8 Keys to Developing a Consistent Prayer Life
It’s the beginning of the year and many of us are ready for a change. The beginning of the year affords us the opportunity to address areas of our lives that we want to be different. One of the areas people want to grow in is consistency in prayer. I believe enjoyment in prayer is a key to consistency. We simply won’t continue to do things we don’t enjoy. Hopefully this blog will help you grow in enjoyment of prayer so that you can maintain and grow in a consistent prayer life.
1) Set a Daily Time and Place – Treating prayer as an appointment that you are committed to, like you would for the doctor, work, or team, is critical to consistency. I have found a 5-day prayer schedule works well for me. This doesn’t mean that I don’t pray the other days of the week. It’s just that my personality functions best when I have a portion that is scheduled and a portion that is flexible. The key is to get your prayer time on your schedule like any other commitment and keep it. Plan your prayer time first and then build the rest of your schedule around it. This is critical to consistency.
2) Study who God Is – Growing in the knowledge of God is a sure way to grow in desire and intimacy in prayer. Look up scriptures and listen to teaching that focuses on His nature and emotions. Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father”. If you know Him deeply as Father, you will be compelled to spend time in His loving and comforting embrace. Our prayer language should be built on biblical language. One of the key prayers I pray is from Eph 1:17-21, that God would give me the “Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.” I cannot express how critical growing in the knowledge of Him is to developing a consistent life of prayer.
3) See Prayer as Intimacy – I know many are in favor of using prayer lists. I have used prayer lists over the years, sometimes more and sometimes less. For me, a prayer list tends to turn into a dutiful transaction, rather than a time of intimate connection. For me it’s kind of like reducing my communication with my wife to our family to-do list instead of us sharing our hearts with one another. Being together is the point of prayer, not getting something done. Jesus desires closeness with you. When you come to Him at your time and place of prayer, settle your heart before Him with the knowledge that you are with Him. Let that be the goal and let the specifics of your requests come from that closeness.
4) Incorporate Worship – When we pray and worship together we touch the biblical model of the throne room which continues in unabated worship night and day. Worship and prayer use the same language and have the same object, closeness with Jesus. Prayer is about communication that brings communion. The difference in telling God how beautiful He is and asking Him to manifest His beauty and nature in my life is negligible. Singing is a productive and helpful tool in prayer. Erase the line in practice between worship and prayer and let worship and prayer flow together seamlessly from your heart. You will find a new place of enjoyment and intimacy.
5) Learn the Bible Prayers – When I began to study the New Testament prayers (there are 40+ apostolic prayer, benedictions, and doxologies) my prayer life took on a completely different trajectory. I came more in touch with God’s desires and heart. His words are the most prophetic words there are. Learning to pray His own words back to Him is revolutionary. We have confidence in prayer when we know He hears us (1John 5:14). If we pray according to His will we know we have the answers for what we’ve asked (1John 5:15). What better way to pray and grow in the confidence of prayer than to pray His words back to Him and know that we have the answers we have asked of Him. When we’re confident in prayer we will be consistent in prayer.
6) Incorporate Silence – Perhaps the most foundational and important part of my prayer life is the time I spend in silence. Whether I’m meditating on a bible verse, God’s attributes and beauty, or just sitting silently before Him, I can say without a doubt that my times in silence are the absolute key to my prayer life. It’s not the times I’m asking Him for things that matter most, it’s the time I spend silently engaging Him that have been the most transformational in my life.
7) Pray in Tongues – If silence is the foundation of my prayer life, praying in tongues is the glue. Romans 8:26 teaches that the Spirit prays through us with words that are unintelligible to our minds but are the perfect will of God. 1 Cor 14:2 says the same. Paul expressed that He wanted the believers to all pray in tongues (1 Cor 14:5) I have found that praying in tongues connects me to the heart and mind of the Lord by the Spirit in prayer as quickly as anything. Sometimes I pray in tongues to get my heart and mind aligned with the mind of the Spirit. While incorporating meditating on the word, and sitting in silence, praying in the Spirit has been incredibly important for me to have a vibrant and consistent prayer life.
8) Use a Prayer Plan – I like to set a plan for my times of prayer. This is not the same as a prayer list but may function similarly for some. Once I set my specific time for prayer, I plan how I am going to spend my time. If I am going to pray from 8am – 9am my plan may look like this:
8:00 – 8:15 – Silent mediation
8:15 – 8:30 – Pray in tongues
8:30 – 8:45 – Worship
8:45 – 9:00 – Intercession (Make requests for whatever the Lord puts on my heart)
A simple prayer plan like this has proven to be a helpful tool for me. I think of it similarly to going to the gym, if I don’t have a workout plan, I may make it to the gym but it’s hard to make any progress without a plan.
I hope these keys are helpful for you. Don’t feel like you need to use all of them. Incorporate them in a way that is helpful for you. There is not one right way to pray. The most important part of prayer is being with Jesus. When you are with Him, His beauty will touch your heart and you will be transformed into His image (2 Cor 3:18). Being with Him is the key. I pray your prayer life becomes more consistent this year than you’ve ever experienced and that His presence fills your life in a fresh and new way.