Teach Me How To Pray Lyrics

I was in a recording studio a few weeks ago, and several young men, they were discussing

how hard it is to make it in the music business

They were all trying to become rap artists

And as I passed through, they were also discussing how hard it is to make it as young black males

When you're from the wrong side of town

And one looked at me and said, Mr. Williams, what do you do when you have problems

Well, I turned around and said, well, I pray about my problems

Well, this young man about 19 years old stood up and looked me right in the eyes

Then he asked me, will you teach me how to pray

Tell me what to say

I need some guidance today

Will you teach me how to pray

Tell me what to say

I want to talk to the Lord

Not tomorrow, but today

Then he said to me, the reason I want to become a rap artist is because my mom had to work two jobs

Day and night to take care of my little sister and I

And it just breaks my heart and makes me feel so sad

When I see my mother at the bus stop in the cold and in the rain

She's working hard on two jobs with her body wracked with pain

Late at night I hear my mother cry when she's alone

I will pray to the Lord that he will keep her body strong

So will you teach me how to pray

Tell me, tell me, tell me what to say

Oh, I need your guidance

I need your guidance today

Teach me how to pray

I don't know what to say

I beg of you

Please teach me how to pray

And as I was driving home, I just couldn't get that young man out of my mind

How he told me that his father had left him

How hard his mother was working for her children

You see, there's too many mothers has got to be mother and father

Fathers need to be home to teach their children to pray

To teach their son how to be a man

You see, there's too many children in the world begging

Begging for love

Begging for understanding

I can hear him in my mind

I need some guidance

I need some guidance today

Teach me how to pray

I can still hear that young man

I don't know what to say

I don't know what to say

But oh, I'm willing to learn

Will you teach me how to pray

I told that young man

You don't have to be anywhere special

You can pray in your car

In your home

It doesn't matter where you are

Jesus is listening to you

Right there

Right now

Where you are

All you got to do is say

Our father with your heart in heaven