Anonymous Asks (359)

“How can I stop being nervous about praying publicly?”

I have been praying in church meetings going on fifty years now, and I cannot remember a single time I ever stood up to try to express the corporate desires, praise or worship of the people of God when I was not at least just a little bit nervous.

That’s probably discouraging. Sorry.

“God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few.” King Solomon wrote that about three thousand years ago, and it remains sound advice today. He was speaking of going to the house of God in Jerusalem and addressing YHWH aloud in prayer, and he comments, “To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools.”

So then, there is a way to pray publicly that does not please the Lord. Solomon calls those who pray this way “fools”. They are playing with fire. There were “prayer fools” in Solomon’s day, and there are still one or two around in local churches today: men who are casual, thoughtless, windy and overconfident about engaging in an activity that is both sacred and precious to God when done right.

Since there exists the possibility of displeasing the Lord when we pray, any wise man coming into the presence of God will be cautious and respectful in his approach to the Almighty. The “sacrifice of fools” is offered by men who open their mouths to pray in public hastily and without due respect for the glorious God into whose presence they have come. They are not nervous because they have failed to reflect on the gravity and seriousness of what they are doing.

Better to be quaking in your boots every time you pray in public than to do that.

So a healthy respect for God may translate into occasional nervousness when we pray in public. If you remain perpetually conscious of the greatness of your Father in heaven every time you stand up in church and open your mouth for the rest of your life, your concern is normal and appropriate. May it never go away.

What’s not productive is worrying about what people around you think of your prayers. That’s something we can’t control. It’s good to be clear, brief and scriptural. That helps men and women say “Amen” to what you are praying on their behalf. It’s undesirable to ramble or to use corporate prayer time for requests and reflections that are more suitably kept between yourself and the Lord. In my judgment, it is also important to be genuine. When we attempt to show off our vocabulary or spirituality in prayer, we are not usually fooling anyone, and most definitely not the Lord.

As a man, God has given you the privilege of addressing him on behalf of his people. In my estimation, that’s what it is: a privilege, not an obligation. I am quite happy to sit quietly through many a prayer meeting in silence provided other men around me are already addressing the issues I believe from scripture are near and dear to the heart of God. I “draw near to listen”. There is no need for me to repeat what they have said or try to say it better. I will get up and pray when I have a thought or concern that I believe the Lord has uniquely laid on my heart, one that might otherwise go unexpressed.

But I’m still always just a bit nervous. He is God, after all.