#107 - How to Pray {Reflections}

What if prayer didn’t feel like a performance, but a place to breathe? We’re sharing a three-part rhythm built around a single word—here—that makes space for presence, release, and direction. It starts with “Here I am,” a small, courageous act of showing up to God as we are. From there, we imagine the steady reply—“Here I am”—and rest in the reality that we are not alone. No fancy language, no spiritual gymnastics, just real presence that calms the noise and recenters our attention.

Next, we move to “Here, God—take this.” This is where honesty becomes freedom. We hand over the heavy things we pretend we can manage: fear we can’t shake, relationships on the edge, work anxiety, anger we keep feeding, private shame that won’t let go. Think of it as unclenching your hands so you can receive what actually heals. Ancient wisdom insists that confession isn’t a spectacle but a doorway; when our hands aren’t full of “my precious,” we can receive mercy, clarity, and strength.

Finally, we ask, “Where do we go from here?” Instead of waiting for a five-year plan, we listen for a right-sized next step—call a friend, make the appointment, apologize, apply, rest, try again. Curiosity becomes obedience in motion. We carry the question through the day: at the sink, on a walk, between emails. Over time, this simple cadence forms a life that’s attentive and lighter to carry, with choices that feel aligned rather than forced.

If you’ve ever wondered whether you’re praying “right,” this conversation lowers the bar and lifts the heart. Give the three H.E.R.E.s a try, then tell us what shifted for you—subscribe, share with a friend who needs some peace today, and leave a quick review to help others find their way here.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome and Why Prayer Matters
• 0:36 The H.E.R.E. Framework Overview
• 1:46 Here I Am: Showing Up to God
• 3:13 Here, God: Letting Go of Burdens
• 6:39 From Letting Go to Receiving Life
• 8:16 Where Do We Go From Here?

