Praying Out Loud, Does Anyone Else Have This Problem?

[friend of]

Hmm I was wondering why it felt so awkward to pray out loud and would beat myself up sometimes about "not being strong enough in faith to pray to Jesus openly" I guess because it's not necessary? That's a relief.

 

[DeerGlow]

I agree 100%. Not that it must be soundless. You might shout from the top of your lungs - but to God only. Like on a mountain or in a forest, alone. If you're praying in a gathering of people, then let it be silent... Or so soft that nobody hears you. Let it reach the ears of God only, not other human beings. It's not for them to hear in the first place. It's very intimate. Like in the marriage bedroom, one whispers to their lover the most loving words just for them, not for Mr. Smith next door or for Mrs. Johnson across the street to join in hearing. That would have been very, very awkward and out of place.

God wants to be the only recipient of our prayers. Not share it with the whole world... If somebody overheard your prayer, but you didn't intend it, so be it, God will reward it the same way as if nobody heard it. We don't control all the circumstances, God knows it very well. He is just. He will certainly reward our best and most genuine effort.

But when a prayer is performed publicly, aloud or even silently in front of another person or people with the conscious intent of them hearing you or inferring that you're in prayer to God, it's a bad sin of hypocrisy and lack of true faith. Forbidden by Jesus!!!

What about praying over a group like blessing the food at a gathering or in a bible study group where they open/close in prayer? Like if in Sunday school the teacher asks a person to pray over some requests/the people there?

 

[CrystalDragon]

I've always had this strange problem whenever it comes to prayer. When it comes to silent prayer, I can go on and on and have no issues what's expressing on my heart to say. It comes natural to me to pray silently, even around other groups of people. However, when it comes to praying out loud and specifically leading people in prayer, I can't ever think of what to say, even when I get prayer requests it's still a struggle. I would just kind of stumble through the prayer until I hit everything on the list. I was always told "The more you do it, the better you get at it", but I lead prayers weekly for a year as my fraternity's chaplain and it still didn't get better. It's not an issue with public speaking, I'm in front of a classroom of students talking every day at work.

I just don't know what it is, I always avoid try to avoid leading prayers and praying out loud because of this. I see other these other Christians, in fact, it seems like every other Christian I know has no problem praying their heart out loud, but I just can't seem able to do so. Does anyone else have or had this problem? What helped?

I don't think that's a prayer-exlusiove problem. There's many times where I talk to myself in my head, thinking of what to say in a situation, having it be all good, and then when I actually talk it comes out faltering with a few "um"s. XD

Not a prayer thing so much as a "we speak more eloquently in our heads" thing.

 

[HeLeadethMe]

Brother, I can only think that because prayer really is kind of an intimate thing, that maybe you are just not used to expressing yourself in an intimate way through speaking out loud.

Just want to say about corporate prayer........that Jesus said His Father's house shall be a house of prayer........when we gather together we can and should pray together. Jesus prayed out loud to give thanks at the Passover meal. When the Holy Spirit was poured out at Pentecost they were all together praying in one accord. When Paul or Peter got out of prison they were all together praying for him. Prayer is the spiritual engine of the church, both privately and corporately.

Acts 1:13-14 And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James.

These ALL CONTINUED WITH ONE ACCORD IN PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.

Acts 2:1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were ALL WITH ONE ACCORD in one place.

Acts 1:24

And THEY PRAYED, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen

Acts 12:12

And when he had considered the thing, he came to the house of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark; WHERE MANY WERE GATHERED TOGETHER PRAYING.

 

[Sketcher]

In myself, I believe it is directly proportional to how I feel about public speaking. When I'm praying aloud, I am setting an example for how the people around me should be praying, that's a real responsibility. Conveying that properly is the hurdle to get over, I have to speak to a small audience in order to do that.

 

[klutedavid]

I've always had this strange problem whenever it comes to prayer. When it comes to silent prayer, I can go on and on and have no issues what's expressing on my heart to say. It comes natural to me to pray silently, even around other groups of people. However, when it comes to praying out loud and specifically leading people in prayer, I can't ever think of what to say, even when I get prayer requests it's still a struggle. I would just kind of stumble through the prayer until I hit everything on the list. I was always told "The more you do it, the better you get at it", but I lead prayers weekly for a year as my fraternity's chaplain and it still didn't get better. It's not an issue with public speaking, I'm in front of a classroom of students talking every day at work.

I just don't know what it is, I always avoid try to avoid leading prayers and praying out loud because of this. I see other these other Christians, in fact, it seems like every other Christian I know has no problem praying their heart out loud, but I just can't seem able to do so. Does anyone else have or had this problem? What helped?

