Does the mention of "the hour of prayer" in Acts 3:1 suggest that Christians are to pray at a specific time?:
Act 3:1 Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.
-
Individuals are encouraged (by Jesus) to go into their closet and to shut the door and there to pray in secret. Corporately, groups of persons will need to decide among themselves what is convenient. The 'hour' when Peter and John went to the temple is not recorded so it obviously wasn't being put forward as a special time or we would have been told when it was.– Nigel JMay 26, 2018 at 23:44
-
1The hour of prayer for Christians is given elsewhere: "without ceasing"!– Luke SawczakMay 27, 2018 at 4:23
-
I have always taken 'without ceasing' to mean that one prays for something, maybe today, then again tomorrow, and persists in the mention of it, not ceasing. If it meant 'pray 24 hours a day, 60 minutes every hour and 60 seconds every minute' I would find that impossible.– Nigel JMay 27, 2018 at 15:35
-
See canonical hours.– LucianMay 28, 2018 at 11:44
Add a comment
|
1 Answer
Acts 3:1 refers to the hour of prayer in the Jewish temple which was set at the 9th hour (IE: 3pm). Because of this precedent many Christian groups set an hour of prayer:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vespers
However, the NT does not establish any such scheduled activities as a matter of "law" or required tradition.
answered May 26, 2018 at 13:42
-
The "ninth hour" is nine hours after sunrise. If the sun rises at 6 AM the ninth hour is 3 PM.– fdbMay 26, 2018 at 16:48