Lent Bookclub Part 20: The tricky subject of praying out loud

Chapter 9: Voice and Body; Part 2: Praying out loud

This may just be my most controversial podcast so far! Yes, I’ve gone there … I’ve talked about how prayer meetings can be intolerably boring because of the way we do our out-loud praying. It’s not that I want to evoke “prayer shame” … it’s just that I think there are little things we can all do to help praying together to become a less dull, more connected experience. It saddens me so much that, when I ask people about their worst prayer experiences, they so often cite the boring sitting-round-in-a-circle, please-just-bean-me-up-now prayer times. These moments of corporate conversation with God should be some of the most exciting moments of our lives, shouldn’t they?

Anyhow, I’ll stop ranting now and let you listen. And please please please share your own ideas and thoughts on how we can “do better” at praying out loud.

(But do not for one moment let any of this put you off speaking out your prayers. It’s not that God needs you to pray differently. He loves your voice and every prayer you make with it. This is more about how we can alter our group prayer dynamics to make things a bit more engaging and enjoyable.)

https://anchor.fm/lyndall-bywater/episodes/The-tricky-subject-of-praying-out-loud-Chapter-9-Part-2-e3mna7

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Lent Bookclub Part 13: Splendidly specific

Chapter 6: Intercession; Part 1: Shoulder Prayers

Ok, let me confess that this is the chunk of the book that I am least comfortable with … as in, this is the prayer type I find most difficult of all of them. So today’s podcast is my little shout out to those of you who, like me, find detailed, specific prayer boring, tough going and demotivating. But you know … it really works and we need to get better at it! God is listening out for our input … to hear how we want him to change this world for the better. Sometimes I feel like the child who just says: “Make it better, Dad”, over and over again, and there’s nothing wrong with that … God loves me absolutely and unconditionally and he loves hearing my voice in prayer, no matter what I’m praying … but I sometimes wonder whether those situations I pray for might actually get better more quickly if I made the effort to tell him more specifically what I’d like him to do.

As ever, please share your thoughts and ideas below. Let’s help each other get sharper in our praying.

https://anchor.fm/lyndall-bywater/episodes/Splendidly-specific-Chapter-6-Part-1-e3jg33