Just in time for National Day of Prayer
National Day of Prayer was on May 4. You’ve likely seen at least a few invitations to join others in praying for our nation. This week, we encourage you to develop your prayer life with us! Maybe you don’t know how to start praying because it’s been a while. Perhaps you get nervous thinking about praying out loud, like fear of public speaking. If you don’t know where to begin or need to re-energize your prayer life, then follow these simple tips and resources.
Forget the Flowery Verbiage
God is not grading your word choice when you talk with him. Instead, he cares about your heart. He wants to hear your thoughts, cares and hopes. Prayer is about you connecting with God. Don’t think about it as a performance, but rather think about it as a conversation with someone who loves you. When Jesus taught his disciples how to pray, he told them to start with “Our Father in heaven…”. The point of this simple phrase is to remind you that you are speaking with a loving father, not an SAT essay grader. He is much more concerned about your heart and your relationship with him than the specific words you choose to use when you pray. So don’t worry about whether you have all the right words or phrases, and just connect with your heavenly father.
Write Out Your Prayers
As far back as we have written records, God’s followers have been writing out their prayers. Abraham, Moses, King David and the apostles – they all occasionally wrote out their prayers. If you are nervous about an impromptu public prayer, then make it less impromptu. You can write it out. Read it a few times to ensure you feel comfortable with it. If this still feels like a stretch for you, then we have you covered! Our team shared a prayer a day leading up to the National Day of Prayer. Simply click here to view our daily prayers and Bible readings to know what you could still be praying for each day.
Short Is Sweet
You may notice some people who like to go long in their prayers. That is fine for them. But nobody is sitting there judging you if you go short. In fact, if it’s not heresy to admit it, many listeners would be happy to have a short and to-the-point prayer from you. Besides, Jesus even said you don’t win any extra attaboys if you keep babbling.
Find a Safe Starting Point
Whether you are a newbie or a veteran prayer warrior, you will want to find the right crowd to join when you pray in public. And depending on the group, you may not even need to pray out loud by yourself. You might be able just to listen in while others pray out loud. If you are looking for a good group to join, we also have you covered there. You can sign up to join I Am Second’s Prayer Team. Another opportunity may be plugging into a small group. Some of these groups are connected to a church or other ministry in your area. Ask around with some of your friends to see what might be available in your area.
Whatever experience you have with praying out loud or with others, be bold! And take a step forward in faith. God would love to hear from you and others will encourage you to join the conversation!