How To Make A Prayer

All of us say prayers. When we come to God in prayer out of what we want to communicate or pour out to Him, we are already making a prayer. However, we may also opt to put such a prayer into writing. Writing prayers down may spark some controversy since prayer should not be repetitive but occur genuinely out of one’s communication with God (Matthew 6:7-8). However, there are also certain benefits when it comes to written prayers when they are put to effective use.

Father in heaven, whether prayers are purely spoken or made up and written down, may the heart and desire to commune with You and to love You supremely prevail. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

A Topic of Charity

For this specific topic, we will narrow down “prayers” to written prayers or those put into writing to be used later. Whether written prayers should be used is an issue of preference or charity. In other words, it is up to the person to create prayers, put them into writing, and then use them later for their purposes. It is similar to the issue of whether worship should be accompanied by a choir or a modern band. Whatever one chooses, it is not so important that one would be disqualified as a genuine Christian for making a certain choice. It is a matter of charity in that we may have differences in our views about one thing, but we will exercise charity over those with different views. The same applies to prayers that we make up and put into writing for further use. (Romans 14:1; Romans 15: Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.7)

 

The Use of Written Prayers

There is nothing inherently wrong when we initiate prayers, write them down, and then use them afterward. We are already doing such practice if we go to the Scriptures and pray those verses. For example, in Psalm 16:11 it says:

“Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”

When we encounter such a passage, we actually repeat it word-for-word as we pray to God. In a sense, we are already using a written prayer—one written by David. We grasp the heart and meaning of the passage and pray the same to God.

Something similar happens when we make up a prayer to use afterward. We use it so it can help us put into words what we want to pray, guide us when we don’t know how to pray, and capture a certain sentiment about what we want to communicate to God. The same happens when we scroll through social media, see a post where a prayer is written, and are ministered by the prayer. We save such social media posts to revisit and pray again.

The heart behind such prayers that we make and put into writing is to guide us—help us articulate and pray a kind of prayer that carries a certain heart or cry. It is different, however, if a written prayer is prayed only to be read. If we make prayers and write them down so that down the road we can read them emptily – without any heart and only out of the obligation of doing prayer as a routine – then what we are doing is in vain.

A man honors the Lord when he prays by reading a prayer that he or someone else wrote because such a prayer captures what he wants to convey or pour out to God. It has more meaning and reaches the heart of God compared to a prayer that, no matter how many times it is read in a day, is only read for the sake of reading and utterance. In the end, prayer is our communion with God. It is something that we do out of our relationship with Him. Relationships involve the heart. (Matthew 6:7-8; 1 Samuel 16:7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”; Psalm 51:16-17)

How to Make a Prayer

Creating a prayer is just like coming to God to pray verbally. The only difference is that you are putting it into writing so that it can be used later. You can also be intentional behind the prayer that you make. Prayer changes our hearts (James 4:8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.; Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 3:18). So, for example, if you want a prayer that realigns one’s heart to love the Lord supremely above all else, you can compose a prayer that captures such heart or sentiment so that others who might have the same thoughts may use it to help them articulate into prayer that very heart or sentiment.

Father in heaven, as I face another day today, realign the affections of my heart so that You will always be the One I will love supremely over everything. Help me to love You with all my heart, soul, and strength so that I will love You with all my affections, all my being, and all my might. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

The heart of prayer is us communing with God and worshiping Him. So, even if we use a written prayer, we use it to communicate our hearts to God out of worship, love, and reverence for Him. We can use the prayers we make and put them to work. There is providence when it comes to written prayers, especially in times when words escape our mouths but we don’t know what to say because we have been going through difficulties and emotional turmoil.