Prayer Meeting

So, I'm going to be real honest here. It's hard to go to Prayer Meeting on Wednesday nights. I have to make a conscious effort to get there. After I'm there about 5 minutes, I feel totally glad that I chose to go and I always walk away feeling refreshed, encouraged, and strengthened, knowing I was in God's presence.
There are 2 reasons why going is hard. #1) When I make it home, it's hard to get back out. #2) This is the biggie: there is a time in the service when you gather with others around you and pray together. This makes me so nervous and insecure. Nervous because I don't want to sound like an idiot when praying in front of others and insecure because what will they think about my prayer requests? I've always felt that praying with others is a very intimate thing. It's very up-close and personal and I'm just not that way with total strangers.

Usually joining with total strangers isn't an issue because we all just pray as a family, but tonight it was just mom and dad and me, so we joined and had prayer with two sweet ladies behind us. My Dad said something while praying tonight that really stuck with me. He thanked God for the opportunity to pray with other brothers and sisters in Christ. The Lord reminded me that I didn't need to be nervous or insecure about prayer. He also reminded me that these people aren't total strangers. They are my family. After all, we've all been adopted by Jesus.
This intimate prayer time with strangers was the thing I enjoyed most tonight. One of the ladies was real enough to say that she was praying for a Godly man after being divorced for several years. Thank you, Lord, for showing me that it's ok to tell others that's what you're praying for!
This topic of praying has left me to think about all the opportunities I've missed to pray with those I love and care for. I can remember moments when friends/family have shared something with me and I knew I should pray with them right them. I wanted to pray with them, but I was too worried what they'd think. Too worried I wouldn't pray the right way. How ridiculous is that! This is something I’m going to be working on.