I asked the students in my spiritual formation class who would volunteer to pray a specific way in a room where we had gathered. The place was significant. I told a little of the story—the history, the purpose of that room. I thought it would be an ideal location to emphasize a particular method of prayer.
One student volunteered. He’s not one who often speaks about prayer. He doesn’t use the typical church clichés. But lately, he’s shown a fresh interest in learning what prayer really is. His response was genuine—three simple words, spoken with a touch of doubt: “I will try.”
He wasn’t sure if he was the one to do this. He didn’t seem confident about how to do this. But he was willing. He was willing to pray. So he answered with honesty and humility: “I will try.”
Isn’t that what we all should do? When invited to pray—when we sense a loving God drawing us into conversation—rather than following a script, what if we simply try?
What if we offer ourselves and do what we can? What if we invest a little effort, a little time, a few questions, a few words—and just pray?
Will you try? I invite you to. I dare myself to.
No script to follow. No teleprompter to read from. No memorized text to recite.
Just say yes—and try.
Even in the doubt, the uncertainty, the confusion—just say yes, and try.
And, yes, he did lead the class in prayer.
It was genuine. Real. Sincere.
I’m glad he said yes.
I’m glad he tried to pray.
Will we?
This definitely spoke to me and was a big encouragement. I often feel the Lord wanting to connect with me and I sometimes think I need to be in the right space or time to fix my eyes on the Lord. But in reality, He wants the truth. He wants the real. He already knows everything on my mind before I tell Him. So I can confidently say yes to that invitation even if I don’t know what do say or how exactly to connect with the Lord in that moment and He will guide my steps.
I am so thankful for that class. I have really been convicted to slow down. Specifically in prayer. I speed up and say words from a script in order to make myself look good or more spiritual. It is the pride that build up in me to do that. This spiritual formations class is teaching me that it does not matter if I stumble over my words or if I cannot even think of any to say. All I have to do is just be honest and real with God. He will take care of the rest. I am so thankful for the posture of moving slowly towards God. After all, when we start coming His way, He starts to run towards us (Matthew 15:20).
There have been a lot of activities that we have done in class that I can recall vividly, and that was one of those moments. It was a special moment to see that he had the heart, he had the desire, and he did lead us in prayer. Sometimes we just have to remember to try. We don’t have to be perfect; we just have to try. We don’t have to be flawless; we just have to try.
This moment in our spiritual formation class was genuine and inspiring. God doesn’t ask us or want us to be perfect, He just wants us to be authentic and try. Every prayer can sound different and look different. It’s the intentions of our heart for the prayer that matters. God is with us through everything and knows us fully. This gives me so much peace in how I communicate with Him through prayer.
I will try can mean so many different things. I believe this is the answer to a question maybe the Lord asks us. We can’t understand the whole nature of God but we can certainly try based on the Holy Spirit, the Bible, and what the Lord shows us. If we only just try to do what it is that we are needed to do, I believe the Lord will honor the rest. This moment when the student said “I will try” caught me by surprise and made me reflect, grateful for my classmate.
This is such an impactful moment as a Christian. Not only to have the ability to lead in communicating with God, but having the heart and humility to try and do so. This was a good read for me- remembering to set my heart posture into just trying for Him. All we have to do is try and let Him take care of the rest. He doesn’t care about my success or my ability. He only cares about the fact that I made an effort.
This moment in our classes changed myself also. because even if something is hard for us and even if we think we can’t do it all we have to do is try. “I will try” caught me off guard because that all God wants us to do is try. Even if we don’t understand the whole Bible we try to read it understand to the best we can.
