The Road Traveled
A Christian based podcast geared to men to be able to take the bible and make it applicable to each man's life on the road he travels.
The Road Traveled
Ep: 3 Is There a Right Way to Pray?
When was the last time you had a genuine conversation with God? Not a formal, rehearsed prayer, but an honest dialogue straight from your heart?
Aaron and Alan tackle the often misunderstood practice of prayer, stripping away the misconception that you need perfect words or posture to connect with your Creator. Drawing from Matthew 6:9-13, they explore how The Lord's Prayer serves as a template rather than a script, showing us the components of meaningful prayer while emphasizing that God cares more about our hearts than our eloquence.
The hosts share personal, sometimes emotional experiences that transformed their understanding of prayer—from Alan's unexpected eloquence when he surrendered control during a wedding blessing to Aaron's moment of speechlessness that created space for his wife to step forward in faith. These raw moments reveal how God works through our willingness rather than our words.
One particularly powerful discussion centers on gratitude prayers—those brief moments throughout the day when we simply acknowledge God's presence and provision. "Thank you, Lord, that truck didn't run into me" carries as much weight as a 15-minute formal prayer. This practice transforms our relationship with God from emergency calls during crisis to ongoing conversation with someone we love.
The most challenging aspect of prayer—praying for our "enemies"—receives thoughtful attention as the hosts acknowledge the difficulty of praying sincerely for those who've hurt us, while offering practical steps toward genuine intercession that begins with honest acknowledgment of our struggles.
Whether you're new to prayer or seeking to deepen your existing practice, this episode offers a refreshing perspective that will help you develop a more authentic, continuous dialogue with God. Start your conversation today—He's not expecting perfection, just connection.
Welcome to the Road Traveled, a Christian podcast for men where real faith meets real life. Through honest conversations and personal stories, we help you apply God's Word to your everyday journey by sharing the road we've traveled, whether you're walking through challenge, change or calling. This is your road and you don't have to travel it alone. Now let's take the next step with your hosts, aaron Degler and Alan Hugator.
Speaker 2:Welcome back to the Road Travel. Thanks for joining us today. I'm your host, aaron Degler, along with our host, alan Hugator. We appreciate you taking a little time to travel this road with us, the road that we have traveled. We're going to share some of our experiences, some of our thoughts, ideas gleaned from this road we've traveled. It's not a perfect road, but it is the road that each of us have traveled and we're just going to share a little bit of that with each of you. So thank you for joining us today, and I think Alan's going to start us out with a prayer no we'll start with a little scripture.
Speaker 2:A little scripture.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we'll start with a little scripture here. I want to go with Matthew 6 and 9. And Jesus is asked about how to pray from his apostles. Most of you already know this, but, and he says, this then, is how you should pray Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread and forgive us of our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. That's the example of an outline of a prayer, in my opinion, of what he.
Speaker 3:So many people don't know how to pray. And he gives us the example right there of what to say in a prayer you know, acknowledging our Father in heaven. You know, hallow, how holy is your name and you can go through the whole thing and go and dissect it. But that's the way he's and so many people's uncomfortable praying right and they're sure uncomfortable praying public or in front of you. You know even two or three people I mean I got members of my family that I want to pray at one of our meals. They're just uncomfortable there and God don't want us to be. But it's not about praying in public. It's about having a conversation with him and, as I've referred to before, I start every morning with my prayer with him. I start with a conversation with him personally. I just I'm pretty big on gratitude prayers. Thank you for this moment that aaron and I was having to share with other people, your word and our experiences with you, god. That's what I call a gratitude prayer and I'm real big on those because it keeps me in touch throughout the day with the Lord. It keeps me feeling like I'm talking to him throughout the day and texting back and forth, as some people do throughout the day in today's world. Or you know how to call my wife again. You know, stay in touch with her. Well, my gratitude prayers throughout the day because I'm very grateful about what god has done for me in my life. Do I still have struggles in days? Yes, don't believe me. Ask my wife in my heart hands. They can see some of them, but you know to to stay in prayer. It's real important.
