Trying to Pray Silently?
"Some Christians cannot pray with any advantage to themselves without the use of a voice in some degree.”- Isaac Watts
I’ve been wondering whether I am the only one who cannot pray in my head for long. Sure, I can do the “arrow” prayers in my head throughout the day, but for an extended prayer time, I pretty much always have to write or pray out loud with someone else.
In some of my seminars on spirituality, I’ve listened to papers on the postures, practices, and details of prayer, and have been struck by how bad my prayer habits are. Basically, there are tons of postures and ways to pray, but you know the one that’s not in Scripture? Sitting, praying silently, hands folded, and eyes closed. NEVER in Scripture, and “a little folding of the hands” is used in Proverbs to describe laziness.
Isaac Watts said, “I cannot think that sitting, or other postures of rest and laziness, ought to be indulged in solemn seasons of prayer.” He said the main postures of prayer are “prostrate, kneeling, or standing,” which I pretty much never do.
“I cannot think that sitting, or other postures of rest and laziness, ought to be indulged in solemn seasons of prayer.” - Watts
Watts also said we should as a rule always pray out loud and has a whole section in his A Guide to Prayer on “The Voice in Prayer,” where he spells out all the details of the voice. “Let your words be all pronounced distinct….let every sentence be spoken loud enough to be heard….observe a due medium between excessive swiftness and slowness of speech…avoid a constant uniformity of voice.…” Here he is especially thinking of how to pray with others or publicly, but he thinks we should generally always pray vocally, even in the prayer closet.
I’ve wondered, do I just have such an internet-addled, mind-wandering brain that I cannot pray in my head? But Watts says, “For we find by sad experience, that all the advantages that nature can obtain or apply to assist our devotions, are all little enough to keep our hearts from wandering, and to maintain delight…some Christians cannot pray with any advantage to themselves without the use of a voice in some degree.”
If Isaac Watts found he could not pray silently in the 1700s, how could I expect myself to be able to focus enough to pray silently?
I’d love to hear your experiences with prayer and whether there is variation in practices!
I'm reminded of Hannah when she prayed in the temple and it was recorded of her, "Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard." I find that when I am petitioning something of the Lord, I can more easily stay on task in my prayers. It would be interesting to start praying out loud during a more routine prayer to see if it helps my focus. Thanks for the insight!