It's amazing how much you can grow while spending time with others, especially children. I taught Sunday School for years for kids of various ages and learned so much in that process about loving people and serving God—it was truly an incredible experience. Weekly, me and a team of people would meet with these children, teach them about a God who loves them and hopefully leave them with the wisdom and knowledge they needed to serve God and love others well.

One of my favorite moments during service was when the kids had an opportunity to pray for one another. When I would ask, "does anyone want to pray?" the same hands would shoot up every time. Some were the overly eager kids who wanted to get attention or show off how good they were at praying. Other children had their arms welded to their sides—they were never going to volunteer to pray no matter how many times you asked. Then there were those who would, over time, work up the courage to raise their hand quietly—these were the kids I almost always called on.

They would come up to the front and I would instruct everyone to bow their heads and close their eyes, encouraging the brave child to pray in front of their peers. Then, most of the time, they would whisper to me "I don't know what to say."

How often do we feel like that as adults?

We know that we should pray more, we should be talking to God more, but we just don't know where to begin. We don't have the words. There isn't a routine script that we should follow when approaching the God of the universe. To all of us who feel that way, my response is the same as it was to that sweet child who wanted to pray but wasn't sure how—praying is simply talking to God.

At first, these children would want to repeat after another teacher or me to learn how to pray, but the more they practiced the more they were able to form the words and sentences on their own. They knew what they wanted to thank God for or ask Him for. They learned the power of praying for their friends and their families. The pressure and nervousness they once felt began to melt away over time.

Praying consistently is an exercise that develops this faith muscle inside of us—the more we do it, the stronger that muscle becomes.

It's so easy for me to don my performer mentality and begin to recite prayers from rote or use phrases I've heard throughout my church life so that I sound more “Christiany.” Prayer can become just an item I need to check off my to-do list, instead of seeing it as a life-giving conversation with someone who loves me more than I can fathom. I put this pressure on myself to say the right thing at the right time when that's something God never asked for. In fact, in the Gospels, Jesus called out a prideful religious guy who knew all the right words to say, instead of being impressed with his eloquent speech (Luke 18:9-14).

It's also easy for me to fall into the trap of not wanting to pray because I'm just not sure what to say to God—usually this happens during a hard season when I'm struggling to see His goodness, so I don't know what to say to Him. I fear my negativity, anger or hurt will offend Him, so I opt for saying nothing instead. I don't want to have a conversation because I don't know what will come out.

But in those moments and seasons, I remind myself of the fact that God can handle whatever it is I bring to Him, whether good or bad, positive or negative. I'm not going to offend Him if I'm in a lousy mood, nor will I disappoint Him if my words are awkward. I wholeheartedly believe that He cheers me on and celebrates with me when I come to Him, especially when I'm hurting or struggling with something.

Jesus came to rescue us so that our relationship with God could be restored—He's not concerned with decorum, following a script, or saying the perfect words. He loves spending time with us and wants us to run to Him with the little and big things. He wants and relishes in relationship. And, at the end of the day, any relationship requires honest and open communication.

So, I want to remind us (myself included) that prayer is simply talking to God—let's push through any awkwardness, nervousness or uncertainty and do some more praying today!

Taking the Pressure Off