I don't know how to pray anymore. Where do I start?

Start by telling God one true thing, in your own words. Prayer is honest conversation, not a formula. He already knows your heart; speaking to him simply is enough.

Do I have to use special words?

No. Jesus warned against showy, wordy prayers and taught people to speak plainly. Your ordinary, honest words are exactly right.

What if I don't know what to say?

Then say that. God, I do not know what to say, is a real prayer. The Spirit is said to help us pray even when words fail, so you are not on your own in it.

There is a way home

How to start praying again

Starting to pray again does not require the right words, a certain posture, or a clean slate. Prayer is just honest talking to God, and you can begin with a single true sentence, however clumsy. He is not grading you. He is glad you turned toward him.

It has been a long time. You are not sure you remember how, or whether it ever did anything. The old words feel hollow now, and you are self-conscious even trying, as if there is a right way to do this that you have forgotten. So the silence stretches on, and praying feels harder the longer you wait.

What is true

When Jesus taught people to pray, he warned them against showy, wordy performances and told them to speak simply, like a child to a father. The shortest prayers in the Bible are often the rawest: God, help. Have mercy. Where are you. You do not need eloquence or certainty. You need only honesty. Start there, with what is actually true in you right now, and you have already begun to pray.

What Jesus said, and did

“But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions... for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.”

Matthew 6:7-8

“The Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us.”

Romans 8:26

“Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us.”

Psalm 62:8

One small step

Your one small step: pray one honest sentence today. Not a paragraph, not a performance. Just tell God one true thing about how you actually are. That is prayer.

If you want to pray

God, I have not talked to you in a long time, and I feel awkward doing it now. But here I am. This is me, starting again. Thank you for listening. Amen.

Honest questions

I don't know how to pray anymore. Where do I start?: Start by telling God one true thing, in your own words. Prayer is honest conversation, not a formula. He already knows your heart; speaking to him simply is enough.
Do I have to use special words?: No. Jesus warned against showy, wordy prayers and taught people to speak plainly. Your ordinary, honest words are exactly right.
What if I don't know what to say?: Then say that. God, I do not know what to say, is a real prayer. The Spirit is said to help us pray even when words fail, so you are not on your own in it.

✝

There is no rush

You do not have to decide anything today. You can read a little, close the page, and come back tomorrow, or never. Nobody here is keeping score, and you owe no one an answer. When you are ready, and only then, the gentlest place to meet Jesus is in his own words, watching how he treats the tired, the ashamed, and the ones everybody else gave up on.

Read Luke 15: the father who runs Someone can pray with you

Jesus Christ is Lord.

You are not alone in thisComing back to God I want to believe again I feel far from God I can't feel God How to come back to God I haven't been to church in years Read Luke 15: the father who runs Ask someone to pray