Not all people have a gift for speaking poetically and prophetically when asked to pray. There are no rules for personal praying because it is a conversation between the one praying and God. But when creating a communal prayer, however, the leader bears a responsibility of expressing a petition that represents not just his/her own prayer but the entire group’s feelings and needs.
Preparing to Write a Prayer
The prayer leader should first consider the following points in order to focus clearly on the task at hand before the writing begins.
- What is the purpose of the meeting?
- Who will be present at the gathering (i.e. adults, children, people of different faiths?)
- What is the purpose of the prayer (i.e. To open the meeting/event and ask for God’s guidance and blessing; To close the meeting/event and ask for safe travel; To ask for God’s inspiration to solve a problem or provide healing for a situation.)
- What is the desired length of the invocation?
- Who should lead the prayer?
Elements of a Prayer
Creating a prayer is similar to writing a letter. It has a recognizable beginning, middle and end. The elements of the prayer are: salutation, acknowledgment, request, expression of gratitude and conclusion.
Begin with a salutation. Choose a name for God like “Dear God,” “Loving God,” “Creator of All Things,” or “Spirit of Wisdom.” Use a salutation that is fitting to the prayer itself.
Next, acknowledge God’s goodness. Say something nice to God, like, “You bless us with abundance and the ability to serve your people,” or, “You are the center of our lives.” Say something true about that situation on that day.
Then, make a request for what is needed. “Please protect these children as they play,” or “Please inspire us with new ideas," or “Give us strength to complete the task at hand and give us guidance along the way.” Ask for whatever is needed in relationship to the group, event or community. Several requests are fine but they should all be related to the purpose of the gathering.
Next, express gratitude. The element of gratitude grounds a prayer in humility and in the understanding that God works in the lives of all who are gathered. Examples include, “Thank you for this opportunity to bring hope into the lives of others,” or “We give thanks for these families who give so generously of their time and talent.”
Finally, conclude the prayer by using a concluding statement like, “For all your gifts we give you praise. Amen,” or “In one Spirit we pray, Amen," or “In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen."
A Prayer Writing Process Example
The following hypothetical example uses the preparation model and guidelines above to create a simple but appropriate prayer.
- Purpose of the meeting – Church building committee's initial gathering
- Purpose of the prayer – To open the meeting and ask for God’s guidance
- Length of the prayer – Short
- Prayer leader – Committee chairman
- Salutation – "Creator of All Things"
- Acknowledgment – "You bless us with abundance and the ability to serve the people of this community."
- Request(s) – "As we continue building our new church and classrooms, please give us strength to complete the task at hand and give us guidance along the way. Help us find honest and hardworking contractors and craftsmen to build our house of faith."
- Gratitude – "For the blessing to serve our community, we give you thanks and praise."
- Conclusion – "In Your name we pray, Amen."
A prayer in these settings does not have to be long to be appropriate. Longer is not holier or necessarily more pleasing to God. In fact, God may enjoy getting right to the point.
As stated before, prayers can be made in any and all fashions. In communal settings, however, it is considerate and polite to lead a prayer that remembers the group’s needs and recognizes the purpose of the gathering. This structure can take the stress out of a meaningful opportunity to pray and can be a guide to an authentic, heartfelt prayer to God.
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