{"id":5186,"date":"2009-06-18T14:56:21","date_gmt":"2009-06-18T14:56:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/2009\/06\/struggling-to-pray.html"},"modified":"2009-06-18T14:56:21","modified_gmt":"2009-06-18T14:56:21","slug":"struggling-to-pray","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2009\/06\/struggling-to-pray.html","title":{"rendered":"Struggling to Pray?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"PrayerCandle.jpg\"<\/span>Here’s a letter from a former student in response to one of the prayers we posted on Sunday as Prayer for the Week, which come from The Book of Common Prayer…<\/p>\n

<\/i>Dr. McKnight, <\/p>\n

Why is that prayer is often called talking with
\nGod- but prayers (at least ones people consider good prayers) are never
\nconstructed the way we speak, or even the way we normally write? I
\nthink alot of people, myself included, often feel their prayers are
\nweaker or mean less or childish if they don’t sound perfect…<\/p>\n

Most
\nof the time I feel like I don’t know how to pray and I don’t like to,
\nbecause it feels unnatural–trying to pray like the “Prayer for the
\nWeek” below. And, I’ve not been a great Christian- so where does one
\npick up with prayer- after a long hiatus? It’s hard to want to pray
\nwhen you haven’t experienced that feeling that God is alive and working
\nin you…<\/p>\n

Sorry- I’m sure you’re busy with a hundred and one other things—but I’m just curious! <\/p>\n

Be well-
[Name]<\/p>\n

Prayer for the Week<\/p>\n

Keep,
\nO Lord, your household the Church in your steadfast faith and love,
\nthat through your grace we may proclaim you rtruth with boldness, and
\nminister your justice with compassion; for the sake of our Savior Jesus
\nChrist, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now
\nand for ever. Amen.<\/p>\n


\nDear [Name],<\/p>\n

We have two kinds of instructions on “how” to pray: the Psalms, which
\nreveal a host of things and not the least of which is rugged honesty,
\nand the Lord’s Prayer, which focuses our attention on the important
\nthings in life.<\/p>\n

We learn from these prayers and that is why
\nChristians have used the prayers of others — to learn from them and
\nnot to let them completely replace our spontaneous prayers. Spontaneous
\nprayers don’t sound like those prayers, but after awhile we begin to
\nsound more like them. But who cares about how we sound? The issue is
\ntelling God what’s inside you.<\/p>\n

Where to begin? Did you know I
\nwrote a little book on prayer for such folks who struggle with prayer?
\nIt’s called Praying with the Church: Following Jesus Daily, Hourly, Today<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/strong><\/em> and if you follow the link from
\nFB to my blog at Beliefnet [or click on the link here], you can click on the little icon on the
\nright column and find it at Amazon. <\/p>\n

You won’t believe the
\nnumber of Christians who have struggled with prayer and who have found
\nthe use of prayerbooks to be the kick-start they needed for reviving
\nprayer. <\/p>\n

How’s that for some suggestions?<\/p>\n

Where are you these days?<\/p>\n

Blessings,<\/p>\n

Scot<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here’s a letter from a former student in response to one of the prayers we posted on Sunday as Prayer for the Week, which come from The Book of Common Prayer… Dr. McKnight, Why is that prayer is often called talking with God- but prayers (at least ones people consider good prayers) are never constructed…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-prayer-and-formation"],"yoast_head":"\nStruggling to Pray? - Jesus Creed<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2009\/06\/struggling-to-pray.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta 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