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5 Ways To Improve Your Prayer Life
5 Ways to Improve Your Prayer Life
Edwin Crozier
If there is one thing consistent among almost every Christian I have ever talked to, studied with, no matter what level of maturity, no matter how a Christian, most think they need to do better at prayer. Either by praying more, praying longer, praying deeper. So, what can we do to improve our prayers lives? I’d like to share 5 things that have improved my prayer life. I hope they may help you as well.
#1: Schedule an appointment with God.
Don’t just intend to pray. Schedule it. Mark it in your day-planner. Put it on the calendar. If you wanted to meet with your boss, you’d schedule it. If you wanted to go on a date, you’d schedule it. When you want to meet with God, schedule it.
#2: Have a place of prayer.
Obviously you can pray anywhere at anytime. I encourage you to pray everywhere. But I have also found that having a place dedicated to my specific and purposeful prayer time has been very powerful. Why? When I have a place dedicated to praying, every time I even pass by it, I start thinking about prayer. Sometimes it prompts prayer even when I wasn’t planning it.
#3: Pray out loud.
This may sound odd, but it has helped me tremendously. Obviously, there are times praying out loud isn’t appropriate. But, pray out loud sometime and see if it doesn’t help. It helps me because when I’m praying my mind can tend to wander. When I’m praying in my head, it is often hard to tell when I’m praying and when I’m just thinking. When I pray out loud, I can always tell.
#4: Make lists.
One of the most helpful tools I’ve developed is my prayer notebook. In it, I have lists of prayers from the Bible and other sources that I love to repeat. I have lists of praise prayers from the psalms that help me praise God. I have lists for thanksgiving, special requests, evangelists I know, churches I’ve been to, family, friends, granted requests. With these lists all in one place, I don’t have any trouble praying more and longer.
#5: Plan your praying.
Now that I have so much to pray for, I’ve learned to plan my praying. Plan to pray for certain things on each day. For instance, Sunday is my praise and thanksgiving day. While I do some of that every day, Sunday is specifically for that purpose. Monday is my day to pray for evangelism and evangelists. Tuesday is my day to pray for my family and friends. And so on.
