By Michaela Gordoni
A new Pew Research study revealed that 44% of Americans pray at least once a day.
Nearly half of those (23%) report they pray every week or a few times a month. Altogether, two-thirds of the U.S. pray with consistency.
Women are more likely to pray than men (50% vs. 37%), and Black Americans are most likely to pray daily (64%). It’s more likely for older adults to pray, but younger generations are gradually showing more interest.
According to data by the Radiant Foundation in 2023, half of U.S. adults who pray do so when they wake up and half at bedtime. Participants reported that their most common place of prayer is the car (61%), and 41% reported they most often pray at their place of worship. The study examined responses from 1,783 adults aged 18 to 64.
“These results make it clear that there is more praying taking place than people expect. People are praying in a variety of ways and in unexpected places throughout the day,” said John Dye, executive director of Skylight, a Radiant Foundation website. “They are frequently exploring their spiritual side and using prayer to work through adversity, find meaning, and create connection with a higher power.”
Of those who said they pray, 87% said they think they received an answer to prayer in the last 12 months. The most common reasons for prayer were a friend or family member in crisis or suffering from an illness.
In 2023, a survey released by NORC at the University of Chicago found half of Americans believe in God with no doubts. Another 16% believe in God but do have doubts. Less than 15% said they believe in some kind of “higher power,” and 7% said they did not know. There were some (6%) who said they believe in God “sometimes.”
While belief in God may be high, church attendance is low, as 34% said they never attended church. Only 4% said they go to church weekly.
Pastor and author Pete Greig shared some ways churches can foster a culture of prayer.
Related: 10 Movies That Demonstrate The Power Of Prayer
“The key thing [to creating effective prayer ministry] is to create a culture of prayer, and not just to try and roll out a program, because programs end up running out of steam eventually, and then you go hunting for the next one. Programs can serve culture, but the program is not the same as the culture,” he explained to Barna Group.
“[Leaders should be] leading by example…We, as leaders, cannot delegate prayer to others.” Greig continued. “Secondly, let’s teach on prayer. This seems, again, so obvious, but I’ve done analysis…And you’re lucky if there’s one series a year on prayer, even though [prayer] is one of the few things that’s on every page of the Bible.”
It’s great that many Americans recognize prayer’s importance. Prayer helps establish a relationship with God, and it’s amazing to see how He works through prayer. But prayer doesn’t meet every spiritual need. The Bible teaches that there are other things Christians need, like fellowship and meditation on His word, for spiritual growth.
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