Last time, I wrote about the ache to pray when you don’t know how—the longing to connect with God without the pressure to say it “right.” For me, even stray thoughts can be invitations to prayer rather than distractions.

But what does that kind of prayer actually sound like?

If you grew up in church like me, you might’ve absorbed the idea that prayer should be smooth, focused, and reverent. Reverence matters. But somewhere along the way, “reverent” started to mean “emotionally edited.” The trouble is, when we censor what we bring to God, we’re not bringing ourselves—we’re bringing the self we think God wants. Yet, the Bible shows us again and again that God wants the real thing.

God can’t bless who you pretend to be.

Steven Furtick, from (UN)Qualified – How God Uses Broken People to do Big Things

Learning From Songs

Sometimes, music teaches what sermons forget! 😉

Leanna Crawford – Honest

“I try to pray but the words just don’t come out the way they used to.”

No attempt to tidy things up—just raw surrender. It’s reminiscent of the Psalms, where David often struggles to find words, confessing his confusion and pain: “How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?” (Psalm 13:1). Throughout the Psalms, David often uses very strong, angry, one might say hateful, and descriptive words when he speaks of his enemies. This does not suggest that it’s ok to lash out at our enemies (Jesus did say to love our enemies) but it is ok to bring our honest thoughts and feelings to God.

Crawford’s honesty isn’t a failure—it’s an act of faith. It’s the belief that God welcomes what’s real, just as David’s doubts and questions were welcomed.

Samantha Ebert – Flowers
Ebert, facing Lyme disease, asks:

“Lord, why are You keeping me here?”

Sharp, unfiltered questions, echoing biblical laments. So many psalms begin as cries or accusations—“Why, Lord, do you reject me and hide your face from me?” (Psalm 88:14)

Even Jesus, at his lowest in Gethsemane, prayed: “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me.” (Matthew 26:39)

Why Honest Prayer Heals

When artists sing this way, they grant permission—just as scripture does:

• Permission to approach God without a polished script
• Permission for tears and frustration to become prayers
• Permission to speak while you’re still learning, hurting, or angry

Honest prayer is rarely neat. Sometimes it stops mid-sentence, repeats itself, or trails off. But in scripture, these prayers are not graded—they are received, attended to, answered in God’s time.

Kyle Strobel and John Coe capture it beautifully in Where Prayer Becomes Real:

“Prayer is not a place to be good, it is a place to be honest. … Prayer is not a place to prove your worth, it is a place to receive worth and offer yourself in truth.”

and again when they write,

“We turn prayer into a place to avoid God when we think that, even in some small way, it is a place to perform, be good, or appear Christian.”

You might remember that story Jesus told in Luke 18:9-14, where he compares the prayer posture of two different people. One had a very polished and full of himself prayer, while the other came honestly, not trying to pass himself off as a saint! Only one of the two came out blessed. I’ll let you figure out which one!

Practicing Honest Prayer

If you want to pray more like these songs sound—and like the people of the Bible prayed—consider this:

1. Start with one emotion.
   Name what you’re feeling—confusion, anger, longing. David and Job didn’t filter their feelings for God.
2. Use plain language.
   Let your words be simple. Speak as if to a trusted friend who already knows your heart. Jeremiah prayed directly: “Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed” (Jeremiah 17:14).
3. Let it wander.
   If your thoughts drift, follow them. Sometimes your deepest prayers hide in the detours. The Psalms often wander between joy and despair, hope and doubt within the same breath.

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Journaling Prompt

“If my prayer today was only three sentences long, and had to be fully honest, what would I say?”

Here’s mine in this moment: God, as I sit here and continue to think about and write about prayer, I realize that in my own prayer moments with you I’ve been getting hung up on “who am I supposed to be addressing!” I stumble over whether I should be addressing my prayers to God, or maybe I should say Father, or should I simply address Jesus. No, wait, maybe I direct my prayers to the Spirit who can then augment them and carry them to you (you being God, or the Father, or Jesus…) on my behalf. It’s distracting and I’m annoyed at myself for getting tripped up over that. Does it even matter? It seems like it does. Thank-you for hearing me anyways.

Breath Prayer

“God, meet me in my truth.”

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In scripture, God responds not with critique, but with companionship—even in silence, even in struggle. Your honesty is the beginning of intimacy, a prayer God always receives.