Praying People

by Ellis Miller | published on Nov 10, 2025

Discussion Questions 

  1. Read Psalm 123. Then read the devotional, “Praying People.” 
  1. Do you have a favorite prayer or a form of prayer that feels most comfortable? 
  1. What barriers are there to deepening your prayer practice? 
  1. What do you like about praying with others? What challenges you? 

Devotional 

Have mercy on us, Lord! Have mercy because we’ve had more than enough shame. – Psalm 123:3 (CEB) 

Whenever I’m in small groups and we start to talk about prayer, it often turns into a time of confession: I don’t pray enough. I don’t take time to pray every day. I’m not always sure when to pray or how to pray or what prayer even does. Asking people about their prayer practices quickly becomes a shame spiral.  

This pattern has one exception. When I ask people when they’re most likely to pray, the answer is usually consistent: When I’m afraid. When we’re desperate and have nowhere else to turn, prayer becomes the answer. It often takes being confronted by our deepest fears to quiet the internalized voices that tell us someone else is more in need of prayer than we are or that if we don’t have the perfect words we shouldn’t bother. When we do need help, we finally risk the shame of saying, “Sorry, God, it’s been a while.”  

We don’t have to wait until moments of despair to seek God in prayer, and it’s a lot easier to find God in those I-need-you-right-now times when we’ve already been in conversation. One way to ease into this is to pray with others. Communal prayer becomes practice for the times when we are alone, reminding us that any words, silence, or song will suffice.  

That’s why at church we take every opportunity to pray together, whether in worship, meetings, or before potlucks. We remind each other that we don’t need to wait until it’s a spiritual emergency to call out to God. We turn to God for our big joys and small concerns, for steady gratitude and earth-shaking grief. 

Prayer
May we remember that your mercy meets us right where we are, every time, no shame required. Amen.

Daily DevotionalAbout the Author
Ellis Miller serves as the Designated Pastor of Granby Congregational Church, UCC and is the author of Only Work Sundays: A Laidback Guide to Doing Less while Helping Your Church Thrive.