Who in the Bible prayed three times a day?
The Bible tells us that the prophet Daniel and King David both prayed three times per day. Also, if it is studied out, you can even see from the book of Acts that some of the apostles prayed three times a day as well.
“And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.” (Daniel 6:10)
Notice from this passage that the prophet Daniel not only prayed three times per day on this one occurrence, but it was a custom of his that he performed “since early days”, which probably means since he first came to Babylon as a young man.
Daniel wasn’t the only man of God in the Bible who did this. The Bible also reveals that King David of Israel also prayed three times a day.
“As for me, I will call upon God, and the Lord shall save me. Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice. (Psalms 55:16-17)
David starts off with the evening because Israel in his time believed that the day started the evening prior.
Something to notice from both of these men: they were both rulers of the people and they were both prophets of God which means that they were extremely busy!
Daniel was one of three governors that oversaw the entire Babylonian kingdom (Daniel 6:1-3). And the King was even thinking of making Daniel over all of the governors (which is why the other governors tried to throw him in the lion’s den).
David was king over all of Israel and even made Israel a powerhouse of a nation during his time, and he still found time to spend with His God. (Related article: Spending Time with God Every Day: How to do it)
The apostle Peter was also someone who prayed three times per day.
In Acts 2:15, he prayed with the church at the third hour of the day (9 am). In Acts 3:1, “Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour” (3 pm). And in Acts 10:9, Peter went up to housetop to pray at the sixth hour of the day (noon).
Some earl church history even suggests that some teachers after the apostles encouraged believers to pray three times per day. You can check that article out by Wikipedia by clicking here.
Should I pray three times a day?
You should pray as often as your schedule allows you to. The men of God who prayed three times a day did so because they wanted to and were able. Nowhere in the Bible does it command us to pray at certain times. Instead, the Bible leaves it up to us to decide how often we should pray.
The only command that we have regarding how often we should pray is that we should be devoted to it.
“rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.” (Romans 12:12-13)
“Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving” (Colossians 4:2)
“Then He (Jesus) spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart” (Luke 18:1)
Nowhere does the Bible tells us that we should pray three times a day, seven times a day, only in the morning, etc. The Bible just tells us to pray and to be consistent in our times of praying. (Related article: 7 Tips to Develop and Maintain a Consistent Prayer Life)
The Bible does, however, give us many examples of men and women of God who would have certain times of prayer, but that is all those are; examples. They are recorded for our benefit. They act as a guide for us, not a law.
If your schedule allows you to pray three times per day and you desire to pray that often, then of course do it. It can only be beneficial for you. [Related article: How Long/Often Should Christians Pray? (Biblical Answer)]
But if you are unable to pray that often and you only have free time in the morning or evening, then use that time to glorify God and get to know Him.
Isaac, the patriarch, would spend time with God in the evening time.
“And Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening, and he lifted his eyes and looked, and there, the camels were coming.” (Genesis 24:63)
Jesus would spend most of His time in prayer in the early morning before anyone else woke up (Mark 1:35).
So as you can see, it makes no difference how often or at what times you pray. The important thing is to just get alone with God and spend time with Him.
Did Jesus pray three times a day?
The Bible tells us that Jesus would pray in the early morning, throughout the day, and that He would often pray at night. The Bible never says specifically if Jesus prayed three times per day, but it does suggest that He probably prayed more often than this.
As mentioned above, Jesus would spend most of His time in prayer in the morning.
“Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.” (Mark 1:35)
Now, the prophet Isaiah reveals that this was actually a daily practice of Jesus for probably His whole life.
“The Lord God has given Me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to hear as the learned.” (Isaiah 50:4)
Not only did Jesus pray in the morning but the Bible also tells us that He would pray often throughout the day.
“However, the report went around concerning Him all the more; and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities. So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.” (Luke 5:15-16)
So far the Bible has shown us that Jesus would pray every morning, almost without fail, and that He would pray many times throughout the day as well. In addition to all of this, He would also pray many times at night.
“Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.” (Luke 6:12)
“And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there.” (Matthew 14:23)
The Bible never tells us that this was a daily practice of His, as it does for His morning time with the Lord, but it does mention it enough for us to believe that it happened fairly often.
So, as you can see, Jesus didn’t pray three times per day. In fact, if we use some critical thinking skills we will find that He most likely prayed more often than this.
The Gospels say that He would “often” withdraw throughout the day. Well, how often does someone need to leave for everyone to come to the conclusion that that person withdraws “often”. Three times? Four times?
And that doesn’t even include the fact that He would pray every single morning and sometimes at night.
So, if we use our brains we can come to a pretty conservative conclusion that Jesus probably prayed anywhere from three times per day to five times per day. And to be honest, it could be even more than this.
If you liked me breaking down Jesus’ times of prayer, you can check out an article I wrote that looks at Jesus’ prayer life in detail. You can check it out by clicking Prayer Life of Jesus & How to Pray Like Him. Enjoy! Thanks for reading.