Hello TX_MATT.

Lot's of people memorize prayers, even ministers do this. I have noticed over many years and no matter what church I attend, patterns exist in prayers. Often there are key words that are frequently mentioned during prayers.

If you had to pray often in public, you would also have set patterns that you would tailor to each situation.

Every church organization has it's own prayer style.

 

[Northwest Savant]

I've always had this strange problem whenever it comes to prayer. When it comes to silent prayer, I can go on and on and have no issues what's expressing on my heart to say. It comes natural to me to pray silently, even around other groups of people. However, when it comes to praying out loud and specifically leading people in prayer, I can't ever think of what to say, even when I get prayer requests it's still a struggle. I would just kind of stumble through the prayer until I hit everything on the list. I was always told "The more you do it, the better you get at it", but I lead prayers weekly for a year as my fraternity's chaplain and it still didn't get better. It's not an issue with public speaking, I'm in front of a classroom of students talking every day at work.

I just don't know what it is, I always avoid try to avoid leading prayers and praying out loud because of this. I see other these other Christians, in fact, it seems like every other Christian I know has no problem praying their heart out loud, but I just can't seem able to do so. Does anyone else have or had this problem? What helped?

I had the same problem. I'd be caught off guard in bible study to say a prayer, or at Thanksgiving dinner. So, I searched on the internet for some example prayers, such as this one for bible study:

Gracious Father in heaven, thank you that you promise us that where two or three are gathered you are there in the midst. Lord we welcome You amongst us today, and we ask that You would open our ears so that we may hear your voice. Open our minds so that we may receive Your eternal wisdom. Open our spirits so that we may know Your leading and guidance. And open our hearts so that we may receive Your wonderful love. We ask all this in the glorious name of Jesus.

I had about 5 on a sheet of paper in my bible, and because everyone had their heads bowed, they never knew I was reading from a pre-prepared prayer. I remember my wife telling me after bible study how good my prayer was. I told her what I did, and whenever I was called to lead the prayer, she gave me a smile afterward knowing I read it from a script. Then on one occation, we did something different in bible study, and I put my script away in my bible for some reason. I was called again, off guard, but I came through with a nice prayer. My wife even commented afterward, and thought that I had read from one of my scripted prayers. I guess I just needed confidence.

Here's one that I have saved on my computer for a Thanksgiving prayer I did a few years ago. (I memorized it while the turkey was in the oven):

Our Father in Heaven, on this Thanksgiving day,
We give thanks...
For the gift of being able to gather together for this occasion.
We give thanks...
for this food we are about to eat, prepared by loving hands.
We give thanks....
for our lives, for new life, for new life to come, and for the freedom to enjoy it.
We give thanks....
for all the other blessings you have provided to us.
As we partake of this meal today, we pray for health and strength
to carry on and try to live as You would have us.
This we ask in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,
Amen.

Now that I have confidence, I really enjoy saying prayers or grace in public.
I hope that helps.

 

[NothingIsImpossible]

I hate praying out loud in front of people and even singing during worship out loud. Part of its because I am shy and I don't want attention on me. Another part is because I feel like other christians judge you if they don't see/hear you doing these things out loud. The bible doesn't even say you have to pray out loud or sing out loud.

Praying itself though is much harder for me to do in front of people because I freak out like what if I say the wrong things or what if they judge me because I don't pray a certain way or like they do. Its why when forced to I freeze up, panic and do terrible like "mmm, Lord thank you for this meal amen!". Knowing full well the other people when they pray do like some long 40 second prayer.

I realize length or words aren't something we are being judged on by God. But humans... we can be judgy about those things.

Reminds me of when I went to my wifes country and her mother (the pastor) had me come up front and not only told everyone about us (getting married there..etc) but then had me speak. I freaked out and just said "Hi" then put my head down and mumbled to my wife. Who took the mic and spoke instead. lol.

Some people are good at public stuff, some aren't. Both sides should really accept that instead of making someone do something they don't want to. For example public prayer may help you in the long run, but it doens't mean I want to. I will always prefer having someone else pray when in a big group. I mean when I am with my wife thats one thing. Or obviously by myself.

 

[GirdYourLoins]

I used to have this problem and its root is fear.

For me that fear was because I was incredibly shy before I was saved due to emotional damage from a very bad childhood. God has healed that, but there is still an element of it left. Now I can comfortably pray in groups. The only time I have any issues now is there are times that God gives me something to pray in meetings (and being a Pentecostal it is acceptable for members of the congregation to pray occasionally) but I dont pray out loud due to a lack of confidence and the service moves on. I often feel that I have let God down and the church has missed out on something God wanted to use me to say. There does need to be some order and restraint in meetings though so it doesnt spiral into chaos.