Speaker 3:This is another thing that I've pulled up here, and it says A lack of prayer demonstrates a lack of faith or a lack of trust in God's word. You know, we were told to pray. The Bible all through the old Testament, new Testament, was people was going to the Lord through prayer. How strong, perry, is group prayer, you've heard of that. But that is demonstrating our faith, that we have faith that God will listen to our prayers and he does respond to our prayers. And in the lack of trust, what, by praying, shows that we do have trust, that he is listening and he does respond.
Speaker 3:It's not in our time, may not be in our way, mm-hmm, but this is about his way, bringing him into this world. This is his world, not ours. We live in his world and how we act in his world, what we do and how we pray to him, how we act in his world, what we do and how we pray to him Nobody's better than anyone else about praying. My opinion only. It's what comes out of your heart, what, what's your intention, what is your relationship.
Speaker 3:It even talks about in the Bible, about some of the secrecies and how they got out on street corners and done all this. Well, that was to be seen. They got the reward here on earth. I like to call this my war room, like the movie, and this is my war room, right here that we're in because this is where I can go to God and lay it all out there. Go to God and lay it all out there, talk about my sinful ways or cry and repent and try to ask for his forgiveness, and all right here and just really open up. Where there's nobody around, nothing's on, and I do it before I turn the TV on, before Sometimes I start my coffee before my prayer and that's about it, because I try to get that kicked off that day with prayer.
Speaker 3:And then is it, is it prayer out loud, is it prayer silent, eyes closed, eyes open it didn't say nothing about what you had to be in that little deal right there in that scripture there, about whether you had to be standing kneeling. Yes, we kneel a lot and I get over here and I kneel. I'm just doing that out of respect to my Lord, but you can be. I mean, I've lied in bed, laid there in bed and prayed to God, just laying there before. You know, a lot of people have Our children. We'll put them in bed and say now do your prayers, you know, or set up or whatever. It's not about putting your hands hands together, it's not even about bowing your head. That's just showing respect to him.
Speaker 3:I step out here lots of mornings at 4, 30, 5, 30 in the morning, and it'll be still. Maybe there's no traffic riding by anywhere and I look up and see all the stars and and that's where I've done some praying before. It's right out there. When I first get there I said, well, that've done some praying before is right out there. When I first get there I said, well, that looks pretty good. So I just stopped out there and do my prayer right out there, kind of in the nature, part of the you know, feel no closer, just kind of like it for a change instead of coming in here. So to break routine, cause I don't like it to be. I don't want to say the same thing every day.
Speaker 2:I'll do the same, you know, and as you talk about getting up in the morning, it's the first thing you do. It's praying to God. I was thinking about you know what, if you're to we're both married to get up and and you talk about praying several times during the day, throughout the day, being grateful. And what if we around our wives all day long and we just walked past them? We never acknowledged them, we saw them, just walked on, not a not a good morning, not how's your afternoon. And I think if we think about like that, it kind of creates it.
Speaker 2:I think sometimes we don't pray the same way. We have a conversation because we think, well, god's not here, he's not around, he's not going to say why are you being rude to me? Why didn't you text me five times today to find out what was going on? Why did you get home and not say anything to me? Are you mad at me? What are you doing? You got at what was going on. Why did you get home and not saying to me are you mad at me? What are you doing? You got this morning like you were mad. You didn't talk to me, you didn't say a word, like maybe our spouses do, but we're always quick, say I'm not, you know, I'm not upset, I'm not mad, but we don't think of the same thing, as we might go days, weeks, months, years, until something gets really bad. Then we go, oh god can you just mention something.
Speaker 3:When things get really bad, then you want to call on god. That's the reason I'm a real big believer in the gratitude prayers throughout my day. Hey, you know, lord, thank you for being cool today instead of 110, like it can be here in August. I'll tell this story. Most of you can refer to it if you've watched football. But a couple, three years ago, whenever it was Buffalo Bills was playing, I think it was on a Monday night, anyway, a player went down on the field, had a heart attack and my daughter, fallon, called me and she said Dad, are you watching the ballgame? I said yeah, sure am. My daughter Fallon called me and she said Dad, are you watching the ballgame? I said yeah, sure am, she goes. Isn't it great that everybody stopped right now? And they stopped and they're having prayer together. I said, fallon, that is wonderful. I said I think that's wonderful. And the commentators were everybody needed to be praying for them and I said I think that's wonderful.
