Learn to Pray

16 February 2026  James 1:1-11

“But let him ask in faith, with no doubting….” (James 1:6)

The Epistle of James was sent to “the twelve tribes in the dispersion” (1:1), a figurative way of referring to Christians living outside Palestine. The persecution that broke out after the stoning of Stephen drove members of the Church as far as Phoenicia (modern Lebanon), Antioch, and Cyprus where some Greeks overheard the gospel and were very interested in it. The newcomers eventually gave believers the name we have to this day – Christians.  (cf. Acts 11:19-26).

You don’t have the words to pray with? No problem. The Bible and the Church have words you can use until you find your own. That’s how beginners can “ask in faith, with no doubting.”

The newcomers, however, were largely strangers to the whole Jewish world and completely unfamiliar with Jewish scriptures and practices. They had no idea what to do, as a practical matter, to live into their interest in the gospel.

Were they supposed to go to particular places, do particular things, say particular words? James was aware that many of them lacked this practical wisdom (1:5), and so he advised them first to pray.

OK, swell. But how do they do that?

James advised them to “ask in faith, with no doubting” (1:6). There were novice believers then, as now, who are tempted to hedge their bets at the outset, praying something like, “Oh God, if there is a God….” This was the kind of double-minded praying James urged them to avoid because it was expressing more doubt than faith (1:8). But what then should they do?

One of the greatest successes of the Catholic and Orthodox traditions is that they have provided immensely valuable resources to people who are just learning to pray. The first obstacle most beginners in prayer face is not knowing what words to use, so the Catholic and Orthodox communions provide the prayers of the Bible and the prayers of the Church. In earlier times many beginners wanted to be able to pray like the monks did, who had memorized all 150 psalms. This was obviously far beyond the abilities of ordinary people, so the monks taught them to pray 150 Our Fathers, a practice which came to be called the Poor Man’s Breviary. They would keep track of their Our Fathers on a piece of cord with 150 knots, the prototype of the Rosary, and the Rosary has become one of the richest and most accessible prayers in the Catholic Tradition. The Orthodox discipline of the Jesus Prayer is similarly accessible and deeply helpful. From praying, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner,” millions of beginners have been led the short step to praying, “have mercy on my father/mother/sibling/neighbor, a sinner.”

You don’t have the words to pray with? No problem. The Bible and the Church have words you can use until you find your own. That’s how beginners can “ask in faith, with no doubting.”

Prayers like the Rosary and the Jesus Prayer are valuable resources for experienced believers, too. The spiritual life undulates, peak experiences followed by slumps which can sometimes be long and painful. At such slump times, even experienced believers have a hard time finding the words, and so the prayers of the Bible and the Church are valuable ways for them to persevere.

In the movie Finding Forrester the famous novelist William Forrester gives the young Jamal Wallace, struggling with writer’s block, one of his own essays and tells him to start typing that: “Sometimes the simple rhythm of typing gets us from page one to page two, and when you begin to feel your own words, write them.” Prayer works the same way. Don’t know how to get started? Use the Bible’s words, use the Church’s. And when you begin to feel your own words, pray them. That’s how you “ask in faith, with no doubting.”