"Lord, Teach Us to Pray...": Two Articles

8 Questions about Prayer That You Were Probably Too Embarrassed to Ask

Have you ever had a question about prayer that seemed so obvious (at least to everyone else) that you were afraid to seek an answer? If so, you’re not alone. At some point in their spiritual journey, every Christian has had questions about prayer. We should never be embarrassed by the sincere questions we have about prayer, though, for they provide us a reason to search the Scripture to gain knowledge about God and to ask knowledgeable believers the questions we have about communicating with God.

Here are a few examples of questions you may (like me) have had about prayer but have (also like me) been too embarrassed to ask.... Keep reading

13 Tips for Leading the Congregation in Prayer

1. Prepare. Some traditions use set prayers. Others rely on extemporaneous prayers. Both have their place. But I believe what our congregations need most are studied prayers. These prayers may or may not be read, but will be thought through ahead of time. Public prayer is often boring because little thought is put into it. There’s no training for it, no effort put it into it. An hour or two is not too long to spend in preparing a long, pastoral prayer.

2. Use forms with freedom. Learn from The Valley of Vision or Hughes Oliphant Old or the Book of Common Prayer. But suit their prayers to your own purposes. The Didache, after laying down set prayers for Communion, also allows “the prophets to give thanks however they wish.”

3. Pray Scripture. Don’t just ask God for what we want. Let him teach us what we should want. Keep reading