Prayer

Last night, one of the girls in my small group, who is a new sister in Christ, asked how you are supposed to pray when you pray out loud? Man, I was so glad that she asked. She came from a place of innocence and genuine questioning. She grew up in a Catholic home where the prayers that they would speak out loud were all memorized prayers like the Lord’s Prayer. There is nothing wrong with that, at all! Matthew tells us in Matthew 6 that we should pray like that. She just didn’t know what to say with a free spoken poem.   
 

The amazing thing is that every girl in our small group had a bit of insight to share with her and I LOVED that! So I am going to share that information with you because I thought that it was so cool. This is going to be random and disjointed but when you put all of these things together it will hopefully all make sense. 

One thing that you can keep in mind when praying out  loud is that you don’t have to impress anyone. When you are praying out loud it is just a conversation with you and God that other people are listening to. Say what ever comes to your mind. Pause if you feel inclined. Cry, laugh, sing; do what ever you feel is on your heart.  

Opening a prayer can be hard and awkward. I know. I always start with, “Papa, you are so good.” You can call him what ever you want. He is your father. He knows you. Think of it as a letter opening: Dear Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus, etc…

 

After opening your prayer (which isn’t necessary if you don’t feel it) you can just say what’s on your mind. Remember you are having a conversation with your father.

• You can praise Him. Tell him how good He is. Tell Him that you need Him. Tell Him that you are so blessed to be His child. Guys, we have the best dad ever. Seriously.  
• Ask Him for guidance and safety. Remember, that if you asked him into your life that life isn’t yours anymore. He is your guide and praying for His guidance is important.  
• If you had just listened to a talk or sermon you may want to try to add a recap of what was said in the message. Like, “Lord, help  us keep our eyes on you and remind us that in the end your judgment is all that matters.”  
• Consider prayer requests. If you are in a setting like a bible study, then you can either try to remember all of those requests or you could do what we call a blanket prayer call, “Lord, I lift up all of the prayer requests that were said and unsaid. Keep your hand in those and please remind us that you are in control of it all.”  
• Afterr all of that, if you feel anything else on your heart, say it. Don’t hesitate to say it.  

Once you have exhausted all of your thoughts end with AMEN!

I love prayer and I love listening to other’s prayer. Our father loves to talk to us and listen to us. Give Him time and pray. Also, especially when you are praying alone, after your prayer just sit for a few minutes in silence and listen to see if God responds with anything. 

Prayer doesn’t need to be organized or fancy. Pray can be lengthy or quick. Authentic heartfelt prayer is beautiful. Try to start your day with it and end your day with it. One image that I love that my 3^rd grade Sunday school teacher taught me is the idea of arrow prayers. Arrow prayers are the little prayers that we throw up to God throughout the day. “God, thank you for the wind.” “Papa, help me find patience for _____” You get it. Little prayers that aren’t formal in anyway. 

Prayer. Do it.