I’m in a role at my church now where I’m having to pray out loud in front of a group. It’s tough for me. I know I shouldn’t feel like I need to perform with prayer, but it’s hard. Anyone else challenged with this? What works for you?
I think it helps to look over a Bible verse before hand so that if you’re not sure how to pray you can at least pray in such a way to focus on the truth of that Bible verse.
In my experience, beginning and/or ending the prayer with specific thanks to the Lord for the event/context/group of people you’re praying in can be an easy way to connect with the people you are praying with and point back to God’s goodness as well.
1 Like
I’ve definitely found that my heart can start to race before praying with a group of people, whether in my small group or at church. The biggest help for me is to take a deep breath and throw out all the formalities I feel like I “have” to do to be perceived as a strong Christian. You don’t have to say all of the things - you just need to talk to your Heavenly Father openly and authentically. That really helps the words just flow out. As you close your eyes, try to forget who all is around you and possible judgments and just be present with the Lord.
If it helps your nerves to have a bit of a structure, you can open with thanksgiving for the day, life itself, the people around you, getting to learn more about Him, being surrounded by friends or other believers, etc. Pray over any specific requests or whatever event you are at/helping with, then just close asking for Him to continually draw us closer to Him and that we would reflect His love and truth to those around us.
Hopefully that’s helpful!
2 Likes