One of the things that people have shared with me which they find hard when seeking to talk about what they are going through and struggling with is the way in which sometimes, we can be too quick to dive into “let me pray for you.” Of course, prayer matters, of course the person’s biggest need is for God to work in their situation. However, that quick “let me pray” can also give the impression that we have stopped listening whilst the person is still pouring out what is on their heart.
There are two additional dangers with it. First, we can give the impression that our prayer will magically resolve the situation. This also links to the other danger. We may be in such a rush to pray, just as we can be in a rush to solve the problem too with the result that we don’t pause to get down to the root cause or begin to find out what we really should be praying about.
Coming back to the point that prayer does matter and is one of the biggest needs, how do we avoid the problem. It’s worth observing that sometimes we have the opposite problem. We can find it awkward and not know how to move to prayer.
So, here’s my solution. Why not make the whole conversation about prayer/an act of prayer. We want to come with the person to God. So I would start by praying and simply saying “Lord, thank you that you are here with us and you are listening. Help us to hear you.” Then it is a three way conversation between counselee, counsellor and God from the beginning.
Faithroots 