How to Handle Personal Prayer in Worship

My prayers swim at various depths as I worship. Shallow, regularly repeated prayers rarely lead the spirit within me, even when I say them. Repetition of long-winded appeals chases away my attention. So does the use of God’s name as punctuation. Sometimes the prayers stirring the depths of my soul are the hardest to articulate. Yet, personal prayer fills a significant role in my worship.

Making the Most of the Opportunity

I grew up in an era when evangelicals held church services on Sunday night. When I was a young boy, our evening service included a quiet prayer time. After the offering collection, a lighted cross on the Communion Table became the room’s dominant light. With soft hymns forming background music, the minister invited worshipers to kneel at the altar to talk with God. Then people quietly took the opportunity to ease out of pews so they could walk to the kneeling rail. I often knelt in my space near others. Soon that rail became a holy place for me where I exposed the dark closets in my heart to God’s light. On my knees, the distance between a young boy and the living God diminished. 

Many people sat still to absorb the quietness. A few brief moments presented the freedom to escape the demands of the mundane. The calmness of the shadowed room and peaceful music invited us to “be rather than do.” So, each person hit the pause button as we turned our eyes on Jesus.

Letting Life Form Personal Prayer

Every worship service finds people silently praying. Maybe we express the same request we have lifted to God for years. Or we express gratitude. Sin’s weight and the bitter taste of struggles to forgive gives life to many silent pleas. At other times, prayers provide wings for the desire to join God in addressing human needs. Often, a friend’s burden fills our prayers. In addition, I have often thanked God for believers who pray for the people singing, praying, or preaching. Thankfully, the amazing grace of God’s Good News encourages me to share the gospel near and far, in word and deed.

Personal Prayer Rests the Heart

Whichever style of worship we experience, there are moments when we wander into the private chapel of our hearts. As the service breathes, the Holy Spirit uses God’s word to turn our attention inward and upward. Soon, the blockages of our hearts lie exposed to his touch. Divine ears turn to our unique concerns. When the Holy Spirit breathes in my heart, I try to follow his lead with my mind and prayers.

My silent prayers turn toward the rise and fall of my trek through the previous week. The challenges ahead cry out for God’s help. I need stillness in worship to help me stop and catch my breath. Through the psalmist, God invites us to “be still, and know that I am God.” Stillness implies the need to rest in God. And rest requires letting go of control, the past, worry, and my peculiar challenges in submitting life to the way of Jesus.

Take advantage of the opportunity to rest in God’s presence. Pay attention to what is taking place in your mind as you worship. Set aside time to meet with God and for him to meet with you. Allow the words the Holy Spirit uses to ignite your heart help you connect with him in your thoughts and prayers. And your personal prayers will bring new energy to your worship.