I think it is good to pray out loud. There are several Bible verses that point to this, google it or do a study. It brings glory to God and also allows others to say Amen and agree with the prayer. As others have said, your prayers whether silent or out loud should be to God, not to man. We can pray in our own strength as the Psalmist did frequently or in the Spirit (this can but does not necessarily mean in tongues, but means as God leads us). Even salvation comes by confessing with your mouth that Jesus is Lord. It is an important part of our Christian walk to confess (say) with our mouths and something Jesus did and preached on. When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, he said to them "SAY", not "think" and taught them the Lords prayer.

I would even go as far as saying not praying out loud is a sin of omission and even writting this I feel challenged to do it more myself.

 

[Catherineanne]

I've always had this strange problem whenever it comes to prayer. When it comes to silent prayer, I can go on and on and have no issues what's expressing on my heart to say. It comes natural to me to pray silently, even around other groups of people. However, when it comes to praying out loud and specifically leading people in prayer, I can't ever think of what to say, even when I get prayer requests it's still a struggle. I would just kind of stumble through the prayer until I hit everything on the list. I was always told "The more you do it, the better you get at it", but I lead prayers weekly for a year as my fraternity's chaplain and it still didn't get better. It's not an issue with public speaking, I'm in front of a classroom of students talking every day at work.

I just don't know what it is, I always avoid try to avoid leading prayers and praying out loud because of this. I see other these other Christians, in fact, it seems like every other Christian I know has no problem praying their heart out loud, but I just can't seem able to do so. Does anyone else have or had this problem? What helped?

I never pray out loud with other people present. If I am asked to do so I just say no; consent matters, in this as in everything else. Nobody should ever be coerced into doing what does not feel right.

I think it is to do with intimacy; we are used to talking to the Lord about all sorts of things in a very personal way. Involving relative strangers in that will change what is usually easy and free flowing into something that sounds false to us. And because it sounds false to us we will become more and more uncertain and our prayers less free flowing.

I think I would say, if you don't want to do it, then don't do it.

 

[Catherineanne]

I used to have this problem and its root is fear.

For you, perhaps. But that does not necessarily mean that everyone else is the same.

I would even go as far as saying not praying out loud is a sin of omission and even writting this I feel challenged to do it more myself.

Nonsense. Total and utter nonsense.

Praying quietly to oneself instead of out loud is not any kind of sin. Making up dubious sins to encourage scrupulosity in oneself and others; well, now that might well be.

 

[Citanul]

I also have trouble with extemporaneous prayers out loud. Maybe it's an introvert problem. I teach for a living, so I'm okay giving speeches in front of a group when I have plenty of content; but I generally have trouble with public speaking when there's not enough content to fill the time, and you have to keep talking anyway. Public prayers are like that for me: "God, thank you that we can be together today. Please help Alice to do well on her exams, and please heal Bob from his cancer." Okay, now I've said what I have to say, but I've still got a couple of minutes to fill. I guess I could give God more details about Alice and Bob, but God already knows all about both of them, so it feels silly telling God what he already knows. So I get stuck.

That pretty much describes me (including the introvert problem ). Speaking off the cuff is something I battle with in general, so when it comes to public prayer I'd also be stuck after "heal Bob from his cancer". And it does feel rather awkward in a group prayer environment when other people pray for those sorts of things but say a lot more besides that.

It also doesn't help that I'm not necessarily all that eloquent when I pray on my own. It can sometimes be a bit halting with lots of pauses and umms and errs, sometimes not necessarily completing a sentence if I think what I've just said doesn't really make sense, and I might even comment on it not making sense. All of which (and more) contributes to a prayer style that doesn't really translate that well to praying out loud. But that way of praying works for me, and it's something that I don't feel that I should need to change.

 

[ChristianFromKazakhstan]

What about praying over a group like blessing the food at a gathering or in a bible study group where they open/close in prayer? Like if in Sunday school the teacher asks a person to pray over some requests/the people there?

Grave grave sin. Against Jesus Christ. Religious performances, in the likes of the Pharesees and Saducees hypocrites. No reward from God for that. Human foolishness.

 

[Rajni]

I hesitate to pray aloud for the sake of demons hearing me. It would feel as though I'm goading them, or escalating potential retaliatory evil by doing so. I prefer my focus to be on the Lord alone in such cases.

Besides, God knows I'm praying, what with His telepathic skills, and that's enough. If He thinks it's vital that the demons know this, I'm sure He tells them anyway: "Oh hey guys, by the way, she's praying to Me right now. Waddya think of that? HAH!"

