Growing Into My Prayer

Morning Prayers in Montego Bay, Jamaica

I remember as a child watching the deacons and pastors in the pulpit pray until there was nothing left to be said. The prayers were grand and theatrical and I couldn't help but wonder, "Was that prayer for me or was that prayer for God?"

It was those prayers that made me self-conscience as an adult.

In my mind, my prayers didn’t have the right words, they didn’t have the right rhythm and they didn’t have the right flair. I often found myself trying to mimic what I heard on Sunday and my prayers no longer became about what I needed. Instead I replayed the deacons and pastors requests from the pulpit hoping my words were the right ones.

We can all say that I should have known better, but these are the very inadequacies new Christians feel every single day. You combine a new journey with adolescence and it’s not all that shocking as to why young adults feel scared to stand up in front of everyone to pray.  It took me a long time to understand Matthew 6:5-15.

When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen as men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your father who is in secret, and your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

This statement is not about public prayer versus private prayer, but it’s more about genuine versus false. The saving grace about prayer is that God already knows what you need before you even ask him. So even if you fumble some words around, forget your place or leave something unspoken, you’re good! As long as your prayer came from the heart.

It took 30 years for me to realize, genuine prayer can be long and flashy, but my simple request from the heart carries just as much, if not more weight with Him as well. 

Inspired by: Matthew 6