When you don't know what to pray, Carlos Garcia shares the prayer he taught his daughters—and why it's your anchor when life gets hard.
Most guys your age don't pray. And if they do, they freeze up—don't know what to say, how to say it, or if anyone's even listening. The power of prayer isn't some mystical thing you have to figure out on your own. Sometimes you just need words that already work.
I've been teaching my daughters something simple. When Gia and Bella don't know what to pray for, when their minds go blank or they're too scared or confused to form the words, they have something to fall back on. The Lord's Prayer. Matthew 6:9. The words Jesus gave us.
That's the thing about the power of prayer—it doesn't require you to be eloquent. It doesn't require you to have it all figured out. You don't need the perfect phrasing or some elaborate spiritual vocabulary. You just need real words, honest words, and a willingness to speak them.
When you're lonely—and I know plenty of guys your age are—that prayer is there. When you're afraid about the future, your job, your relationships, your purpose, that prayer holds you. When the weight gets too heavy and you genuinely don't know what to say to God, you already have the words. You can always turn to this one.
Here's what I tell Gia and Bella, and I'm telling you the same thing: the power of prayer isn't in being perfect. It's in showing up. It's in acknowledging that you're not in control, that you need something bigger than yourself, and that you're willing to ask for help. That's courage, man. That takes real strength.
I've spent years at Success Scholars connecting with young men who feel disconnected—from purpose, from community, from faith. One pattern I've noticed? The guys who have some kind of spiritual anchor, whether it's prayer or meditation or something that connects them to something larger than themselves, handle life better. They're calmer. They make better decisions. They don't panic as easily.
The Lord's Prayer works because it covers everything. It acknowledges God. It asks for what we need. It asks for forgiveness. It asks for protection. It's complete. You can pray it when you're on top of the world, and you can pray it when you're at rock bottom. It fits both.
Energy sharpens energy. When you consistently show up and pray, when you practice reaching out to something bigger than yourself, you change. Your mind gets clearer. Your confidence shifts. You start trusting that you're not walking this alone.
Here's your move: tonight or tomorrow morning, read Matthew 6:9-13. Actually read it. Then pray it out loud. Not because you have to. Not because it's some religious requirement. Pray it because you're giving yourself permission to use words that have carried millions of people through their hardest moments. That's the power of prayer—and it's already yours to access.
Start there. See what shifts.