Most of the time I’m waiting on God to fix things in my and next thing is why haven’t it been fix, but first I need to try I need think about the thing that would happened if I at least try in what I do sometimes it’s okay to he knocked down that’s what I learned in this class and get back up because I know my truth
This is something I think every follower of Christ struggles with at some point. The Lord calls us all out of our comfort zones at some point, and it’s so easy to just refuse to do what we’re asked out of fear or nervousness, but it’s also one of the things that amazes me so much about God. He calls us to do things we could’ve never imagined ourselves doing, and when we take that step of faith and Obey despite our fears, God uses us in unimaginable ways. I also think coming at it with a sense of humility and being honest about how we feel when called to do a task, but still attempting anyway, is so rewarding for my own relationship with the Lord, and for others as well
My favorite part of this would be to not follow a script and just do what feels right and be open to God. There is no point to hide your emotions from God. Nothing is more important then a relationship with you and God.
It is good to try. I don’t like being put out of my comfort zone, but every time I have done it, I have always grown. There has never been a time when I have tried and haven’t gotten something out of it. Yet every time, we are afraid of failure.I should really try to try more.
I think it’s a good idea to try your best at everything. It is proven that the more your try the more likely you are to succeed. I think everyone is afraid of failure. Whether it is relationships, friendships, jobs, and even in the smallest details. I used to be so afraid to reach out and make new friends at the risk of failure and or rejection. I have learned to be able to let go of that fear and be able to reach out to others and it’s been the biggest blessing ever.
I really like this blog, especially the line, “Even in the doubt, the uncertainty, the confusion—just say yes, and try.” What stood out to me about this is how it shows that prayer does not require you to have everything figured out first. It highlights that even when things feel unclear or difficult, there is still value in making the effort to respond and engage. That idea makes prayer feel more approachable and genuine, because it focuses on honesty and willingness instead of perfection.
I like this because it shows prayer doesn’t have to be perfect to matter. “I will try” feels real and honest. It reminds me that faith can be unsure but still genuine, and that just trying is enough.
This blog has really opened my eyes to the fact that sometimes when I feel like I cannot do something, I do it but not 100%. Trying involves really putting all your effort in and really seeing that if I try, I could do anything I put my mind to. I might not be the best the first time or the second, but if I put everything into it I am trying.
When it comes to prayer sometimes we can become repetitive. Instead of being robotic or following a script we should be genuine when we are communicating with God. Prayer doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be genuine, real, and honest. Sometimes trying something new and giving it our best effort is enough!
This is a good point, that you don’t have to be perfect, or say the perfect things to lead in prayer. I can relate to this myself, because usually when people ask “who’s gonna pray” I try not to make eye contact and hope I’m the last person they choose because I feel like I’m not “good” at praying out loud and in front of people. But this encourages all of us, encourages me to try. To not feel pressure to speak, and just speak. Just pray. So good!
I love this pastor Chris. It is a good reminder to just do your best. And I need that because many times I find myself trying to make everything perfect but that isn’t the point, the point is to just give your best.
I see this blog as a big encouragement! I can genuinely relate to this student in some way, since I am an international student – which means that english is not my first language, and I am curious about anything related to religion – because, as I have said in class, I grew up without having a religion, I always think I need to have something planned instead of just praying in the middle of the class. Even though I think that, I can truly feel when God is talking to me or working through me, which is something extremely special to me! Sometimes it does not even feel like I am the one in control of my mind and body.
Even though we might feel like we need to be in the right place at the right time to connect to Him, we should trust that our true self is much more appreciated 🙂
This blog was very good to read. It reminded me that effort is so important, whether it results in success or failure. It also reminded me that there is no perfect way to pray. It is just a conversation between us and God. It is important for us to have to willingness to just try. And be okay with the result and know that it is good for us to try new and sometimes uncomfortable things.
It sounds simple, but it is not that easy. Saying you will try takes more honesty than pretending you know what you are doing. He was unsure and still did it anyway. That feels more real than getting the words right. Maybe it is less about doing it right and more about just showing up.
This reminds me of the way that God calls all of us to live a perfect, holy, and sinless life. He calls us to live as Jesus had, to serve and obey him, to do out best, to try. Just as the student volunteered to try to pray and do his best, so are we all called to try to life for the lord to the best of our abilities. Just like for even the simple things like praying, talking to God, that we may not be comfortable with it is important to try, to do what we can to serve the lord and live for him.