Pray Like This
I remember being the kid in Sunday School that whenever it was time for devotion to start our Sunday School service I would never volunteer to do the prayer. Reading the devotional scripture, that was right up my alley. But to pray, that was an absolute NO for me, I wanted no part of that.
One night I’ll never forget and that really solidified my feelings that corporate prayer was not for me was the time I was told at the last minute that I would be doing the prayer at my childhood churches youth revival. It went a little something like this. It was either the second or last night of the youth revival and the person who was supposed to pray didn’t show up so I was told by one of the youth directors (who shall remain nameless, lol) that I would be doing the prayer that night. I did all I could do to excuse myself from that task but it didn’t work. Service opened with a song, then next came the scripture and next me, and my prayer. I. Was. Horrified. I remember walking up to the podium, asking everyone to bow their head and close their eyes and that’s where my memory goes blank. I don’t remember what came out of my mouth but I do remember that when I lifted my head and opened my eyes everyone in the congregation was staring back at me with wide eyes and had a look of, “poor baby” on their face. I just knew I blew it. I returned to my seat and wished to become invisible. Ever since that day, I vowed to never pray in public again. Still to this day I cringe when I am in a situation and someone asks for a volunteer to pray. Am I the only one that feels that way? It has always amazed me at how some people can pray so effortlessly all while making their prayer flow, make it make sense and move all of those who are listening.
Well, over the last year I’ve been working on how to pray and I must say that I have come a long way. I don’t think I’m ready for corporate prayer but I have made upward strides, lol! I’ve learned that even with prayer, having a strategy is beneficial. A prayer strategy actually makes it easier for us to organize our prayer, make sure we hit our prayer points/targets and make sure that everything flows well. Adapting a prayer strategy has helped me a lot. Now, some may argue with me and say that prayer has to ALWAYS be spontaneous. I would counter their statement and say that if it was good enough for Jesus those in Matthew 6 how to pray (we call it the model prayer), then having a prayer strategy when we pray is okay. I also do believe that during our prayer time whether it is private prayer or corporate prayer, we must also stop and listen for the voice of God and allow him to guide and direct our prayer.
What has also helped me is to pray out loud. I have found that praying in my head and verbalizing my prayer makes a huge difference. It’s like cooking on simmer and then cooking on high heat. When we verbalize our prayers and put sound to them I believe it takes our prayers to the next level.
Oh, I forget to tell you all the rest of my story.
The guest minister for that nights youth revival was none other than Minister Reginald Arvie, LOL 😂 . How ironic is it that the first time I was thrusted into praying corporately was in the midst the person that I am now learning how to pray from, the now Pastor Reginald Arvie. God has a sense of humor, right!
Well, I’ve created a prayer journal with hope to help you develop and strengthen your personal prayer muscles. While using the prayer journal I pray that it will help you organize your prayers, put sound to your prayers and if you are ever called on unexpectedly like I was to pray, that it will help you to verbalize your prayer and do so with ease and percision! 😀
Get your prayer journals today👇🏿 ‼️
Prayer Journals for Girls/Women:
Long Hair Woman/Girl- https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09NR9NZRV
Short Afro Woman/Girl- https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09NR9PP3P
Prayer Journals for Boys/Men:
Black & Blue- https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09NRDPNZG
Tan & Brown- https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09NRBVGZP
Lined Journals for Boys/Men:
Faux Leather Lined Journal- https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09NR7CB9Z
Woodgrain Lined Journal- https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09NR5XMRR
Dont forget about the Dream Journals and Sermon Notes Journals also on Amazon! Check out this blog post https://www.ohyeahblessed.com/post/look-at-what-i-made to learn more about those journals and links to purchase.
AMG