5 Practical Steps to Strengthen Your Prayer Life

“Prayer is not an exercise, it is the life.”

My girlhood summers were spent at the pool. Our family always bought the family passes.  My brother, sisters, and mom would spend hours up on the hill. It overlooked our small town and cemetery. The cool blue water called to me on the hottest of days. I loved swimming across the length and breadth of the pool. It wasn’t a coincidence “The Little Mermaid” came out when I was in elementary school.

I often wished I could breathe under water. My brother and I would have contests to see who could hold their breath the longest. I would stay under the surface until my lungs burned and my eyes stung from the chlorine. I let the feelings of suffocation only take me so far. It wasn’t scary because I knew at any moment I could hop back up into the sunlight and breathe again.

During a season of waiting we wish we could pop out of this murky water of uncertainty into the sunlight and breathe again.  Our seasons of standstill feels like we are holding our breath. We want to move forward, but we can’t. We just wish we were on the other side. We know waiting has a purpose. We know He is with us in the darkness. But we long to to just breathe again.

We can. Even in a season of waiting, we can live in the sunlight……prayer.

Our thinking about prayer, whether right or wrong, is based on our own mental conception of it. The correct concept is to think of prayer as the breath in our lungs and the blood from our hearts. Our blood flows and our breathing continues “without ceasing”; we are not even conscious of it, but it never stops…..Prayer is not an exercise, it is the life of the saint. – Oswald Chambers (May 26)

Prayer is that mysterious method of communing with God. To stand in the very throne room of our Majestic God and speak to Him. To cry to Him with knees on the ground in sorrow and pain. Whisper it. Shout it. Write it. Speak it. Prayer is our very breathing in of our faith and exhaling all of the worship He deserves.

Prayer is how we begin to live again in our season of waiting. Prayer should be as common to us as breathing. Not just a ritual, but to form a relationship. A friendship. Our prayer should begin with worship. Praise and adoration. Prayer should move into confession. Confess our doubts. Our worries. Our sin. Then lifting our hearts to Him. Pour out the struggles and hidden heartaches. He listens, and loves. Prayer is the ability to breathe underwater! It brings light into the darkness of the waiting.

Here are some practical steps in strengthening your prayer life.

1. Find a plan. I’ve gathered a few Prayer Plan Resources  for you. Print the PDF here.

2. Buy a journal. Any notebook will work, but I LOVE this one by RootedInk. I’ve also created this prayer journal page if you would like to print your own..

3. Start today. Just begin right now.

4. Pray no matter your feelings. One of the main reasons we make excuses for not praying is because of our feelings. If we wait until our feelings are perfect we will never pray.

5. Write your prayers. I encourage you to write out your prayers. Maybe just part of your prayer, or just requests. Either way, keep a journal of prayer.

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What is your prayer life like? In what ways can you improve it?

I’d love to hear your prayer tips!

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