Lately I've been really convicted about my prayer life, or rather my lack of prayer life. I don't know what it is, but when life gets busy praying seems to be the first thing that slips my mind. The Bible tells us to pray about
everything (Philippians 4:6) and it's our direct communication route to God, so to say it is important is definitely an understatement.
To keep myself from falling into a lack of regular prayer slump I've developed three tricks...
1. If you find yourself getting distracted or lost in the middle of your prayers pull out your journal and
write it down. Sure it takes a bit more time, but it is an easy way to stay focused. It's also cool to look back at your prayers and see how they've been answered.
And on that note...
2. Write down the prayers you see answered! I used to get really discouraged because I felt like I didn't see God answering my prayers. I started keeping an "answered prayer log" in the back of my journal and I was surprised by how quickly the page filled up. It could be things that you specifically prayed for (like health or doing well on an assignment) or just little praise things (like it being sunny or a text from a friend that you haven't talked to in a while). Doing this has really opened my eyes to the different ways that God responds to our requests!
3. Keep a prayer calendar. Ok, this sounds weird and slightly confusing but all it is is a list of people/things to pray about - one for every day of the month. Write down 31 people or things that you want to pray for/about and keep it someplace that you will be able to find it again, then start praying. On day one, pray for the person/thing on day one and so and so on. I love this because it helps give me a purpose to my prayers. Sometimes I feel like I just ramble on and on, or I have
way to many people I could be praying about. Writing down a prayer list helps to focus my prayers and keeps me from getting overwhelmed.
I hope these tips help you out!
