Who Prays the Most?

 

 And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

 When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 

Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount -- Matthew 6: 5-8 NRSVue 

I am a person of prayer to a God I trust hears me and responds. 

That said, I don't often offer my prayers aloud, and much of my prayer is non-verbal anyway. I do make requests in prayer although not as often now as in the early days of my Christian faith. During some years in ministry I had a lined prayer book in which I wrote down prayer concerns for people and I would revisit from time to time so that I didn't forget those folk. I've experienced a lot of disappointment in prayer over time and as with so many others I've wondered if talking outside a door where no one inside was listening. 

And yet I persist. Why? Why not? Jesus took time for regular prayer and did so even on the cross. He taught his followers to pray as well and cautioned them about being hypocrites who blah, blahed their prayers.  If Jesus was delusional I'm going along for the ride. 

I saw the chart, above, about nations with the highest levels of prayer and noticed that Americans pray a lot more than Canadians. Hmm. They do have a lot to pray about and I wish that they prayed a lot more fror moral clarity. President Trump has admitted he doesn't ask for forgiveness, a significant form of prayer, and it's hard to imagine he seeks God's guidance on a regular basis. 

It's interesting that Indonesians pray the most and Indians areis right up there. These are predominantly Muslim and Hindu nations. In Western nations with Christian roots prayer isn't so important. Does affluence result in indifference to God? 

This is food for thought, and perhaps prayer, 

Key Takeaways

• Low- and middle-income countries typically see the highest levels of daily prayer.
• Indonesia tops the list with 95% of its population praying daily, while India has the highest absolute number of people—over 1 billion—who pray daily.
• The U.S. stands out among Western nations with 44% of Americans saying they pray daily.

Prayer is one of the most common forms of spiritual expression worldwide. Yet, how often people pray varies widely across cultures, religions, and regions.

This chart ranks countries by the number and share of people who pray daily, using data from a survey by the Pew Research Center and population figures from the World Bank. The dataset covers 35 countries and represents around 50% of the global population, excluding countries where data was unavailable (such as China).