My Prayer Life

Last week in our small group for church, we discussed our prayer lives. How often do we pray? What types of things do we pray about? What do we struggle with in regards to prayer? What do we believe about prayer?

I walked away from that meeting, knowing that I want to "beef up" my prayer life. There are some ways I just want to grow more spiritually when it comes to prayer. Specifically, I want to focus on these areas:

+ Pray more often. 

In 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, Paul tells us to pray without ceasing.

I go through seasons with my prayer life and how often I pray. At times I pray a lot, all throughout the day, just having an on-going conversation with God. Other times I become more routine, praying only before meals, before study time, and maybe one or two quick prayers throughout the day as things come up. At this point in life, I'm in the latter stage. (Though I do also pray when putting Grayson to bed at night and that is some of my best prayer time!)

+ Pray more passionately.

I don't want my prayers to just be routine, or just be idle chit-chat with God. Both of those things are good. It's good to have a routine of praying before meals and bedtime. It's good to chat with God about the everyday things in your life. But it's also good to pray deeply. To seek God fervently and earnestly. To set aside time to really devote to hearing from God. To quiet the world around you and focus on Him. When times get rough, to not just pray that God be with me, but to call out to God with all the emotions of my heart, just like the Psalms in the Bible. When things are going well, to not just say a quick thank you, but to shout in joy to God, to dance, to sing, to really worship Him. 

+ Pray with more faith.

Sometimes I pray for people and certain situations with no real hope of my prayers being answered. Or I don't pray for something because I don't think it will help. I may not pray for healing in a seemingly hopeless situation. I may not pray for salvation for someone who seems like a lost cause. I'm hesitant to do it because I don't want to be let down. I don't want God to disappoint me. But the thing is, we are given power through the Holy Spirit to proclaim victory over certain situations through Jesus Christ. We can pray for healing with certainty that God will heal. This is hard for me. It's not that I don't believe God can do these things. I just have a hard time believing that it's 100% for sure going to happen. Because maybe it's not His will. Maybe a different outcome is better for some unknown reason. Or maybe He's just waiting for us to have a little more faith. This is probably the toughest area for me to work on. But the cool thing is, if I do the first two things, it will help me do this third thing. 

So, how am I going to work on these three areas? I know routine can be the death of passion, but for me, I thrive on routine. Routine motivates me and gives me a sense of calm in a chaotic world. So, while I don't want my prayer life to be nothing but part of a routine, I do want to use a routine to facilitate it. So, I have devised a plan.

For the next three weeks, I am praying for a specific person, situation, or large-scale issue each day. I have already written it out in my planner. Sometimes I get overwhelmed by all the things I want to pray about, and it becomes so overwhelming that I just give up and shut down. Instead of praying for just a few of the many needs in this world, I don't pray for any because it feels like too much to sift through. This list has allowed me to pull out a few of the things and people that have been on my heart lately. Today I am praying for my dear friend and previous co-worker Linda, who is suffering from terminal cancer. 

Not only do I have a plan for who/what I'm praying for, but I've determined when I'm going to pray with more focus. I've decided that when I pump at work (which is three times a day), I will close out all the windows on my computer (rather than using that time to catch up on blogs and Facebook!) and spend that time praying with passion and faith. I've been using my prayer journal (pictured above) to write down the prayers, which helps me stay focused. By praying for the same person/thing multiple times a day, I'm forced to go beyond the simplistic "God, be with her" and get more specific. I've found that my passion and faith is growing with each prayer! :) I've also found that if I keep that person in mind all day, I'm likely to say quick little conversational prayers throughout the day as well. Of course I still do my usual prayers, but this makes sure that I allow time to pray for something/someone beyond that. And not every day is praying for something or someone. Some days I'm just praying about my relationship with God, my thankfulness for Jesus, etc...

In addition to this, I've dedicated myself to praying every single day for the sweet baby of a girl I went to high school with. He has not been born yet, but they already know he has a heart condition and will likely need extensive surgeries after birth. I'm praying for miracles, and trying to pray with faith that full healing WILL take place! I have no set time for this prayer, but it's on my heart and I've been making time for it throughout the day, each and every day.

What about you? What do you struggle with in your prayer life? How do you maintain a powerful and personal relationship with Jesus through prayer? I would love to hear!