 

[Poppyseed78]

Sometimes I find it challenging to find the right words, or make them flow well, and then I stutter. Other times it actually goes smoothly. This is true for me for any public speaking, not just prayer. So I try to plan out what I'll say ahead of time, even if it's just a few minutes. What helps the most is actually praying that God seasons my words before I speak.

 

[AMM]

I hesitate to pray aloud for the sake of demons hearing me. It would feel as though I'm goading them, or escalating potential retaliatory evil by doing so. I prefer my focus to be on the Lord alone in such cases.

Besides, God knows I'm praying, what with His telepathic skills, and that's enough. If He thinks it's vital that the demons know this, I'm sure He tells them anyway: "Oh hey guys, by the way, she's praying to Me right now. Waddya think of that? HAH!"

I get that. I guess my reasoning is more that when I pray it is a confession of Christ, and that alone is enough to cause the demons to tremble and to remember that the victory has been won by Jesus on the cross. So even if that does "egg them on" so to speak, they can do nothing, for they have already lost.

It's a confession of Christ to them, and to me, for "faith comes by hearing" and I hear myself when I pray out loud. That second point is maybe a bit silly, for in a sense I can "hear" my thoughts.

Either way, I don't think it's wrong to pray in your head. (Although I could also make an argument that in-your-head prayer reinforces the gnosticism of American Christianity by acting as though our mind is more important than our body.)

 

[seeking.IAM]

I think we tend to think others are constantly evaluating us. We fear looking foolish in front of others and fear they will find us lacking in some way. The truth is we are not nearly so interesting to others as we think we are. And we tend to judge ourselves more harshly than others judge us. I suspect that has to do with why many of us are self-conscious about praying aloud in front of others.

I think praying aloud in front of others feels more natural when praying aloud is used for personal, private prayer more often than praying silently.

 

[Catherineanne]

I hesitate to pray aloud for the sake of demons hearing me. It would feel as though I'm goading them, or escalating potential retaliatory evil by doing so. I prefer my focus to be on the Lord alone in such cases.

Besides, God knows I'm praying, what with His telepathic skills, and that's enough. If He thinks it's vital that the demons know this, I'm sure He tells them anyway: "Oh hey guys, by the way, she's praying to Me right now. Waddya think of that? HAH!"

I doubt that demons bother to listen to prayer. They think it is all fake, so they would ignore whatever we say. They pay close attention to what we do, however.

 

[AMM]

I doubt that demons bother to listen to prayer. They think it is all fake, so they would ignore whatever we say. They pay close attention to what we do, however.

Your first point may be true, but rather irrelevant (I mean no offense). Think of the demons Christ encountered; they were usually not too happy to see Him and they weren't actively seeking to hear what He spoke, but that didn't really matter because they had to respond to the Word when He spoke (Isaiah 55:10-11). And our prayer is aided by the Spirit of God (think Romans 8:26-27) who is the Spirit of Christ (Luke 3:22, Romans 8:9). So whether or not they're just chillin' around sipping coffee and eavesdropping while we pray (this does make me think of Screwtape Letters, though), they are going to hear.

I'm not sure that they think it's fake, either. The demons know God (think of James 2:19) and they know Christ (think of their confessions throughout Mark's and Luke's Gospel). They definitely do care about what we do, you are correct - and they want to lead us astray in our actions, as well as our thoughts, words, and beliefs. (I'm not sure if Anglicans have the general confession in their liturgy, but we confess that we have sinned "in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone..." which is my train of thought here)

 

[2Timothy2:15]

I've always had this strange problem whenever it comes to prayer. When it comes to silent prayer, I can go on and on and have no issues what's expressing on my heart to say. It comes natural to me to pray silently, even around other groups of people. However, when it comes to praying out loud and specifically leading people in prayer, I can't ever think of what to say, even when I get prayer requests it's still a struggle. I would just kind of stumble through the prayer until I hit everything on the list. I was always told "The more you do it, the better you get at it", but I lead prayers weekly for a year as my fraternity's chaplain and it still didn't get better. It's not an issue with public speaking, I'm in front of a classroom of students talking every day at work.

I just don't know what it is, I always avoid try to avoid leading prayers and praying out loud because of this. I see other these other Christians, in fact, it seems like every other Christian I know has no problem praying their heart out loud, but I just can't seem able to do so. Does anyone else have or had this problem? What helped?

For me, it was an issue when I tried to sound spiritual. Often we think we have to sound super spiritual when praying in front of groups. Instead it is best to trust the Holy Spirit to guide us in prayer. Try not to come up with long lengthy prayers to impress people and just listen to the Holy Spirit. Sometimes it is as simple as Jesus help.