When You Need to Pray and Don’t Know How.

Were You Taught To Pray?

You pray when you talk too God.
We each pray differently.

When I was little Mom taught me to pray “Now I lay me down to sleep…”

It was probably the first thing I memorized as a child.

As I got older, the church and my mother taught me to say the “Our Father…”

My problem with prayer came after the abuse began.

Imagine a seven-year-old kid who believes she is so bad she doesn’t deserve the beauty of God’s grace.

That was the sad reality of my life.

I couldn’t bring myself to pray for escape from the unspeakable abuse.

What I did do was talk to God.

I promised Him every day I would try to do better.

Some days, I asked Him what I was doing that was so bad I needed to suffer so much.

The Influencers

Every year, the new teacher welcomed me to her class.

Without fail, her next words were always “I had your brother in class a few years ago. I’m sure you’re as smart as he is.”

Really?

That’s the best welcome they could come up with?

For a kid who already feels like everyone else is better than her, it was like the kiss of death.

My mother must have said “Why can’t you be more like your brother?” a dozen times each day.

I believed what they taught me in church:

Everyone is equal in God’s eyes.

So, I talked to Him every day.

I congratulated Him on the beauty of the french magnolia tree in our yard every day in the spring.

A day didn’t go by that I didn’t talk to God.

He was the only one I knew who could keep my secrets.

The Music

I loved the music at church.

My voice mingled with the others as I sang the hymns with the congregation.

Eventually, I would be the one playing the music on the organ at the front of the sanctuary.

One of my favorite songs was In The Garden. What more proof did I need to know God listened when I talked to Him?

source: YouTube

I Talked to God Constantly, But I Couldn’t Pray

I know it sounds ridiculous, but even as I grew up, I couldn’t pray for myself.

A day didn’t pass that I didn’t talk to God. I repeated the prayers at church and recited the “Our Father…” when things became unbearable, but I couldn’t ask God to heal me or make my life better.

That didn’t stop me from talking to Him.

I remember how terrified I was to merge onto 35W in rush hour traffic in the Twin Cities after the car wreck

My panic attacks were vicious

I didn’t pray for the traffic to ease up as I entered the freeway.

But, I consistently thanked God each time my car was next in line and the traffic suddenly cleared for nearly twenty car lengths so I could enter without fear. This happened each and every time I came to the stoplight on the entrance ramp.

Gratitude and Prayer

You might say I thanked God a gazillion times a day.

My childhood may have been ripped away, but everywhere I go I still see the tiny miracles in life. In that way, I will forever remain a child.

I thank God for the flowers and the fields.

Daily, I praise Him for the bounty of our lives

The beauty that surrounds me everywhere I go is astounding, and I share my excitement with Him.

You can simply tell God all the things you would want him to know before you die. You don’t need a bunch of fancy words to pray. He knows every thought.

You Don’t Need to Pray For God to Hear You!

My God is a loving God.

He has always listened to my words.

The miracles He has allowed me to witness will forever fill my heart with joy.

In the end, I didn’t need to learn to pray for myself.

He knew every joy and every terror I experienced in life.

My God delivered the answers to the unspoken prayers with love and grace.

What it took me a lifetime to figure out was that He acknowledged each and every word I spoke or thought to Him.

You don’t need to use lofty words.

He will hear your innermost thoughts and wishes.

In the end, He doesn’t care what words you use.

He simply wants to hear from you.

Your gratitude for all the blessings in your life will become the foundation of your own conversations.

That’s where you need to begin.

Talk to Him.

There are thousands of ways to pray, and none of them are wrong.

Billy Graham offers some inspiration on how to pray.

 

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2 thoughts on “When You Need to Pray and Don’t Know How.

  1. Julie Watson

    A lovely post, Peggy and so pleased you knew that God was with you even though others weren’t. I have found the same as well. God is good and wants the best for us. He is with us and listens to our cries for help. I thank God for his unfailing love. So pleased you survived the abuse you had to endure. Every blessing to you xx

    • Thank you, so much, Julie! One of my grandmother’s favorite poems was ‘Footprints in the Sand.’ You are so right! He is with us every moment and hears even the most silent plea.

      One night I dreamed a dream.
      As I was walking along the beach with my Lord.
      Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life.
      For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand,
      One belonging to me and one to my Lord.

      After the last scene of my life flashed before me,
      I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
      I noticed that at many times along the path of my life,
      especially at the very lowest and saddest times,
      there was only one set of footprints.

      This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it.
      “Lord, you said once I decided to follow you,
      You’d walk with me all the way.
      But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life,
      there was only one set of footprints.
      I don’t understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me.”

      He whispered, “My precious child, I love you and will never leave you
      Never, ever, during your trials and testings.
      When you saw only one set of footprints,
      It was then that I carried you.”

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