Pray often in private so that you will be familiar with God and used to speaking
to Him. Then when you lead prayer, think of Him (as you would any other time)
and not of men (Psalm 88:1).
Do not make a sermon of the prayer. It is true that prayer is to be understood
by all being led, and it will edify them. But it is silly to pray (to God) by
preaching (to men) as though God needed the reproving and rebuking people need
(James 1:17b)!
Do not try to be eloquent. Be sincere, fervent, humble, and respectful in talking
to God as you would at any time; if you do that, it does not matter what men
think about fancy words.
Give careful thought to what you say. Pray that we may prepare our lessons or
may always worship God acceptably; instead of that “we may have”
done such; it is too late if we have not! When praying at the Lord’s table,
do not pray the same prayer you would at the close of worship; think of the
specific occasion of the prayer.”
Hopefully, these suggestions will help all those who pray to become better at
praying in public. We need to remember, “The effectual fervent prayer
of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16)! Let us all work on leading
prayer in a better and more effective way. What a wonderful blessing prayer
is! When we pray, we are talking to God Almighty. Surely, the songwriter was
right when it was written, “What a privilege to carry everything to God
in prayer”!
Jarrod Jacobs
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