How to Pray Out Loud

When I first gave my life to Jesus, I didn’t know how to pray out loud. All these questions went through my head, “Was there a script? How do I start? What do I talk about? What if I sound dumb? Are other people judging my prayers? How long or short does it need to be? Do I need to use big bible words?” 

I remember my young adult’s pastor calling on me to pray for us at the end of small group. I was so nervous and not ready for it. But I did it, and it wasn’t terrible. I kept it sweet and simple, but meaningful. After a couple of times of being stretched to pray out loud in front of other people, I slowly got more and more comfortable, and it just became something I would typically do.  

Once I started praying out loud, it wasn’t as complicated as I thought it was. Yeah, it took me a couple (okay a lot) of times to get comfortable with praying out loud in front of people, but after a while, it became second nature.  

If you’re looking for tips on prayer, or how to start praying in general, I have written a helpful Beginner’s Guide on How to Pray.

Here are a couple of things I learned during the process of starting to pray out loud: 

1. Praying in front of people is no different than me praying on my own
2. There is no standard of how long or short a prayer has to be 
3. Nobody is analyzing or judging my prayers 
4. It’s just me talking to God but now with someone else 
5. There is no wrong or right way to pray
6. Practice makes confident 

Tips for starting to pray out loud in front of others:

1. Start small. Pray before you eat. It’s the perfect opportunity to pray with whoever you’re eating with and bless the food. It’s nothing long and lengthy, but the perfect time to practice getting comfortable praying in front of another person!
2. Pray with your spouse or kids before bed. Again, another perfect opportunity to thank God for that day, and instead of doing that alone, you can invite your spouse or kids in with you!
3. If you’re involved in a small group, ask if you can pray at the beginning or the end of the group.

If I can be honest, there is no secret to praying in front of others. Once you do it a couple of times, it’ll begin to feel more natural, and you’ll become more confident in praying out loud.  The first step is taking a leap of faith and just putting yourself out there to pray out loud.

The biggest thing to remember is that you are talking to God, and that’s all that matters.

I’m so excited for you to start this journey with God!