(For those of you who don't understand the concept of silent prayer) Silent prayer is a form of prayer that takes place on the mental front. That is to say , you just think what you are praying while you are on your knees with your hands folded (not always ,but usually). It was invented either by the Quakers or the Shakers (two religious groups made of early north American Settlers), but I digress.

My question : Is silent prayer alright in the eyes of God? It seems to be a widely excepted form of prayer and I do it myself. It just that recently I've been questioning lifestyle foundations and other important aspects of life. God can read minds, I am sure of this, but is it really fine to pray without speaking? I can understand when their are others around and it is something embarrassing, but will god punish you for it? 

Personally, my view is that praying is praying. Whether you're praying out loud, or silently, it's still praying. The reason some choose to pray out loud is to keep their minds focused on praying, which is why I do pray out loud sometimes. However, if you're focusing on God and on the prayer, then praying silently isn't wrong.

tornadocam : Thanks, yes you did help.

mrfe : Thanks. I thought so before, but now I'm sure of it.

Bintsy
:When I pray out loud it also feels like he is in the room with me. When I pray in my head it makes it feel like there is a big distances between us. That's probably the weird feeling I had about it.

Thanks all of you!

kidcop :

Just pray when you feel the wish you want to talk with God.

Silent prayer is a way for me to talk to God without having to speak my thoughts out loud. I admit that I have done this to avoid embarrassment, thought there are times when it may be better to use silent prayer to avoid disturbing those around you. Regardless, prayer is meant to be you communicating with God.

My first post of the year  Hope you all have a blessed one!

To start off with.  kidcop, I don't think silent prayer was "invented".  In the Bible in the Old Testament, Hannah is seen praying silently (1 Samuel 1:12-13) and if you know the story, God heard and answered her prayer.  There is absolute power in silent prayer.  Though the Bible does not specifically mention "silent prayer", Jesus does talk about praying alone (Matthew 6:6).  1 Thessalonians 5:17 tells us to pray without ceasing.  Obviously you can't be speaking out loud to God all the time when you're sitting in class, behind your office desk, in a meeting or at the movies.  So there must be such a thing as a silent prayer.  We are also told about praying in the Spirit (Ephesians 6:18) and Romans 8:26 says that sometimes we do not know what to pray and the Holy Spirit intercedes for us.  In many ways, this seems to be a silent prayer.  Remember that God can hear our thoughts (Psalm 139:23).  God is right there with you if you pray silently.  It is still a prayer of confidence and faith.

I believe any formation of praying would continued to be considered praying. I mean, come on, would God really punish for praying? Within addition, how would praying be considered as embarrassment? It is an act of religion. What? You think others would intimidate you because of committing a mandatory act of religion. If they do intimidate someone, that rude human being should be punished by God, but that is what I believe.

Just because you don't say something aloud doesn't mean it doesn't count.  Your thoughts and feelings and emotions are much more powerful then anything you can say.  We can lie with our mouths and we cannot lie with our hearts.
Silent prayer is better, even, because it's not for others.  It's you and God and no one else.

kidcop :

Nice username.


SoL@R has made his point from the Bible pretty well, silent prayer was invented in the old Testament.

I think that it's okay to pray to yourself to keep from aggravating someone. (Some people just get angry when others pray around them for whatever reason, but not many, it's not like they can demand that you stop, it's their problem if it makes them angry anyways).

My computer messed up last time I tried replying, which was a while ago. So I'll keep this nice and short.

Thanks for all of your help! I now have a better understanding of silent prayer. Also, that bit about Quakers or Shakers I put up was from school. I figured I wasn't anywhere near accurate, but put it up anyway.

By grace alone, through faith, alone because of Christ alone.

You can shout out loud ofcource all you want but this will not change.

How many people have been killed over that question.
From a Christian perspective id say the answer is far more simple.
That if god knows your heart prayer is moot, he already knows.

thenumberone :

Millions? About the sake of should you pray out loud? Thousands? This is ofcource my estimate as a mere mortal.