Speaker 3:I just have one question when was the prayer at before the game? They taken the prayer out of about every professional sport that used to pray before the game. They still have a national Anthem. They used to have a prayer, right, can't do that, no more, right. But boy, when a player goes down, we can sure pray. You know, the only professional sport I've been at that still does it is a national finals rodeo. And there they are at the, the super bowl of rodeo, and they have prayer and they're not ashamed to. And I think the redneck Cowboys would put you in a fight if you try to take it out of there, but they do. I mean, you can't have it in a high school football game, no more. But if a player goes down the field, everybody oh no, let's go to brand. That kind of is a peeve deal of mine. I don't like that very well. I mean, I think it's great when we call upon people to come.
Speaker 3:What happened in 9-1-1? Well, it went out nationwide. Let's all pray for the folks that was involved in the Twin Towers and Pentagon and everybody that got Wasn't nobody talking about prayer two or three weeks before then was there? But, boy, in a time of crisis, we go to the Lord. Then Is that what he is? Is it just for a time of crisis? We go to the Lord, then? Is that what he is? Is it just for the time of crisis?
Speaker 2:No, how does somebody feel? If every time we get in trouble we go to them, are they going to say, oh, you come to me, he's in trouble. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 3:Exactly. Yeah, I've got my wife. So this one guy, he'll call me and she goes what's he wanting? He don't ever call you unless he wants something. He don't call you just to see how are you doing or anything. He's always wanting something right? It's not like we are when we start to pray for the lord. Oh, here comes oh, alan praying again. He's wanting some relief from something or he's wanting some help from something. You know he's not calling just to say father, how are you today? You know my dad likes to hear that. I like to hear that, as a father, how you doing today dad. Good.
Speaker 2:Instead of every time you pick up on dad. I need hey dad. You got you know it's very important. And what you know. I think sometimes you know, as we read the scripture there and the Lord's Prayer and we think sometimes I'm not eloquent, I can't say I don't know all those words that they talk about in the Bible. I don't know that. I just don't know what to say. What do we say?
Speaker 3:I want to move this two separate deals about speaking publicly or praying out loud with more than one. If it's you and God, it don't matter if you stutter or if you're Ivy League education, if you've never finished the fourth grade, whatever in your life, god knows and he knows what you're trying to say, and just open up and tell him what you're thinking, where your struggles are, or, again, thanking him. I'm just huge on thank you, but thanking him for this life, I thank him all the time for allowing me to live in the United States of America.
Speaker 3:That's just the way, I believe, is you don't have to speak elegant when it's you and him. He's not judgmental that way. He's judging about how you live your life with sin or not, but not how you're talking with him. So it didn't say anything about in there, about how what wording to use or something like that. I have another thing that I'm off on a pet peeve deal today. But when people get up, okay, he's going to pray at this road, I'll pick on the rodeo world and he gets up there and he goes to reading and he might have 15 pages. He wants to cover everybody and everything. I don't go for that either, because that's not heartfelt.
Speaker 2:That's a prepared speech prayer.
Speaker 3:I never, and I do funerals. I've done weddings and I tell them up front, like a wedding, it's pretty well scripted. Repeat after me, yada, yada. But I do not script my prayers. That's me personally. That's my deal. That's what I like to do. I do not want to script my prayers. That's me personally. That's my deal. That's what I like to do. I do not want to script my prayers. I don't want to do that. It's not from. I want him to feel the emotion that's coming from me.
