Prayer Circle

If there’s anyone who hasn’t felt like this at some point, I want to meet them…

Totally with you here. I feel about as eloquent as Paula Abdul when it comes to praying out loud. Every sentence I start has a fair chance of never ending coherently.

hmmm…unpleasant memories of the panic felt when asked to pray in a group…I imagine we all have dealt with this….and still can depending on the situation! Thanks for the thought provoking blog Tyler!

I mean, let’s just be honest, here. Anyone who grew up in the church knows the unique stresses of the venerable prayer circle. Do we hold hands? Don’t we? And when we do, someone inevitably gets the hand twitches, or their thumb starts to spasm, and that person, it seemed, was ALWAYS me. If the pastor or spiritual leader of the day left it open-ended, you were basically doomed to at LEAST ten minutes of awkward silence waiting for people to speak up, or not speak up.

We’ve all been there. And in a similar way, the older I got, the more I started to form my own way of worshiping, of praying, of being in communion with God. Sort of like how I don’t feel the crushing guilt to contribute to the prayer circle now as an adult, I also realized that I’m absolutely NOT a clapper when it comes to worship. I don’t care HOW upbeat it is.

Sometimes that stuff just comes with age. But I still get the hand spasms.

Some how I knew you would bring the most awesomest comment Laurel. Well done.

Very funny, we were talking about this exact thing last night after our rehearsal. The absolute worst is when you do the ‘spontaneous’ prayer time. Terribly awkward silence, then two people start at one time. I always end up spending the whole time scripting my prayer and then waiting for the perfect moment to jump in. It’s like double dutch jump roping… intently waiting for the perfect time to jump in.

I like the go around the circle prayer time much better – I thrive on order!

I can relate…the funny part is that you’d think it would get easier as you got older! Prayer circles are so cool, but totally intimidating at times. Two thoughts:

1. Funny (and sad) how we couch our conversation with God differently or strive for eloquence when we are in a group rather than alone. He’s the same person – but we often feel we need to “phrase” rather than just converse. (I have challenged myself in this area – my personal prayer time should be just as fervent as my prayer during worship leading…otherwise is for show and God has some pretty harsh things to say about that!)
2. I would expect your (my) pre-praying our prayers in our heads is nothing unique – the sad part is that we feel it is and compare ourselves to each other thinking that eloquence equates to spontaneity. I think eloquent and honest prayer is more a by-product of our relationship with God through continual prayer, reading His word, and (most importantly) having a confident (but reverent) relationship with Him. [I doubt any of us will master this until we see Him face to face!]

Thanks for the post!

Oh my word; this actually happened to me last night closing out the Missions Committee meeting. There were only 4 of us there, and the head honcho said “let’s just go around the table and I’ll close, mkay?”

So the whole time – no joke – I’m trying desperately to think of what to say, and concentrating on my voice register and keeping the “umms” to a minimum. I felt like such a weenie. Brought back memories of Campus Crusade small groups in college dorm rooms – you’re simply left with no choice in the matter. It’s kind of like improvisational theatre, only the stakes are higher – they won’t think simply that you’re a bad actor, but also that you don’t love God enough.

Glad to know it’s not just me!

Sooo many pet peeves with this one…

1. If we all go around and share our prayer requests, not everybody has to pray for each one right then and there. It’s not like God is keeping score. Pray for the person on your left or your right and stop wasting God’s time (even though He’s not subject to time, He probably still gets fidgety hearing the same exact prayer request with new adjectives and synonyms thrown in. If you lead things off in the prayer circle and you pray for every single request you might as well “AMEN” that whole session because we are done. If you’re batting second and you do that same thing again, then well… what the heck am I supposed to say? I agreed with your prayer, that’s why I made that “hmm” noise when you said the key words I liked.

2. Stop telling God what he already knows. If you want something, just ask. He’s got the details covered.

3. Don’t use 483 names of God when you pray. He knows who you are talking to, and we don’t need to be reminded before and after every sentence with “Dear heavenly Father, Lord God we just ask God that you would ____”. How about “Dear God”. I mean… do what you want to do, but think about what it sounds like to the one you’re praying to!

4. Don’t speak in tongues if I don’t know you. It makes me want to be Buddhist. And don’t encourage me to speak in tongues “if I know how”. Your theology is broken, and you’re just weird.

That’s a good start!

Go track down Louie Giglio’s “Prayer: Remix” series if you can. That series destroyed the way I pray in a very good…way.

I agreed with your prayer, that’s why I made that “hmm” noise when you said the key words I liked.

Oh my! ROFL!!! I’ve subconsciously noticed that habit, but never seen it specifically mentioned before!

How about the addictive way the word “just” gets thrown in before every verb, to make it sound more humble? As in:

“Lord we just praise You and we just want to give you the glory. We just ask that You would just move and just show Your power.” etc…

tyler it doesn’t sound like you are a very good christian

also, favorite way to end a prayer:

“jesusinyournameweprayamen”

all one word said really fast.

Michael….I’ve given up trying in many ways. Takes too much work to please all.

Man. so awkward sometimes. What i’ve started doing (which i think i gathered through theatre training) is this:

-When other people are praying I try to actively listen. Even when i may not be in the mood to care. PRAY it along with them (this is from learning to actively listen in plays, instead of just waiting for your line). This is also helpful for keeping the running script of what you are going to say back (sometimes).

-When it’s my turn. I pray one sentance at a time. See where it takes me. (the acting version is pretending you don’t know the next line, hear what you are saying)

Basically tying to be ‘present’ in the moment. It doesn’t allways happen. But I think it goes along with what you(tyler) said on sunday(it may not have been this sunday, i don’t remember) about expecting God to be there and expecting him to speak to you.

Nice!

I’m comfortable praying among people, just not in English….for some reason it doesn’t flow as easily (not to say I’m not fluent in English…maybe not as fluent as I thought!) .You’d probably mistaken me for speaking in tongue if I started using my other language and that would be rude! (especially according to Ryan’s #4…which is a very good one btw)

I totally agree with point #1 and it is a really good point too.

I’d add…

#5. Don’t tell God you’re praying. “and Lord, we pray…” Just talk, don’t tell God you’re talking to him.

This is the best blog post I’ve ever read. And since the #1 fear adults have is public speaking, no wonder we stress about praying out loud. Praying is an intimate time with God, and it’s hard to be intimate with God in front of people. Great points in the comments. And I will never think of the “hmm” noise the same again.