When You Pray..

...don't preach. Not very few persons when assigned to pray cannot stop themselves from preaching or from continuing the Pastor's sermon whilst in the motion of prayer. Despite of all the good intentions, it is inappropriate. After all, praying is addressing the God we worship-not "preaching" to a captive audience.

Do we need to preach to God? Not! It is like barking at the wrong tree. It's comparable to a son who while talking to his parent is indirectly admonishing his sibling. I am sure you have heard people seem to preach as they pray. You know what, God is not impressed with our babble.

If you have the inclination to address the congregation (or itching to say a sermon, or add to the sermon outline of the speaker), deliver a short spiel if you must, and then pray. And when you do pray, talk to your God with respect and sincerity. Do not use the occasion to send a message to your prayer group.

...don't redundantly mention God's name. I am not after hearing a "perfect prayer." But a redundant prayer is distracting. There are persons who mention God's name at least three or four times in every sentence. Here is a typical sentence (in reverence to God's name, I will use blanks in place of His name): "(Lord), we pray, ____, for the safe travel, ____, of our brethren, ____. May you guide them, ____, as they embark, ____, on their mission, ____, and provide them,____, with all the things, ____, that they will be needing, ____, etc."

If we are to address Someone a-million notches more majestic and powerful than a President or a King, it is imperative that we don't tire Him with our redundancy. If we are to address the president of our country, I am sure we will choose our words carefully and speak properly. So let us do so when we call the Lord. It would help if we can visualize our thoughts before we begin praying so we could drop the habit of inserting God's name every time we need to pause.

Just to mention, the prehistoric believers dare not mention God's name at any time, even in prayer--that's how precious and humbling that Name is to them.

...don't do announcement. In fairness to us, very few commit this mistake. But just the same, our brows knot when we hear someone make announcements in his prayer. "Lord, this coming week from Monday to Friday we will be joining many other brethren in nearby cities like Manila, Quezon City, Lucena City, Pasig City and others for a Music Camp at the Word of Life Philippines. Please, Lord we pray for our safety and provision. Our brother Jun will be driving for us, so please help him and . . ."

Again, if we feel the need to inform people, let's take a moment to announce the details to everyone, and then our prayer will be brief and sincere.

...don't make it too long. Wait, it is good to pray and take the time and enjoy communion with our Master. From time to time I had occasions where I was on a relaxed conversation mode with my Lord as I talked with Him as I lay in bed before I slept. Or, as I go through my day, I speak to Him silently as if to update Him with my every move. This is how I interpret the Bible verse "Pray without ceasing." It is very rewarding and refreshing to talk to my Friend and Confidante. This is different from being disrespectful.

In worship, we are in a formal tributary setting. But in our pre-sleeping communion with Him, He is the Friend who we can share our blessings with, and every bit of detail of our hurts and fears.

In many occasions, it may be better to pray briefly and to the point. I see the need to observe this during a formal program or service because there are other persons involved and items on the order of the ceremony. To take most of the time is to disregard other people who are waiting for their moments to participate or lead. "There is a time for everything," thus we may pray at length the moment we are alone in our own room. In formal services, it is best to pray briefly and direct-to-the-point. Simply pray the appropriate prayer. If it is a thanksgiving prayer, let it be so. Avoid the temptation to cover the whole service in one prayer; surely there are things worth mentioning in offertory prayer as there is in closing prayer as there is in offertory prayer, etc.

...don't disregard the presence of the Lord. I am not so sure if this really happens. I happen to view a TV mini-series where a family once was praying at the dinner table. The father was going through the motions of praying, but the truth is he was using the occasion to make a stunt-to deliver a joke. So, everyone ended up laughing aloud and berating him. I doubt if his God was amused at all.

When we pray, we are invoking a holy Presence. Surely He loves to hear our happy thoughts as we pray, but let's not go overboard by using prayer in gimmickry of any kind. It translates to disrespect and blasphemy.

...don't try to impress the crowd. Again, there is this danger zone where we may be unconsciously offending the Lord as we pray insincerely. When do we do this? When we utter words not really to communicate with God but to make a statement for ourselves. A pompous show of our talents instead of humility before the Creator of the universe is what it is. Do you speak in French as you pray in the midst of an all-American crowd? Or do you spew your rich Latin vocabulary as you pray among the uneducated? Check and correct our motive before praying. Is there a tendency for us to resort to showmanship instead of humbly reaching out to our Creator?

We may succeed in making an excellent impression on the crowd; we may wow them; may even receive a pat in the back afterwards for such magnificent verbal skills, but is God impressed? I am afraid a prayer with an insincere motivation is a prayer unheard by God.

... don't be so self-conscious. Some of us get intimidated by the task of praying in public. Some of us beg off indicating our lack of confidence in it. You know what, I think people are afraid to pray because they don't want to be embarrassed; they don't want to make a fool of themselves.

For the newbie, it is understandable. But for someone who keeps getting absorbed by the thought that people are listening to him praying; or worse, that people are sizing up his communication skills, I think he is erring.

While the overconfident praying person may disregard the Lord's presence in exchange for the brief 'limelight', this self-conscious invoker on the other hand is too derailed in his prayers for fear of being judged by his prayer partners and thus displease his Lord. I say when we have the sincerest motives, we can never be daunted by whoever is around hearing our words. After all, we are conversing with our Shepherd; "Turn your eyes upon Jesus . . . and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace."

...don't be disrespectful of Him. We say we were never disrespectful? I certainly hope so. But take a listen at our prayers. Do we sound like we are earnestly praying, or do we sound like we are ordering God to do things for us? Let us pray like we are requesting, pleading, humbly invoking our God. Let us not pray like we are placing our orders in a cheap roadside eatery.

In conclusion, let us aim to please the Lord and not the people as we pray. Let us come boldly to His throne of grace, but maintain our great reverence and awe to the Almighty. Let us choose our words, but choose the simplest ones and pray like a child. Let us impress Him by our humility. We should never be timid approaching the Lord, but let us remember that when we pray, we are in His Presence, so "let's take our sandals off".