Never Be Afraid To Pray

Praying out loud, or just praying at all, may be something new to you or something that you are not completely comfortable with doing yet, and that is okay. NEVER be afraid or embarrassed or ashamed to pray. Just like anything else you learn for the first time, you will become more comfortable with it the more you do it. And in this case, the more you read the Bible, the more you’ll learn. Having a better understanding of God’s Word will enhance your prayer life. Always know that you can talk to God at any time, for any reason. God will listen to the prayer of a three-year-old child just as closely and with just as much love and concern as He would listen to the prayer of someone who has been praying for eighty years. So no matter where you are at in your relationship with the Lord, always know that He is there for you at all times.

If someone asks you to pray with them or for them and you are not comfortable doing so, that’s okay. Just be honest with them. Let them know that you are not be comfortable with praying out loud with them at that exact moment, but you would be happy to cover a particular issue in prayer for them when you are alone with the Lord. As you spend more time in prayer and develop your relationship with God, you will also develop a new comfort in prayer as well as a new boldness. Just take it all one step and one day at a time.

Lastly, there is no need to ever compare your prayer time or how you pray to how long someone else prays or what they sound like when they pray. Our prayer and prayer time is personal to each of us and is between us and God, not us and other people. Don’t pray to be seen or heard by other people — pray as a way to spend time with God. So be sure when you pray that you are mindful of what is said in Matthew 6:5-8 NIV:

Also when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward in full already. But when you pray, go into your [most] private room, and, closing the door, pray to your Father, Who is in secret; and your Father, Who sees in secret, will reward you in the open. And when you pray, do not heap up phrases (multiply words, repeating the same ones over and over) as the Gentiles do, for they think they will be heard for their much speaking. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.