Learning to Pray

Prayer is powerful. Prayer can create a life-changing connection with God and with one’s self. However, prayer is also challenging. It can be difficult to learn to pray, or to continue the habit of praying over time.

There are many questions that people often ask about prayer, such as “How do I pray?” and “Do I have to pray by talking?”*

There are also many answers to these questions. This week, I will discuss some of the answers provided by Unitarian Universalist ministers and teachers.

Prayer is a matter of doing, and often the first steps are the most challenging.

The first steps can include mustering up the courage to pray, discerning how you will pray and putting aside the time and the place to do it. These first steps can be present whether you have never prayed before, or want to learn to pray in a new way. (Sometimes I feel like I go through these first steps every time I sit down to pray!) My hope is that this week’s readings will help each of us take the first steps in developing a stronger prayer life.

*(In his sermon, “A Thousand Ways to Pray,” Rev. Manish Mishra lays out some of the questions people ask about prayer. He writes, “In order to be a prayerful people, we Unitarian Universalists need to take some time to think about what the term ‘prayer’ might mean for us. And that, in turn, leads us to several closely linked questions: Who are we praying to? Why are we praying? And what are we praying for?” The “Who, Why, and What’s” of prayer, if you will.” For the full sermon, click here.)