Podcast listener McKinsey writes in to ask this, Pastor John, is it okay for me to plan

or even write out word for word a prayer that I will read before a group? Or is this practice

of scripting out a prayer somehow less spiritual? Pastor John, what would you say?

Pastor John, there are many spontaneous prayers that sound empty because of the language

that is so overworked and worn out and thoughtless you can tell they are simply repeating

tired phrases that they've used a thousand times and their minds are not engaged but they're

on automatic pilot. So no cheers for spontaneous prayers at that moment. On the other hand,

there are well-prepared prayers that sound utterly authentic and from the heart and are rich

with biblical truth and show careful thought about what should be prayed at this moment in this

worship service or in this small group. And it's not wrong to think that way by the way because

Paul said, if you don't speak in intelligible languages, how would they say amen to your prayer?

You know, there's Paul wants us to be aware that people are listening to our prayers.

If we pray out loud, we want an amen. And the amen means they've understood it, they've

agreed with it, it has some substance, it was a good thing to pray. Amen, that's the way we want to

pray. So thinking this way is biblical. Mackenzie asks if it's less spiritual to prepare a prayer ahead

of time. And my answer is it could be less spiritual and it could be more spiritual. The issue

of how spiritual it is does not depend on prepared or unprepared. It depends on three questions.

One, is the prayer created for the glory of Jesus Christ, for the hallowing of God's name?

Number two, is the prayer created in reliance on the help of the Holy Spirit? Or is it just

created out of our own minds with no conscious reliance on the Spirit's help at all?

Number three, is the prayer guided in its substance, biblical substance by the activity of the

Holy Spirit? That's what it means for something to be spiritual. Does it exalt Christ? That's what

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