Speaker 3:I was doing a wedding for Rusty and Julie, for their son, about six years ago, five or six years ago, and we'd done the wedding and then they called and said it's time to eat. Alan, would you ask the Lord to bless the food? That's another people said to me would you bless the food? I can't bless the food. God can bless the food. I'll ask the blessing. But anyway, they said, alan, if you'll ask the Lord to bless the food, and I said yeah. And when I got finished with that prayer, my wife goes wow, you let it all hang out. And I couldn't remember what I said. But I turned it over. I said God, your words go through my body, your words come out my mouth and it just flowed and I couldn't believe the way it was flowing.
Speaker 2:Where's that coming from Exactly, but I released it and I said and it just flowed out.
Speaker 3:And when I got done, I go wow and she did too. She goes wow. That was really good and I go. I turned it over to him he done it. And he blessed the food and he used meat One of my godly experiences right there that I had happen.
Speaker 2:It's pretty amazing, yeah, and I have a similar experience. We were in Sunday school one morning and they asked people to pray, and my wife Kim. She doesn't like to really speak in public, and so Sunday school teacher asked her to pray and she was like I'm not praying. She just said I'm not doing it. And so I said, well, I'll go ahead and pray, done it before, it doesn't bother me.
Speaker 2:So I start praying and it's nothing, even that impressive, but tears start welling up, I can't get a word out for nothing. I mean like if I tried, I couldn't get a word out and I couldn't say anything. So it was kind of silent for about 30 seconds and then she took up the prayer, right Because God wanted her to pray that day Exactly, and she did an amazing job. But he and sometimes I think you know, and that was my experience, I'd never sold up like that in a prayer before in public and that I couldn't speak. I could not speak and she prayed and it was amazing and God has that power, just as he did through you, did through you. Just where did those words come from?
Speaker 3:That's available every day. If we'll just surrender and allow him to work in our lives, it will flow through us, just like it did there. But no, we think we're in control. But no, we think we're in control. But by praying we will understand and we're visiting with him and we're talking to him and we're getting this relationship to be able to surrender and know and allow. I thought this was pretty good.
Speaker 3:If you'll allow me to read this, it says Prayer should not be seen as our means of getting God to do our will on earth, but rather as a means of getting God's will done on earth. You know we're praying. Help me with this and help, do this for me and help me here and here and here. You know and I don't know where I've heard a lot but God's will. You know, and I don't know where I've heard a lot but god's will you know if it's god or god's will? You've heard that? That's what it's saying here. It's about god's will, not our will but it's rather you know, means of getting god's will done on earth.
Speaker 3:Praying is getting god to move and do things. That's his will on earth and we're willing to accept that and surrender to it.
Speaker 2:How else do we know what his will is if we don't communicate with him?
Speaker 3:Absolutely. We can read about it and understand it from that aspect, but in our daily lives we've got to allow him to do that, to know what his will is in our daily lives.
Speaker 2:Exactly. I can read all about having a relationship with my wife. I can read all the books, all the things, but until we start communicating and working on those things, we don't know what it's actually like or how we put those things. We can read the Bible, and that's in our instruction manual, our B-I-B-L-E, but unless we're communicating with God, what in there is your will that you want me to do, and it's opening ourselves, it's surrendering to that will, because sometimes His will is not something we always want to do. Sometimes His will is wanting you to pray in a Sunday school room and he says, well, I'm going to have you do it anyhow.
Speaker 3:Whenever our prayers are not answered, in our eyes and what we think is because we're expecting it to be done the way we think it should be done, not the way he wants it to do so many people. Well, my pastor, I prayed for this and this and that I prayed for that. I don't ever see no answers oh, you're not going to, because it's all I, I, I, I, I. Through there, he's speaking in first person about himself and not about God. That's the way I look at it. It's all about that. Now there's people that pray a lot for change and sometimes it comes and sometimes it don't, but it's in his plans. Some way it's his will. We'll probably pass off in this world not knowing why God allowed some things, and that's a whole other, deeper topic but we will never understand totally what his plan is.
