[3] In a retrospective review, Matthew Hocter from Albumism wrote that the song, "which examines the many social injustices faced by so many, questions the listener into the conditioning that society has created and why it can be so hard to be kind to one another."

1 starts now ..."[6] In a 2008 review, The Daily Vault's Melanie Love said that "Praying for Time" "features Michael singing in a lower range to more formally distance himself from the realm of sunny pop, his tone oddly soothing".

She added, "It's the expressiveness of his voice that makes this track such a potent opener, switching seamlessly from scathing to aching to helpless on this rumination on social injustices.

"[7] Chris Roberts from Melody Maker named it Single of the Week, adding that it "marks George entering his loony eccentric British recluse genius phase and displays a staggering excess of ambition.

[11] A reviewer from People magazine commented, "Set to a somber Lennonesque arrangement (unfortunately, that’s Julian, not John), the song murkily bemoans our troubled, faithless times."

Some have speculated that the style of the video was influenced by Prince's similar promo clip for "Sign o' the Times" released three years previously.

After Michael's temporary move to Virgin in 1996, Sony Music re-made the video in a simplified CGI version, with a uniform black/grey background and no animations at all.

In a matter of 24 hours, Underwood's rendition of "Praying for Time" reached number 10 on the Hot Digital Songs chart, with all proceeds being donated to charity.[which?]