So do you pray out loud or in your head?? I have been trying to "talk" to God, at night while I am nursing, for hours apon hours :???: But I am doing it in my head. Is He listening to that?? Thanks all, Tracy
The simplest answer that we teach children in AWANA is this: You can pray whenever you want (just this morning I was praying as I was driving - eyes open of course) You can pray wherever you want to (sitting on a couch, driving a car, sitting on a bus, in the subway - you name it). We've even been known to pray out loud on this forum (by out loud I mean by typing a prayer as you're praying it and then posting it). By no means does that mean you have to. You can pray about anything you want to pray about. Prayer isn't about fancy words... it's a personal conversation between you and God - it's about what's on your mind - whether you're happy about the dandelions your child gave you this morning, the new job you have, your health or whether you really mad at the child next door who busted your window with a rock - He wants to hear it all the good and the bad. As for in your head or out loud - that too is your choice. He hears it either way. You can pray however you want. Ephesians 6:18 says: "And pray always in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints." 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 says: "pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." Hope that helps...
Tracy, I found a can of coffee in the back of our cabinet yesterday and I said aloud 'Thank you , God, for this! I didn't know this was here!' We were down to our last can in the fridge, so that can was a treat to find. I'll thank God for a pretty day, silently to myself. I say a silent prayer asking for peace when I have a doctor's appointment I'm not anxious for. Any time, anywhere is fine to pray to God. He's anxious for us to talk to Him!
My mom use to pray aloud while driving to work in the morning. Until she got some strange looks from the people around her, LOL! Then she decided to do it in her head. As Brenda and Becky said, it doesn't matter. When I'm all alone, I prefere to pray aloud, because the actual act helps me to keep my mind better focused and I don't "wander" as much. But God hears either way.
I do a mixture of both. I guess it really depends on where I'm at or what's going on. It's all up to you and what you are comfortable with. It took me a long time to get the nerve to say a prayer out loud in a group my myself. And actually, I'm still not over the phobia and I've been saved since I was a little girl.
Oh, I do pray in the car, no matter if anyone looks at me- and they do! Jeannie is always with me and I want her to understand it's Him who keeps us safe on that road.
I pray in the car... I get some funny looks but people who know me, know I can be strange at the best of times and so maybe they expect it from me :lol:
I talk to God a lot in the car. If Vicki is with me that is great if she is not then I can pour my soul out. I figure people think I am singing to the radio. They don't know my radio doesn't work.
I pray and meditate in the morning. I sit in a quiet corner and raise my hands. At night I get on my knees if possible. and I pray at breakfast lunch and dinner.I am not ashamed to pray at Denny's or in the park. When ever I feel the need I do.
Wow, I forgot about this thread. Now that you mention it...we went out with a group from church after service a couple weeks ago. In our group happend to be our youth pastor...he's about my age...28 or so. Very down to Earth man, just had a baby (well, his wife did, hehe). Very nice family and sweet people. One of our friends happen to have a salad before the meal and he said we should all pray before we eat. The youth pastor looked at him and said jokingly, "we don't pray for salad!". Seriously though, we all said a prayer together inside Denny's (what a coincidence Skippy) and nobody even thought to look at us or didn't think anything about it and there was about 15 of us.
When I was teaching Children's Sunday School, we were talking about praying. I was pointing out that we can pray to the Lord whenever or wherever we were. One little girl looked at me, and said that she heard her mommy praying while she was on the potty. She asked can we pray there too. Trying to keep from laughing I answered yes, it doesn't matter where we are we can pray. It is very important to pray even if we don't say the words out loud, God can hear us.
We've always prayed before meals--at home or eating out. We even take hands and pray. When the kids were little and I'd take them to McDonald's, we did that before our meals. It wasn't even a thought of whether anyone looked at us, that's just what we did, because God deserves the praise and acknowledgement! I've had people come talk to me about it after we were done and the kids were playing in the play area. Often older people appreciated seeing that there were still people with positive and Godly values, and one person talked to me for quite awhile, saying it impressed her that she needed to get back to God and praying. I didn't realize how much it was a way to witness until we started doing it and people responded. God uses simple acts by us to help others, but He's also helping us at the same time! We also have morning and evening worship with our children, and they do a Bible class each day. The Bible says to talk to your children about Him constantly, when you're going out or coming in, so we try to do that. Some people may think we're overdoing it, but there is a common saying, "What goes in is what comes out." We want them to have God as a BIG part of their lives. They need to see, by example, how important it is to have God a part of their daily lives! Talking to God is something God Himself longs for us to do! God always hears prayers, and is so happy to have you taking time to spend with Him!