Speaker 2:And sometimes, when we do, are trying to put our will forward. The answer is no, and no response is a no. It's not right now, maybe later, or you're not ready for whatever you're asking for. You need to be doing. There's more things I need you to work through before you can be ready for what you're asking for. I want to be more financially successful Well, but you need to work through some of these issues you're having financially first. So when that day comes, you understand why. Same thing with relationships, lord. I want a better relationship. There's some things you have to work through on this one, so you better understand when there is some repair.
Speaker 3:You said relationship and it says to pray for your enemies. Okay, Now, everybody, a lot of people don't care for me, but everybody has someone, that they may struggle with that person's personality. It just don't fit right right. And to pray for your enemy you talk about difficult, especially if you've had some kind of major problems with this person or they're attacking your family.
Speaker 3:Or I spoke to a friend of mine the other day that he called and we were fisting, we're real tight, and his friend, this person, was kind of is affecting his daughter and family and I said well, I've been praying for you and your wife and your daughter, your whole family. I'm praying for you. And I said I'm also praying for this, this guy, and it went kind of quiet and I felt like and I don't know, but I felt like he was going, why are you praying for him? But if he's the source of the trouble, then that's where we got to have the change at. I mean, I'm praying for them, for comfort during this trying time, but if this guy's causing a problem or this person, I shouldn't. But this person's causing a problem, it's out. Whatever, that's who I should be praying for, Even if we don't agree with their actions and and I don't want to use the word enemy, but in the Bible it says enemy.
Speaker 3:But if that's the enemy of this situation, if that's the bad part, that's where our prayer should be focused at this person changes and it sees the way of the Lord, that this is not right. That's the point I was trying to get across. But I've prayed for people that I struggle with or our personalities clash or whatever. It is very, very difficult. I usually end up praying for myself because I'm not strong enough to pray for them, Because I know that in my heart.
Speaker 2:I'm not meaning a hundred percent what I'm asking for. So then does that mean we shouldn't pray and he's.
Speaker 3:We need to pray more or we understand more about what, how to ask, how to pray for someone else. I mean, I I've gotten a lot better at praying for my enemies. I've got a lot of them, but no.
Speaker 2:And it's coming to God in honesty.
Speaker 3:Right, it's praying you know, lord, I'm not ready to pray for this enemy, pray for this person, but help me to better understand. And now I'm able to pray for someone I have. You know, I'm struggling with what they said, or I'm struggling with this. I can pray for them a lot easier because I did ask him to help me before To become better at praying for my enemy and recognizing, in my opinion, that If I can pray for myself and that's selfish but pray for them to change, pray for them to see the way and also pray for maybe hey, did my view? Is my view right, lord? Help me with that, you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, maybe it's us that need the changing.
Speaker 3:You know it's tough to look in the mirror, especially when you get older, Gets harder, but it gets harder and it's hard. Need to change. You know it's tough to look in the mirror, especially when you get older, Gets harder, but it gets harder and it's hard to look at, you know. But I said, hey, where did I step out of line? Help me and help me change and walk the path you'd have me walk. But if this person here that is causing a struggle within my family or conflict or whatever, hey, I want to pray for them because if that's the source we get, them through that then it'll ease up on everything else makes sense to you?
Speaker 2:yeah, and I really think too it's it. The bottom is that prayer is communication and we, when we communicate with people we love, you know, sometimes we get ugly with people we don't love just because they're people we don't love, but when we have people we love, has anybody ever had a perfect relationship, whether with a parent, with a sibling, with a spouse? Has it been perfect? And the chances are you've never had a perfect relationship. But yes, sometimes I think we go to God in prayer and expect this perfect relationship. I should say all the right things. God's going to do all the right things for me. But so we have to say all that in the perfect. But communication with someone we love is the imperfect just as well as the perfect. So, god, this is how I'm showing up today. I'm in my sweats and a sweatshirt. I'm not at my best. I've had some problems, but, lord, I'm here. I'm not proud of the way I showed up, but I'm here.
Speaker 3:Did Jesus find it important to pray? Did he pray to his father for strength? He prayed numerous times. When you read Scripture, he prayed numerous times when you read scripture. If he finds it important to pray, the son of God finds it important to pray. Should we not find it important to pray If he was asking for strength? If he was asking for guidance, shouldn't we be asking for? Strength and guidance.
