Informal Style of Prayer?

[George]

I know when I was growing up, I always felt I had to be very formal when praying to God. And then I wondered, will it be wrong to prayer informally? Informally would mean the way we talk comfortably with others, like every day style of talking.

Do you think it's alright, or is formally praying the way to go?

 

[ValleyGal]

Years ago I lost my beloved. Two years later I lost my pastor (who was also my best friend's husband). That was around the time when the song "I Can Only Imagine" came out. My heart was in such a mess that I could not listen to the song without bursting into tears, thinking about the two men I loved who I had lost.

I thought about how each of them would respond when they saw Jesus. My beloved would have seen Jesus and fallen to his knees and bowed to the ground at Jesus' feet, with great reverence and awe. My pastor would have seen Jesus and gone running straight to his open arms in a full, firm bear-hug of an embrace, full of love and camaraderie. What I imagined for each of them was characteristic of what I knew of their personal relationship with Jesus.

My beloved set aside time every day, a formal time of worship, Bible reading and prayer. He had a list of prayer items and went through it all one by one. He would sit and listen for God to speak. He also prayed throughout the day in a relatively formal sense, but not necessarily a formula (like the Lord's Prayer) or even repetition (like a rosary). But formal, nonetheless.

My pastor would pray the same way he spoke to anyone. He did not use big fluffy Christianese words or lingo or catchy phrases. His prayers were simple, honest, genuine and an outpouring of what was in his heart at the time, often through the day. He also made it perfectly clear that Jesus was absolutely his first love and priority.

Both men had a genuine, honest relationship with God through Jesus. Neither was right or wrong...imo, they were both amazing, godly men who loved Jesus.

Personally, I've become more informal over the years, and I have to say that I miss certain aspects of formal prayer, but I love that my "fear" (awe) has been tempered with my need to go to him more often and informally throughout the day. I have not fasted for prayer purposes in a long time, and I miss that too. Still, I don't think there's a right or wrong way, but rather whatever is characteristic of the type of relationship someone has with Jesus.

 

[psalms 91]

I agree, it is about right relationship and being able to listen for His voice. Prayer can be very simple or very complicated but it always has to be heartfelt. We can go to God with anything and we can talk to Him as we would a close friend. He already knows our needs and our feelings but He likes to hear it from us.

 

[Romanos]

Very good points to the both of you.

To God, it is about how you pray with meaning, and not the words.

 

[Ruth]

I don't know what God wants of us in terms of praying. I usually pray while in bed and very heartfelt.

 

[George]

I know sometimes when I pray I fumble my words, and it happens in both formal and informal prayers. It's normally an issue of finding the words I want to say.

 

[Lamb]

I know when I was growing up, I always felt I had to be very formal when praying to God. And then I wondered, will it be wrong to prayer informally? Informally would mean the way we talk comfortably with others, like every day style of talking.

Do you think it's alright, or is formally praying the way to go?

Praying without ceasing means you can't always pray formally. Not that WE in our sinful bodies can manage to pray without ceasing, but it's a good thing to try to pray as often as possible. See or hear an ambulance? Pray. Thankful you didn't trip over that stupid rock? Pray. Say what's on your mind. Sometimes formal, sometimes a simple word "Thanks" and sometimes reciting a psalm or singing or however else you want to pray.