There is power in praying aloud, so although silent prayers may be more comfortable for you, you should try to give voice to them when you can.
The silent practice of contemplative prayer guides us toward resting in the fullness of God and God's love. It's a peaceful practice that pulls us away from striving, fear, and defending boundaries.
No, you do not need to speak out loud when you pray. Most people do pray out loud but, there are situations where that is not an option. Prayer is about your heart and what matters most is believing that God hears your prayers, even if you are praying within your heart.
I would encourage you to try and pray out loud if you already don't. You'll notice that sometimes a shift happens when you decide to speak your thoughts. It's almost as if what you're thinking becomes even more real and it allows you to experience God in a different way.
But though God does not always speak out loud as He did to Samuel and Hagar, He always speaks! He has many things to say to those who will listen. Too often, our prayers are one-sided-we do all the talking! We must learn to pay attention to God and what He might be saying to us when we pray.
We might think of “silent prayer” as communicating with God not by speaking words aloud but by saying them in our minds. But prayer does not always require words. In fact, Jesus cautioned that using “many words” in prayer could become like babbling (see Matthew 6:7).
God told the children of Israel to, “SHOUT TO THE LORD,” so that the walls of Jericho would collapse. Psalm 47:1 states, “Clap your hands all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy.” Check out Psalm 66, Psalm 81:1, Psalm 98:4, and Psalm 100:1.
How is it that Jesus would be calling you to be His hands and feet in the present? It is in this: with our eyes open, being mindful of the Lord, and seeing through spiritual lenses. In that way we can learn to truly pray without ceasing. Being mindful of the Lord is in itself prayer, and it leads to further prayer.
“When you cannot hear God,” says Oswald Chambers in “My Utmost For His Highest,” “you will find that He has trusted you in the most intimate way possible — with absolute silence, not a silence of despair, but one of pleasure, because He saw that you could withstand an even bigger revelation.”
The Fajr prayer consists of two rakat (prescribed movements). In a congregation, the leader of the prayer (imam) recites aloud.
Matthew 6:6-7 King James Version (KJV)
But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
Quick Answer: In short, we pray both Zuhr and Asr silently because it is the Sunnah of the Prophet (ﷺ) to do so. Certain prayers were read aloud like first two rakats of Fajr, Maghrib and Isha. Others like Zuhr and Asr Salah, the imam or the one who prays alone should recite silently.
Is it possible that God would get angry with us because we pray too much about a particular problem? I worry about bothering Him too much with my problems. ANSWER: Absolutely not! The Bible tells us to persist in prayer and to pray about everything.
These three powerful morning prayers are the prayers of thanksgiving, the Lord's Prayer, and the prayer of Jabez. Jesus taught his disciples how to pray, the Bible tells us to enter his gates with thanksgiving, and Jabez prayed to God and God granted him his request.
If you want to have a more effective conversation with God, read Scripture. Let David's words in the Psalms enliven your prayers. Stop in the Gospels to pray over a verse that strikes you, asking God to work that truth into your heart.
How long we pray does not matter as much as how often we pray and the spirit we bring into our prayer. Some, in trying to be pedantic say that we should pray for one hour. The reason they give is because Jesus said to His disciples, “Will you not watch with me for one hour?” (Mk. 14:37).
Scripture tells us that silence can help us avoid sinning (Proverbs 10:19), gain respect (Proverbs 11:12), and is deemed wise and intelligent (Proverbs 17:28). In other words, you may be blessed by holding your tongue.
The simple answer is yes, God hears your prayers. An ever-present, all-knowing God will hear every word from your mouth, thought in your mind and whisper of your heart.
Reading and studying the Bible, spending time in prayer, and talking with other followers of Jesus are not just part of our to-do list. God encourages us to do these things because they help us to learn about His character and learn to recognize His voice.
At times, the voice of God has been described as that of a parent (which could seem benign, benevolent, or terrifying, depending on what kind of relationship you've had with your parents). We are also told that God speaks in a “still small voice” (1 Kings 19:12).
Many saints have experienced God as a great light. When we meditate and see the light at the point between the eyebrows, we are seeing Him as light. As Christ reveals to us in Matthew 6:22, “The light of the body is the eye: therefore if thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.”