We are all creatures of habit who get stuck in ruts, even when it has to do with what should be the most exciting relationship in our lives — our relationship with God Himself. Here are some ideas to incorporate into your regular prayer life to deepen your reliance on God in prayer.
Prayer walk.
The name is self-explanatory but what this entails is literally praying aloud (or silently) as you walk! This can be very casual and conversational with the Lord as you pray for things that come to mind while you are in the vicinity of your kids’ school, playgrounds, your work, or the community in general. Pray that God’s kingdom is advanced at each location.
Assign prayers to daily tasks and rotate periodically.
Think of several things you do every day, such as putting away dishes, meal prep, and taking a shower. Assign each of these tasks something specific to pray for, and pray during that activity. For example, pray for a certain neighbor when unloading the dishes or for your husband’s work while taking a shower.
Find a list of things you are passionate about and pray through those things regularly.
For instance, here’s a list of seven things to pray for your children. Assign one for every day of the week. Compassion International provides a prayer calendar each month so you can pray for specific needs of children and communities around the world.
Assign each day of the week to a certain “prayer theme.”
Some ideas may include praying for your church, small group, missions/missionaries you may know, international/national/local leadership, your community, lost people you may know, etc.
At a specific time of the day, pray for a specific thing.
For instance, at the time your child was born, pray a certain thing for him or her. Or, at 10:37 pray that no human relationships would take precedence over your love and allegiance to Christ (Matthew 10:37). Pray at 10:02 that the Lord would send more laborers out into the harvest (Luke 10:2).
Use associations to help bring to mind things to pray about.
Someone I know shared with me that every time she is folding her kids’ underwear, she prays for purity. Often when I’m at the playground with my daughter, I pray for godly friendships for her and that she would be a good friend to others. If you go to a farmers’ market or a park, pray on the way that you will have interactions there that would lead to gospel conversations. While you clean your house, pray for a hospitable attitude and for people to feel a sense of God’s presence while in your home.
Set alarms to remind you to pray throughout the day.
And force yourself to do it until it becomes habit. Then set them more often!
Pray through verses you are studying in your own time with the Lord.
This is a great way to reflect back to the Lord what you are learning in His word and to respond to His promises in a statement of faith in Him through prayer. Depending on the passage, you could put yourself in the main character’s shoes, paraphrase the passage you are reading and pray that back to God, or pray Scripture directly for yourself and others.
Praying through the Psalms.
Start at the beginning of the book and make your way through the Psalms, possibly praying one a day. Certain Psalms will resonate more with you depending on the circumstances of life, but try your best to make them your own heart’s cry. It may also help to summarize the Psalm before you begin praying to have an idea of the general sense of the Psalmist’s cry.
Pray with others.
Start or join a prayer group once a week or once a month to pray toward a specific goal. For instance, gather to pray for your community, leaders in your church, your school board, and for your kids in public school.
None of these are a magic equation for more intimacy with God, but as you make an effort to be nearer to Him by crying out to Him throughout the day, He will most certainly respond.
PSST! Be sure to Pin this article for a great graphic you can easily refer to on Pinterest!
