The Bible doesn't set a required length for prayer. Jesus warned against long prayers made for show and also spent whole nights praying, while David and Daniel prayed at set times morning, noon and evening. A good start is a few unhurried minutes at the same time each day, usually first thing in the morning, then praying briefly through the day as things come up. A prayer lock app like Prayer Latch can protect that morning time.
"How long should I pray?" is usually a worried question: am I praying enough? The honest answer from Scripture is freeing. God cares more about a regular, real conversation than a stopwatch. And if your phone is what keeps shrinking your prayer time, Prayer Latch, a Christian app blocker that locks your apps each morning until you pray, is one way to give it back. Scripture quotations are from the King James Version, which is in the public domain.
Does the Bible say how long to pray?
No. There's no verse that sets a daily minimum. What the Bible gives instead is examples:
- Set times: "Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice" (Psalm 55:17, KJV). Daniel "kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God" (Daniel 6:10, KJV).
- Early mornings: Jesus rose "a great while before day" to pray alone (Mark 1:35, KJV).
- Long seasons: before choosing the twelve apostles, Jesus "continued all night in prayer to God" (Luke 6:12, KJV).
- All the time: "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17, KJV), meaning a life that keeps turning back to God through the day.
Did Jesus say we should pray for an hour?
Not as a rule. In Gethsemane he asked his sleeping disciples, "What, could ye not watch with me one hour?" (Matthew 26:40, KJV). Some Christians take that as a call to a daily hour of prayer, and it's a fine goal. But Jesus was speaking about one night of crisis, and he immediately added, "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation" (Matthew 26:41, KJV). He also taught that long prayers aren't better in themselves: "use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking" (Matthew 6:7, KJV).
How long do most Christians pray?
It varies widely. Many people pray a few minutes in the morning, before meals and at bedtime. Pastors and people in a season of seeking God often keep a longer daily time, from 20 minutes to an hour. There's no right number, only a direction: more time with God, more honestly, more often.
How long should a beginner pray?
Start smaller than you think. If you aim for 30 minutes and quit on day three, you've learned that prayer is a failure. If you aim for three minutes and keep it for a month, you've built a habit you can grow.
| Stage | Daily time | What it looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Starting | 1–3 minutes | One short prayer every morning before your phone |
| Building | 5–10 minutes | A psalm, then the ACTS steps |
| Deepening | 15–30 minutes | Scripture, a prayer list, and silence to listen |
Prayer Latch tip: use the quiet timer to move through these stages. Start with 1 minute for a week, then 3, then 5, then 10. Your apps stay locked until you finish and hold to say Amen, so the time you set is the time you pray.
Is a short prayer still a real prayer?
Yes. Some of the Bible's best prayers are one line long: "God be merciful to me a sinner" (Luke 18:13, KJV). Nehemiah prayed in the space between the king's question and his own answer (Nehemiah 2:4–5). Short prayers through the day keep you close to God; a set daily time keeps those prayers rooted.
When is the best time to pray?
The time you'll actually keep. For many people, it's first thing in the morning, before the day's demands and before the phone. "My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD" (Psalm 5:3, KJV). See what Psalm 5:3 means.
How do I stop my phone from eating my prayer time?
Put prayer in front of it. Prayer Latch locks the apps you choose at your wake-up time. When you reach for one, you pray first, with a guided prayer or your own words and a quiet timer of 1, 3, 5 or 10 minutes, then hold to say Amen. That makes the timer a gentle way to grow from one minute to ten over a few weeks.
Pray before you scroll
Prayer Latch locks your chosen apps each morning until you pray. Your first 7 days are free, no card needed.
Updated October 27, 2026 by the Prayer Latch team at Janus Works LLC.