Praying when away with non-christians

[Tamzin125]

Hi All,

I'm new to the Christian faith and so new to prayer life. I'm away for work for the next two weeks with a group of non-Christians and finding it difficult to find time to pray. Hotel rooms are shared, meals are communal and our work is all together in the same room, so we rarely have alone time. Does anyone have any experience or advice on how I can really spend time with God whilst I'm away from home? I know I probably shouldn't be but I'm really self-conscious when praying in front of others. At home I use a daily prayer app which helps guide me in terms of scripture readings and things but I think I'd feel really weird (and not to mention distracted) if I just opened my app and started praying in front of the person I'm sharing with.

Any help and advice gratefully received!

Can you take a short walk sometime during the day and spend some time alone? Or get up early and leave your hotel room to sit in a communal area alone for a while?

I should think most people will want some alone time if you are all there for two weeks. Even if all you can manage is a few minutes that could be enough. Have you come across Pray as you go? There is an app, and if you have headphones you can simply listen you don't have to say anything, and nobody will have to know. It's very good I use it all the time on trains.

I pray in bed, fairly quietly or silently, before I go to sleep and during the day, as the need takes me. I have prayed even when using the bathroom! You can take a pocket sized Bible in your hand bag to help you. If you've time for a bath or longish shower, this could be a good time too.

You could also google and see if there are any churches nearby which are open during the day and just go and sit for a while to pray. It can be a nice break to be in a different physical environment. Let us know how you get on

I assume you are not locked in the building?

go outside and walk a bit.

Set your alarm and get up earlier. Sit in a quiet corner or go for a walk.
It won't be difficult. Everyone will need some time away from the group even if it's a bath/fag/having a wank/phoning home.

Thanks all for your suggestions. Thankfully we get the weekends off so I'm away with family and have more chance to pray.

Niminy - I downloaded pray as you go yesterday and it's really good. Thanks!

Will definitely use the other suggestions next week. We're in a different place next week so will check out local churches.

Thanks all :)

I pray in my head rather than out loud. Sometimes I say a prayer in the middle of my lesson when I'm teaching etc but luckily because it's in my head no-one knows

If you have internet access, you could consider posting on our prayer thread. No need to read the whole thread - just come and say hello and leap right on in!