You’d think, I suppose, that someone who has written two books on prayer, created four years of prayer calendars for girl moms, worked for a prayer-focused ministry, and shares simple sentence prayers every day online would feel fairly confidence in praying.
You’d be wrong. I most often describe myself as a prayer failure. Prayer, as much as I believe how necessary and beautiful it is in the life of a follower of Christ, does not come naturally or easily for me.
So, if that rings true for you as well I have some simple suggestions about ways to strengthen your prayer muscles and grow in confidence as you pray.
Three Suggestions for Gaining Confidence and Consistency in Prayer
Write your prayers.
I know, I’m a writer and you may not be. But when I say write your prayers, I don’t necessarily mean writing out paragraphs or even sentences. Some days I just make a list in my journal, lifting the names or situations to the Lord as I write. Writing out my prayers and prayer lists has helped me focus (which seems to be one of my mail problems when I pray — I’m easily distracted). And, I love going back through those lists later and seeing how God has worked in various situations I’ve prayed over.
Create prayer prompts.
There are countless ways to do this. You could set an alarm on your phone to remind you stop and pray each day. (I use the Breathe app on my watch. When I get that notification to stop and breathe, I also use that minute to pray.) I’ve used objects as prayer prompts such as my whispering a prayer for my marriage when I put on my wedding ring. Maybe you want to use an activity as a prayer prompt. You could pray for your family as you load the dishwasher or fold clothes. It doesn’t really matter so much what your prompts are as it does that you use them to help you develop the habit of praying throughout your day.
Pray Scripture.
This is my number one suggestion to people. In fact, this is the main way I pray. I allow the Word of God to shape my prayers. Below are some images from the Minute Meditations I share each morning that will illustrate how I take verses I read and form prayers from them. Pray what you are studying or reading in the Bible. Allow Scripture to give you direction about what and how to pray.
Prayer is vital to the life of a believer. But we all struggle sometimes to feel confident in our prayers, to know what and how to pray, to understand what a prayerfulness looks like in the middle of our hurried lives. I hope these three ideas help energize and improve your prayer life. Be sure to follow me on Instagram and/or Facebook for a Minute Meditation every morning.
xoxo, Teri Lynne
Leave a Reply