Happens When You Pray
In my experience, as you choose to become diligent in prayer:
Your spiritual eyes and ears open.
The longer you pray, the more you shed the weight of the flesh.
And the more you position yourself for supernatural encounters.
I don’t know about you, but my desire is for God’s realm to be more real to me than the one I currently live in.
And the only way I know to achieve that is through prayer.
Prayer Opens the Word of God
Some might say, “What about studying the Bible?”
In truth, you cannot understand the Bible beyond head knowledge without prayer.
Prayer opens the Word of God to you.
The Bible is a closed book until the Holy Spirit opens it.
Prayer turns your focus away from yourself and toward God, making you available to be carried by the Spirit who inspired the book in the first place.
As Scripture says:
“The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Corinthians 3:6).
The Early Church Had No Bible
We conveniently forget that the early church did not have a Bible as we know it today.
Yet they had a rich and vibrant relationship with God.
How?
Prayer. And loads of it, too!
There are also people today who can neither read nor write, yet they have a robust relationship with God.
Again — through prayer.
Through prayer they come to know the mind of God and His cadence. They learn to order their lives in ways that bring pleasure to the Father.
Prayer is available to all.
Although it is initiated by you, grace is available to carry you.
But you determine how far you desire to travel in God.
I believe God designed it this way so there would be no partiality because He is not a respecter of persons (Acts 10:34).
Jesus Was Clear About Prayer
When it comes to prayer, Jesus did not leave the matter open for speculation.
He said:
“Men ought always to pray and not faint.” (Luke 18:1)
Paul echoed the same instruction:
“Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
And the one-hour prayer Jesus asked of His disciples is still a far cry from praying always.
These words were written for our instruction. They are not merely nice things for us to know.
The Quiet Place
Someone may ask:
Do I always need to carve out a time to pray?
Yes.
Jesus often withdrew to quiet places to pray (Luke 5:16).
Any serious seeker of God should have a quiet place where they engage with Him away from distractions.
This does not mean every prayer must happen this way.
The command to pray always means cultivating a constant connection with God.
There is a book that portrays this constant connection as a form of prayer so beautifully. It is a book authored by Brother Lawrence, titled The Practice of the Presence of God, written in the 1600s.
In that book, Brother Lawrence describes how a believer can maintain continual fellowship with God, even while carrying out ordinary daily tasks. His life demonstrates that prayer is not limited to moments set aside in quiet places, but can become a constant awareness of God’s presence.
Yet even this constant connection with God does not eliminate the need for intentional times of prayer. Rather, it complements it. The quiet place strengthens the constant connection, and the constant connection sustains the quiet place.
Both forms were exemplified by Jesus.
Learning From Those Who Came Before Us
If you look closely in Scripture, you will find glimpses into the prayer lives of the heroes of faith.
When you want to learn a skill, you learn from those who have mastered it.
The same principle applies here.
The Bible is full of timeless principles.
God does not observe protocols (this is grace), but He is a God of order (this is principle).
Grace does not override God’s principles.
Even when Jesus addressed the prayer life of the Pharisees, His issue was not the discipline of their prayers — it was their hypocrisy.
Always Praying or Fainting
Prayer sustained every believer who came before us.
Not just prayer — but volumes of it, often for extended periods.
Jesus makes something very clear:
If a person is not always praying, that person is fainting.
Because there are only two prayer conditions available to a human being:
Always praying or fainting
There is no condition as prayerless.
Prayer is designed to keep us spiritually awake.
The more we pray, the more alert we become.
When this truth becomes real to us, the issue is no longer whether an hour of prayer is legalistic.
It becomes something else entirely.
It becomes survival.
An Invitation to Seek God Through Prayer
If you are reading this article and you know something is not right in your life ….
If you feel oppressed ….
If you are tired of a version of Christianity that has no power to set you free ….
It is not because your God is weak.
He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Do not let our collective incompetence discourage you from dealing with God directly.
You have access to Him.
But you must be willing to become diligent to receive the reward He has for you.
For Scripture says:
“He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).
I encourage you to schedule a daily time block for 30 days to meet with God.
I do not know how He will choose to encounter you.
But I trust that He will.
May we refuse to be among those who:
“Have a form of godliness but deny its power” (2 Timothy 3:5).
Salvation – Eternal Life in Less Than 150 Words
Distributed by – BCWorldview.org
This article appeared on Medium and is reprinted with modifications and by permission.