Brief Prayer

Many of the books and articles I've read on prayer open with the author confessing their struggles to pray. I'm afraid this article is no different. But mine are hardly unique. Christians all have a nagging feeling we should pray and a still more nagging feeling we should do it well.

I suspect that most of us who write about prayer do so for at least two reasons. First, we feel despairingly alone in the midst of our struggles (though logically we know we're not) and we hope to communicate once again that truth we've ignored in the hopes that it will awaken one like us. Second, I suspect we write about it because we've found something that has eased our struggle and so desperately want to share it in the hopes that it will help someone else. We take a page out of the beatitudes and try to comfort those who mourn in the struggle to pray.

“A great gift of the church that helps me pray and grow in this expression of faith is that many others have written down their prayers and passed them down to us. ”

My struggles with prayer are not much different than others. Simply put, prayer is talking with God by calling on his name and listening to his word. So why do I struggle to pray in a way that feels focused? For me, if I'm not going to pray out loud with others or use a prayer book, writing my prayers down is the only thing that keeps my mind from drifting off.

But beyond writing down my own prayers, a great gift of the church that helps me pray and grow in this expression of faith is that many others have written down their prayers and passed them down to us. Making use of the offices of daily prayer and other prayer books of the church, I've grown in confidence and learned to pray when I find myself with a prayer book to use.

“Luther, in his famous open letter, A Simple Way To Pray, encourages us to let prayer be the first and last business of the day.”

Luther, in his famous open letter, A Simple Way To Pray, encourages us to let prayer be the first and last business of the day. But, you see, I have a habit (as many of us do) of starting my day on my phone, mostly on Instagram. I often open it on autopilot without a thought to too much else. Then 15 minutes into scrolling I realize I missed my chance to start the day in prayer.

I thought it would be great if there was a brief opportunity, a call to prayer that would interrupt my often mindless scrolling and even give me the words to pray. So I decided to make it for myself and share it with others. Out of that hope, Brief Prayers was started.

Each day of the week, I post a new prayer for those following along to use as they like in their prayer lives. I hope you check it out and find it a helpful call to prayer on the go or as you scroll.