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:15

Hey, what is up everybody? Welcome to our Reflections Podcast. Ryan here. And I hey listen, I I gave a sermon a while ago, but I wanted to revisit it on a podcast because somebody reminded me of it. I was like, oh man, that was pretty good. And not because I wrote it. I just mean like I again sometimes I give these sermons and I'm like, I I when I'm writing them, I just fundamentally believe what's coming out. Like, this is really good for me, too. You know what I'm saying? And so it was on prayer, and like I I I kind of came up with this three, uh, three-part way to pray, like a formula. Now, look, there's no right or wrong way to pray. I mean, I'm sure there probably is, but like uh Roberta Bondi says, if you want to pray, you're already doing it correctly, which I love. And so I want to try to lower the bar for all of us. Anyone who wants to pray out there, first of all, I want to just lower the bar, and you wanting to pray is an incredibly, you know, beautiful thing. And so keep kind of going down that trail and see where it leads you. And um, but I want to offer this simple, three sort of step way to pray. And if you try it, let me know how it goes. But I love it, it's kind of what I do. I did it unintentionally, and then I sort of put some words to it, and I I actually kind of like it. So I don't know, here it is. But it's the three here's H-E-R-E. There's three of them. So here, here, and here. And you can use this as a way to pray. And I I hope it just alleviates some pressure or expectations of how you should or shouldn't, or what's right, or what's right, you know, and just do it and see what happens. It's pretty low bar, but uh, I think it's a beautiful way that can go in all kinds of wonderful directions. So the three here, here they are. Uh, number one, uh, the first here, H-E-R-E, is here I am. So I think prayer is just showing up a lot of the times. Just sit down or stand up or walk and just sh say to God, God, here I am. And uh listen for God as he would say back to you, or as you can imagine him saying back. Sometimes we have a hard time like, Am I hearing God? Well, you can just imagine what God would say, knowing his character and his nature in the in the Bible. You can imagine that he might say something back to you like this, like, Oh yeah, well, here I am. And so there you are. Here you are, uh, and then you hear God say back, here he is, and here you both are. And that is incredible. You have this moment you're you're you're recognizing that you're communing with God, like you're in the presence of God. God is with you, you are with God, and you have said, you've opened your heart, your eyes, and your ears to say, here I am, God, and God has sort of returned and said, and here I am. And there's plenty of scriptures that talk about the ever-present presence of God. And so you can know that that's really what's going on. And that, in and of itself, is unbelievably profound and mystical and wonderful, and can shape us and transform us if you just sit there and recognize, well, God is here and here I am. So the first here is here I am. And you hear God say back to you, here I am. And I think that's man, just showing up in that way is uh is is just wonderful. So start there. That's the first here. The second here is uh I think some of my best prayers when I say to God, here, God, you take this. And so the second here is here, here, God. And so we offer God all these things we've been carrying, whether it's requests like, hey God, my my dad is sick. Will you please help me carry this burden? Would you bring healing? Here, take this, God. Uh, my marriage is on the rocks, my job is uh hanging by a thread, I might get fired, or I'm I'm just or maybe I'm just I'm so full of fear these days, God. Here, take this burden of fear, and I feel lost or in disarray, and I feel confused or depressed. I just don't know what to do with my life. God, here, take this. And I think it's a wonderful way just to bring whatever it is. It could be like, God, I'm struggling once again with this certain thing in my life, this, you know, whether it's uh you know discouragement or or gossip or or slander or uh, you know, anger or violence, whatever your thing is, you know, your sin or your baggage, bring it to God, here, God, take this. We say it central all the time. The only thing you need to bring to the altar for communion, you don't don't bring your accomplishments because we don't care. Don't bring your, you know, your accolade, your report card, we don't care. All you need to bring is your sins. Like just bring them and just dump them there at the cross and at the foot of the altar. Like that's what God wants. And so the second here, after you've shown up and said, Hey, God, here I am, and God said back to you, here I am, and then you say, Okay, here, God, take this. And God isn't embarrassed or ashamed of what you're gonna bring, he already knows anyway, so you might as well just bring it anyway. And God's even sometimes like, hey, that thing I see you hiding behind your back that you don't want to let go of, hey, I'll take that too. That's if you if you let me, let me take that from you. And uh, God is is all too ready to do that. The the Bible says, uh Paul writes that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And so just know that. That's uh and and then in 1 John, if you're talking about sin, 1 John says that uh if we confess our sins, we bring these things to God, he is faithful and just to forgive us of all of our sins. And uh in the Greek there, the word all means all. It means all of them, and uh and cleanse us from all, again, all unrighteousness. So really it's just you showing up and just letting them go. You know what I mean? I love that. So here I am. Uh here God take this. Um by the way, I love what Augustine said. Augustine said that God wants to give us so many good and wonderful things, but he can't because our hands are already too full. It's like, yeah, we're so busy carrying and holding on to these things. It's like we're like the Lord of the Rings, like the like the you know, holding on to this ring, my precious, and we don't want to let it go. Uh, all the while it's like, let that go and I'll give you something even better. I don't mean like let go of that and I'll give you a nice Porsche. I don't mean that, but like, or a brand new uh a new car or a new house, but rather it's like we cling to things in our lives that we so desperately want to hold on to that we think will give us life, and it cannot give us life. And God's like, let me take that from you, let go of the precious ring, and I'll give you life instead. And that's hard though. Remember at the end of that movie, he tries to let go of the ring, and it I think Gollum is it, Gollum bites his finger off, and then Gollum falls into the pit after it. It's like it's this chaotic scene, like just throw the ring in the thing. We got it, just do it. But it's absolute chaos because we have a hard time letting go of these things in our lives that we so desperately want to cling to. So prayer is this practice of like, here, God, you take this. Take my wound, my baggage, my offense, my uh sin, my my junk, my my bitterness, and take it, God. Because you can handle it better than I can. Okay, number three is uh then you kind of wrap, and this can take two minutes, three minutes, it can take an hour. You could sit in this for a long time. If you could do it for a whole weekend. The third here is um, where do we go from here? And so, yeah, you you've communed with God, you've you've you've you've you've presenced yourself with God, you've opened your heart, your eyes, your ears, your mind. God is in the same to you, you've had this connection in some way, and you've given God all these things, even your requests, you've asked him for things, you've given things over to him, and now what? Like, where do you want to go now, God? And so I love this question because it's one of curiosity. Okay, now what, God? Where do we go from here? What do you want of me today? How do you want me to be like an instrument, you know, for you? Or how can I be a blessing to the world for you? Or what do you want to show me as I go throughout the day, or maybe even in a grander way? What do you want me to do with my life? What do you want to how do you want to give myself to the world? What can I do to make this world a better place? And uh, where are you calling me, asking me to go, inviting me to go? And uh, yeah, God, where do we go from here? And that one can go throughout the whole day. Just keep asking yourself, where do I go from here, God? And now, where do I go from here, God? And now, what about from here, God? So there you go. My hope and my prayer is that you will try this and at least know one that like what Roberta Bondi said is so good. If you want to pray, you're already doing it right. And then try this. The three here's here I am, God, and here, take this, God. And uh, God, where do you want to go from here? Alright, if you try it, let me know, and I'd love to hear how it goes. All right, love you guys, peace. Hey, if you enjoy this show, I'd love to have you share it with some friends. And don't forget, you are always welcome to join us in person at Central in Elk River at 8:30, which is our liturgical gathering, or at 10 o'clock, our modern gathering. Or you can check us out online at clcelkriver.org. Peace.