Speaker 2:And even in his last moments. Yeah, what was his last moments?
Speaker 4:Yeah, what did he say? What was his last things he said?
Speaker 2:Well, I put it hey God, is there not a plan B? Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 3:But he asked. He said to forgive us or to forgive them? And I say it's us, for they know not what they do. Mm, hmm. He was asking for us at that time.
Speaker 2:On the cross For others.
Speaker 3:You know, bleeding out for our sins, all of that, and here asking for forgiveness for us to the last, and we didn't deserve it. He was just talking to his father about it. Mm-hmm. And that's what we do when we pray is we talk to our Father in heaven.
Speaker 2:And that's just however we talk. Yeah. However, we communicate is the same way.
Speaker 3:I'm sure if you raised your voice it wouldn't matter. If you lowered your voice it wouldn't matter. If you lowered your voice, it wouldn't matter. You know it's about your relationship with him. It ain't got to do with I mean. Yeah, if you want to confess to somebody, confess to him. That's my opinion.
Speaker 2:It's like any long, long relationship. When you and Kim, when my Kim and I got together, you probably your relationship, you and kim. When my kim and I got together, you probably your relationship. You know was new, you know you communicate, but I don't know what to say.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm not going to say that, but after all these years, I still say the wrong thing you still say the wrong thing, but she still loves you and you still get to go home, yeah and and. But. But that relationship, that communication, gets stronger. I mean, it's no different than from us. When we start it may seem a little shaky. When we start those prayers, it may seem a little shaky, we may not, it may be a 10 second prayer, but we get better and better at it. We can communicate better and better. We know what's on our heart, what we want to share. That relationship, just like any relationship we start and we have for a long time, it grows. It only grows through prayer.
Speaker 3:What's God going to do if you really don't know how to pray? You're uncomfortable and you stop. And you really don't know how to pray? You're uncomfortable and you stop and you acknowledge him and you start to talk to him. He's going to be listening. He's not going to criticize what you said. He's not expecting it to come flowing out, he's just glad that you're talking to him. So don't be afraid at all to stop. Well, lord, I've never talked to you before, so what? I don't know what all to say, but this is bothering me. Good, you told him what was bothering you. That's a prayer. Yeah.
Speaker 3:You've got to have some faith. We go back to that statement earlier. You've got to have faith that he's listening. We do know that and he will respond in his way. And we have trust in him. But don't be hesitant Anytime, anywhere. And again, I still think. Little thoughts throughout my day helps me a lot. Just thank you, lord, that truck didn't run on me. Thank you, lord, that's a prayer, sure, to me that's a prayer no different than one that takes 15 minutes, the same as, and it says not to baffle, and go on and on, and on and on with things.
Speaker 2:It's just the same as a quick text to somebody we love hey, I love you, appreciate you. That's communication.
Speaker 3:Absolutely.
Speaker 2:I want you to lead us in prayer, okay.
Speaker 3:Well, I'll go to the Lord then with us. Lord, we come to you with our hats in our hands. Today, lord, we just want to acknowledge how holy you are, how loving you are and, lord, what you've done for us. But what you can do for us every day is we come to you in word of prayer, lord, we have faith in you and we work at building this relationship and it brings ease to us and we're so grateful for that. Lord, we're grateful for all that you've done for us in this last. Most of all, we're grateful that the sacrifice that you went through with your son here to die for our sins. Lord, I thank you for this opportunity to have this podcast and, for those that are listening, I ask that you shower your blessings down upon them. As believers in your son, jesus Christ, as our Lord and Savior, we ask this in his holy name, amen, amen.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much to each of you for joining Al and I on the Road Traveled, and we look forward to meeting you down the road. God bless.
Speaker 1:You've been listening to the Road Traveled where real faith meets real life. Remember every step matters, even the hard ones. So keep walking your road with courage, conviction and Christ leading the way. Until next time, your hosts, aaron and Alan, say we'll see you down the road.