But I Don’t Know How to Pray!

Variations on this that I often hear include, “Please don’t ask me to pray,” “I’m not good at prayer,” and “I don’t like to pray in front of people." However, when I ask, “Do you like to talk?” “Do you like to listen to people?” or “Do you talk to people in front of others?” the answer is usually, “Well, yes.” Now, I have them thinking because these are the very elements of prayer—both with God and with others. We listen, we talk, and we talk in the presence of others. Prayer is simply doing this with the person who loves you most, wants to listen to you most, loves you unconditionally, and desires to have an ever-closer relationship with you. That person is God—God the Father, God the Son (Christ), or God the Holy Spirit. Take your pick, as any of them will do, since all three "persons" are the same God.

“But pastor, I don’t know how to pray well.” Good news: prayer is not graded! Better news: there are many ways to pray, each of which can be used depending on personality, disposition, season, or mood. I’ve mentioned several in my sermons during this series: contemplative prayer (which focuses on listening), breath prayer (which focuses on the rhythm and closeness of God), Lectio Divina (“divine reading,” which focuses on receiving a word from God), prayer journaling (which helps us articulate words that are hard to say), sung prayer (for the musically inclined), and more.

I’m delighted that my friend and layperson Jeff Bouis will be preaching this Sunday. You can’t help but like Jeff. An engineer and lifelong learner, Jeff is a keen student of prayer and a member of the Order of St. Luke—an organization with small groups that focus on prayer. He is a member of Grace Avenue UMC in Frisco and will be our guest this Sunday. He will also be in our Chapel during the Sunday School hour to talk more about prayer techniques.

So, if you’ve ever said, “But I don’t know how to pray,” you may find both Jeff’s preaching and teaching to be inspiring and helpful. I hope you will join us—God will be there!

Breathe peace; laugh often,
Matt