I was behind the counter at work when I heard it. A fellow coworker, upon receiving a check, was praying—out loud. I didn’t hear all the words. My thoughts were louder.
Ummmmmm . . . what is he doing? That’s so weird.
The thoughts were automatic. They shocked me. They rebuked me. But they made me think.
Why is it weird to pray out loud?
“the real world”
When I was at camp this summer, aka NOT “the real world,” I prayed. I prayed a lot. God knows how much I needed it. The constant fellowship with Him, and even other believers, was amazing. I so looked forward to our times of group prayer. Towards the middle of the summer and until the end, I even found myself praying out loud.
On the way to work, with nature around me and cake in the very near future, I just couldn’t contain my joy.
“Thank you, God!” I said out loud. My friends would laugh. But they too knew the joy that couldn’t be contained.
Then I came back home.
HERE
Here, we don’t pray out loud. Sometimes we don’t even pray.
We go to a Christian school. We read the Bible. We memorize verses for class.
But we don’t pray out loud.
We talk the talk, look like we’re walking the walk, and say “I’ll pray for you.”
But we don’t pray out loud.
We give challenges and buy devotionals and fill them half the way.
BUT WE DON’T PRAY OUT LOUD.
The change that’s needed NOW
CHANGE is needed. And badly!
What happened to those times of fellowship and prayer they talked about in the Bible? What happened to bearing one another’s burdens?
What happened to thanking God for the simple things as soon as they happen?
What happened to just randomly praising Him for His character?
WHAT HAPPENED TO PRAYING OUT LOUD?
What we can do
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“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” Romans 1:16
CONSIDER: Are you ashamed?
