Writing Prayers to God
A common problem among Christians is the struggle to stay focused during prayer. I have improved over the years, but I remember losing focus, getting annoyed, and then getting annoyed for being annoyed instead of jumping right back into the prayer.
So, my prayer might look something like this:
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for another day I can serve you and for looking out for me today. Please provide me guidance and wisdom to do what needs to be done did I send that spreadsheet to Tim, I need to that, it was due yesterday… focus! I hate it when this happens! Focus! And I want to pray for my family. In Jesus' Name, I Pray, Amen
Of course, it is worse than that, but can you imagine someone doing that to you over the phone?
After I get annoyed at myself, I often do a version of what you see in the example. I pray a little more and exit quickly. It ends with me not feeling like I prayed at all.
I have never been taught that writing a prayer is biblical. As far as I know, nowhere in Scripture is it instructed as an option. However, over 600 prayers are recorded in the Bible. Some of them were likely recorded after being spoken. If you look at Paul, he often says how he is praying, not the actual prayer, but you also have prayer being repeated like Jesus on the Cross repeating a prayer from Psalms 31:5.
I believe the Psalms make an excellent case for journaling and writing prayers. You can see the prayers being written and some set to music. You can also see revelations recorded like a journal, but let’s stick to prayers for now.
Opposing Views
There is opposition to writing prayers. Some people say you must say your prayers aloud. Some will tell you that you need to interact more spontaneously with the Holy Spirit. But there is no guarantee of that; I can’t be the only person who has heard some unbiblical prayers in church.
There was resistance in 1662 by some Puritans when the Act of Uniformity was passed, and it tried to force all English clergy to use the Book of Commons for all prayer in congregational gatherings. In their shoes, I would have opposed it too, but from what I have read of the Scripture they tried to use to prove it was unbiblical, it was a weak argument. I have listed them below for anyone who wants to review them.
The confusing part of the resistance was they were not opposed to people writing their prayers or studying written prayers privately or as a family.
I believe the resistance would have been better to argue the situations in the Bible in which the prayer was clearly spontaneous like Samson asking for his strength to be restored one last time or Stephen as he was about to die.
The Bible in Context
The context of the Bible exemplifies prayers being written down and used later. I believe the Holy Spirit meets us where we are, and He will guide me if I am writing a prayer. I also believe He will guide me if I do something like write a prayer as a song, poetry, or a musical score without words.
The Benefits of Writing Prayers
Like walking or hiking and praying, the extra activity of writing or typing allows me to focus more.
I can go back and see what prayers have been answered.
I can go back and see the work of the Holy Spirit because the writing is much better than what I can do alone.
I can reuse a prayer if I can make out my handwriting.
I can pray Scripture easier because I can pause as I read the Bible and then reform it into a prayer.
It has trained me to focus more when praying silently or out loud.
I hope this blog post helps you. I am not suggesting that everyone write their prayers or that anyone write them exclusively; I don’t. I am only suggesting this as a tool for people who might benefit from it. If you struggle to concentrate during prayer, this might be a good experiment to see if it makes it easier.
There would be a very long list here to try to capture all of the incidents of prayers in the Bible. I listed Psalms 3-8 as examples and then provided the other references used or considered in the writing of Writing Prayers by Daniel Clemens
Matthew 6:9-13, Luke 23:46, Acts 7:59, Ephesians 5:19, Psalms 3-8, Psalms 31:5, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Judges 16:28, Romans 8:26, 1 Corinthians 14:15, Jeremiah 29:12-13, Exodus 20:4
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