The Perils of Public Prayer
Why we get tongue-tied praying out loud—but let’s do it anyway.
Some years ago, I was on a prayer call, and we were sharing our life verses. I had prayed Psalm 2:8 and Revelation 5:12, which say, basically, “Ask of me and I’ll give the nations to you as your inheritance. Worthy is the lamb that was slain.”
The moderator, my mentor Bob Perry, then asked me to bless the listeners with the anointing I carry as a daughter. He gave a powerful three-sentence description of my parents’ business. I felt honored, excited, and ready to pray.
But as soon as I opened my mouth, I went completely tongue-tied. No thoughts in my mind.
I managed to say … something. But I went through the rest of my day ashamed. How did that go so badly? I pray all the time: with my sister, with my boys, on my own.
Mortifying! What happened to my tongue? Did I need some form of deliverance?! Had I not sanctified my tongue? Am I immature in my prayer life, so if I matured, then that wouldn't have happened?
Bob gave a helpful explanation.
He has noticed that sometimes, when a person is moving to a new level in prayer, in the presence of God in prayer, they get tongue-tied.
Perhaps because the Lord is showing that our heart should be the ultimate focus, not the person’s appearance, the sound of the voice, or the depth of the language. When the presence of the Lord is at work, the words become almost immaterial. It’s okay to stumble and feel tongue-tied.
And stumbling in prayer is a way to keep a person humble. Without Jesus and his anointing, I am nothing, and even with Jesus and his anointing, the results still come from Jesus.
In Bob’s own life, when he has stumbled in a public setting, he has wondered if he was going through deliverance, breaking off a spirit of man-pleasing.
Not to mention: praying in public offers a unique challenge.
He told me about one time that he was praying during March Madness before the Final Four. The day was cold and windy, and he was praying the Lord's Prayer outside … and he stumbled over praying the Lord's Prayer!
“I have prayed the Lord’s Prayer probably 10,000 hours. Not 10,000 times—10,000 hours. But I still stumbled over it!”
The MC stood up after he was finished and said, “That should give us all hope! If even Bob Perry struggles in public prayer, there is hope for the rest of us!”
Which is to say: it’s okay to feel intimidated about public prayer. Let’s bring that to the Lord.
Lord God, please raise up your people to pray in public. May we be willing to set aside the potential for embarrassment, and instead embrace the experience of you at work in our lives, whether we pray gorgeous prayers of power and perfect flow, or stumbling prayers that hardly make sense. Let us grow, Lord, in all the areas that you would have us grow.
We want to go deeper with you, Lord. You are the only source of life in the universe. In the name of Jesus, amen.
Pray on every occasion in the Spirit, with every type of prayer and intercession,
Amy Joy
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