Research on Protestant Ministers Reveals Roadmap for a Satisfying Prayer Life

Ellison Research, a Phoenix-based research organisation in the US, today released the results of a survey on the prayer life of Protestant ministers across different denominations. It was found that only 16 percent of Protestant ministers across the country are very satisfied with their personal prayer life. Another 47 percent are somewhat satisfied with it. Thirty percent are somewhat dissatisfied, and 7 percent are very dissatisfied with their prayer life.

The 868 Protestant church ministers that participated in the survey were asked about their personal prayer lives, including how much time they spend praying, and what they are praying about. A very significant phenomenon is that the level of satisfaction pastors have with their own prayer life varies substantially by the pastor's age.

Only 9 percent of pastors under age 45 are very satisfied with their prayer life, along with 13 percent of those 45 to 59 years old. Pastors aged 60 or above are surprisingly satisfied with their prayer life - 30 percent - more than three times the proportion of younger ministers.

Concerning the time spent on prayer everyday, the average was recorded to be 39 minutes. However, the time ministers spend on prayer does not really directly affect their level of satisfaction. Younger ministers spend on average 35 minutes a day in prayer, compared to 41 minutes among pastors 45 to 59 years old, and 38 minutes among older pastors.

The prayer topics of the evangelical ministers and the mainline Protestant church ministers have quite a sharp difference. In general, evangelical ministers have a much broader range of things they pray for, being more likely than mainline Protestant pastors to pray for their congregation's spiritual health (96% to 90%), numerical growth for their church (58% to 43%), the financial health of their church (57% to 46%), the right things to say in a sermon (86% to 78%), personal financial needs (52% to 40%), overseas missions (67% to 49%), local outreach and evangelism (75% to 58%), individual government leaders (71% to 63%), and personal spiritual growth (86% to 78%).

Mainline pastors are more likely than evangelicals to pray for just two areas: global events such as war or disasters (87% to 72%) and their denomination (57% to 34%). This diversity among evangelicals is true even though evangelicals spend slightly less time in prayer each day than do mainline pastors.

Protestant churches of different confessions do have special characteristics in their prayer lives. For instance, Methodists, who are among the most satisfied with their prayer life, spend an average of 45 minutes a day in prayer while the Baptists from outside the Southern Baptist Convention spend 43 minutes a day.

However, unlike Baptists, who are particularly likely to pray for individual Christian leaders, numerical growth for their church, overseas missions, and local outreach and evangelism efforts, Methodist ministers are especially likely to pray for persecuted Christians in other countries, as well as global events, and their denomination.

Presbyterians, who are among the least satisfied, spend only 28 minutes a day in prayer. They are more likely than average to pray for global events and their own denomination

Pentecostals who spent 47 minutes per day in prayer in average, are more likely than average to pray for other local pastors or churches and personal spiritual growth, and dramatically more likely to pray for personal or family financial needs, church finances, and numerical growth for their church.

Ron Sellers, president of Ellison Research, noted that pastors seem to have provided a pretty clear roadmap for a fulfilling and satisfying prayer life.

"The study clearly showed that what drives a satisfying prayer life for a minister is spending less time asking God for things and more time listening to what God has to say, praying for issues beyond their own personal and church needs, and spending much more time overall in prayer," Sellers explained.

Sellers added, "These are not minor percentage differences in the study, but major ones - 78 percent of pastors who are very satisfied with their prayer life had prayed recently for overseas missions, compared to just 40% among those who are very dissatisfied with their prayer life, for example. These numbers are hard to ignore, and it would be unwise to do so."