I didn’t always love praying. In fact, to make the rote prayers more interesting, my sister and I competed to see who could say them the fastest without skipping words. However, I realized praying must be important since it was sprinkled throughout my day, at home, school, and church, with different prayers for different situations.
It wasn’t until I was in my teens that prayer began to change. In Youth Group my mom, the volunteer leader, started asking us to go off script and adlib “heartfelt” prayers. I went from being bored with prayer to being terrorized by it. Now, I had to dream up something to say that wouldn’t sound stupid in front of my peers. After a few weeks of the teens fumbling over words and passing the verbal ball to the next person in the circle, she switched to “God thank you for…” We each had to fill in the blank with at least one word.
After getting over the initial angst, the simple thank you prayers propelled me into a journey of hunting for things that God was doing. I never wanted to be caught without something to fill in the blank. The hunts for God eventually turned into longer conversations with Him as I moved through my day.
By the time I became a Director of Prayer Ministry at my church. I had developed a quiet communication with God that went far beyond the simple rote prayers of my youth. However, I was now the leader tasked with helping others move beyond the boredom and terror of praying.
I was confronted with various excuses:
- I don’t know how to pray or what to say (fear)
- God listens to that person more than me (comparison and abdication)
- He doesn’t listen anyway (lack of faith)
- I don’t have time for it (idolatry – putting something before God)
- We should be doing not sitting around praying (lacking the understanding of the power of prayer)
- Praying in groups is wrong – we should only pray when we are alone (using only a piece of scripture to justify a position)
As a result of the various reasons people gave me to keep from accomplishing my job, God started giving me creative prayer ideas and a greater understanding that engagement comes in various forms. In prayer, one-size does not fit all. Each of us is wired differently causing us to interact with God uniquely.
For the past twenty years, I’ve been on a quest to make prayer accessible and easy for everyone. I’ve gone to conferences, become a certified Spiritual Formation Coach, and got both a Masters and Doctoral degree in Practical Ministry. I’ve done 1-1 training, taught classes, spoken at conferences, and written articles, all with the underlying philosophy that God wants to spend time with each person growing relationship through communication.
There are four things that drive me:
- We are asked to pray without ceasing in the Bible, which includes praying alone and in groups. Jesus didn’t teach His disciples to pray: My Father who is in heaven, but Our Father…
- I believe that there can be unity in our diversity in prayer. My sampler quilt is my inspiration – every square is different but together they make something beautiful.)
- That God wants every street, every home, and every business prayed for. Though these are all land designations – they encompass people’s lives)
- I can’t accomplish the first three without a lot of people participating
Praying that God will give you boldness and increase your desire to communicate with Him.
Andrea Sanger
Creative Prayer Coach