6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
7 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.
8 Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.
For this Survey Thursday for the National Day of Prayer, I went searching for some indicators about people's prayer lives. I found some recent data from Pew Research and its latest Religious Landscape Study. Its summary said:
Fewer than half of Americans (44%) say they pray each day. This is a substantial decline from the first Religious Landscape Study (RLS) conducted in 2007, when 58% said they prayed at least once a day.
Here are some tidbits of information from the survey:
- 33% of U.S. adults often or always say grace before meals.
- 29% read scripture at least monthly...
- 28% read other holy texts, devotions or inspirational literature (aside from scripture) at least monthly.
- 19% participate in prayer groups, scripture-study groups or religious educational programs at least monthly.
- 18% share their views about religion with people from other religious backgrounds at least monthly.
Among those who identify as Christians, 60% said they pray daily. 64% of Protestants say they do, including 72% of Evangelicals. 51% of Catholics report daily prayer. Just over 1 out of 5 Americans say they read the Bible daily outside of worship services - that includes one-third of Christians, just over 4-in-10 Protestants, and slightly over half of Evangelicals. 14% of Catholics say they read the Bible daily.
Going back to a 2023 article at The Christian Post, with research gathered in September of 2022, we find this statement:
According to a study by Lifeway Research, 65% of Protestant churchgoers intentionally spend time alone with God at least daily, with 44% saying daily and 21% saying more than once a day.And, here's something that may surprise you: "Most churchgoers, 83%, say they are more likely to talk to God through prayer rather than reading from the Bible or a devotional (39%)."
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