Those who know me have heard me say, “Your story is your story.” » When we share our personal stories, no matter what they may be related to, they are unique to us and no one can dispute them. Even if others judge our “feelings” on a subject to be incorrect, they are still our feelings. Does this mean we are not listening to their point of view? No not at all. But just because someone has determined that what we’re feeling is wrong, that’s still how we feel in that moment. Eventually we may return to their way of thinking, but, for now, this is your story and should not be devalued.
Everyone’s feelings should be considered and valued. We should not be critical of other people’s stories. Some of us, however, may find that we hold back what we share with certain people because, inevitably, no matter what we say, our thoughts on a subject will be devalued. This is where the power of “Your story is your story” comes in, and no matter how anyone else interprets it, you know what happened, how you felt, and can adopt a spirit of forgiveness for those who challenge your claims.
You may be wondering, “What does this have to do with praying out loud?” I believe this lays the foundation for the fact that the sincere words that come out of our mouths always have value. If we can practice sharing our stories without fear, it encourages us to share God’s story with others by praying out loud.
I’m sure we all remember the first time we heard someone pray out loud. I know I can! I was not yet a believer, but I attended the Mothers of Preschool Children where there was a time of sharing and prayer. They went around the circle and each mother prayed out loud. That’s when I said to myself, “Wait, what? I didn’t sign up for this! I don’t know how to pray like those other women!” I listened carefully to each mother’s prayer, then came across my own prayer when my turn came. Looking back, it’s pretty silly that I thought these Christian moms would judge my prayer, but, unfortunately, as I shared earlier, we may have had experiences where we were judged for something else we said, which carries over into praying out loud.
Even now, I have such empathy for new believers or those who grew up in a faith tradition that didn’t pray out loud, when they say, “Oh, well, I’m not very good at praying out loud.” Or others who remain silent in a prayer circle. The fact is, as believers in Jesus, all of our prayers have their origin in the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who moves us to pray when we open ourselves to God’s will in our prayer life. Now who can argue with that?!
We have a great man of faith from the Bible who struggled in the same way…
“Then Moses said to the Lord, ‘Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither lately nor in the past, nor since you spoke to your servant; for I am slow of speech and slow of speech.’ But the Lord said to him: “Who made the human mouth? Or who makes someone unable to speak or deaf, or blind or blind? Am I not the Lord? Now go, and I myself will be with your mouth and teach you what you should say.’” Exodus 4:10-12
God had a mission for Moses, but unfortunately, Moses still refused to speak out loud out of fear. Rather, the mission was accomplished through Aaron who received the words to speak from Moses.
May we choose to believe that the Lord will speak through us and don’t be afraid to pray out loud. Each of the prayers we say out loud in front of others is a mission from God.
Let us be encouraged to overcome our fear of praying out loud in groups by examining some of the ways the Lord uses our spoken prayers to accomplish His mission:
The mission of encouragement
Something prayers are not is a way of “preaching” or presenting a poetic and flowery speech. Our prayers should never be “composed” with the idea of what others think of them, whether they are being judged or nominated for the “prayer room.” Sometimes the simplest prayer with the fewest words can have such a profound impact on the person you are praying for. Our prayers come from a deep embrace of the Holy Spirit who will speak through us when we adopt this posture.
The Word of God is closely linked to our prayer life. The more time you spend in the Word, the more your prayer life will be enriched. The Holy Spirit sometimes calls up verses of Scripture to pray aloud to a person to encourage them through whatever they may be going through.
Your story can play a role in how you pray to encourage someone, as you may have walked a similar path to theirs. Let your heartfelt words of encouragement flow over them as you recall God’s faithfulness to you.
By putting these things into practice, you will become more comfortable praying out loud in a group.
The mission of comfort
Even if we are uncomfortable praying out loud, it is important to overcome this fear to comfort others.
When I was a new believer, I was introduced to a woman who had recently lost her sight. We became prayer partners. Together we gathered to pray for one another and to memorize the scriptures together. As you may have heard, blind people have other senses that are heightened. Whenever my friend would pray out loud for a difficulty I was going through, she would always say at the end of the prayer that she could feel my whole body relax (even though she wasn’t touching me). And she wasn’t wrong. I felt such peace come over me as she prayed words of comfort on my behalf.
May we overcome our fear of praying out loud so that others can experience rest and peace as the words of our prayer overwhelm them with comfort.
The mission of courage
Last September, a dear friend of mine passed away after a year-long battle with cancer. The way she leaned on the Lord and her faith through it all was inspiring! She always showed up to Wednesday night Bible study with her chemo bag tied up. Even though she was going through so much, she always think of others and always ask for the well-being of others. When my daughter was going through a particularly difficult time, she led the charge for everyone to lay hands on my daughter and pray out loud for her.
As my friend neared the end of her life, she was no less faithful and trusted in the Lord, but she expressed her own fears. I admired that so much because she was real in that moment, which was completely understandable!
The Lord reminded me of a Psalm to pray out loud to my friend during my last visit with her. Many Psalms show the tension between fear and faith, that despite fear, faith still exists. We can absolutely read scripture over someone as a prayer. The Psalms are perfect prayers for courage. The Holy Spirit gave courage to my friend through this Psalm And through all the prayers prayed out loud for her in her final days. She died peacefully in her sleep and is with the Lord.
When we overcome our fear of praying out loud in a group, we put aside our selfish concerns and place others above our own comfort. In doing so, we bring encouragement, comfort, or courage to those the Lord has placed in our path to pray. Not only that, but there might be someone else hearing this prayer who needed the same encouragement, comfort, or courage, and now you have multiplied the blessing!
Specifically, when we overcome our fear of praying out loud, we bring glory to God by being His spokesperson.
Photo credit: ©GettyImages/vadimguzhva
