Ever feel like your prayers need a wake-up call?
Sometimes we get too comfortable in how we pray. It’s too easy for us to fall into a pattern that looks more like routine than an intimate conversation with our Creator. Over time, our prayer life can become just another word ritual we could probably recite in our sleep.
We then wonder–Why’s God so distant? Why isn’t God listening? Why doesn’t God answer my prayer?
But we all know it’s not God. It’s our powerless prayer life. Here’s how you can wake up your prayer life in 3 easy steps:
1. Get Reacquainted
God hasn’t changed. God hasn’t packed His bags and moved away. Before you even begin to pray, remind yourself of who God is. Read scriptures about His goodness, His love, His forgiveness. Remind yourself of His power. God, the Creator of the Universe, holds all power within His mighty hand.
Not only does God gives us the privilege to pray, He wants us to. He wants to reveal Himself within our circumstances. He desires to be our provision. And He holds all the power to move the mountains in our lives, transform our thinking, and empower our everyday.
From time to time, we just need a reminder. Before prayer, take some time to read scriptures about who God is. If we could only realize the who in Who we serve, we’d never want to stop praying.
2. Turn off the Auto Pilot
Has your prayer life become monotonous speech? Do you find your prayer to be more of a check-off list than a conversation?
Stop and think about the words you choose when you pray. What do they mean? Why do you use them? God is real. He desires a real relationship. And we are His people.
God already knows your heart. He knows the real you.
He wants us to get real in our prayer life, too. Where else can we be more honest and real than before the One who knows our every thought?
As you pray, be real. And allow your words to come from a place of reality, tossing the stale words for words with meaning. God hears the prayers of our hearts and He responds to our sincerity.
3. Stop Focusing on Your Problems
Just as with our check-off prayers, sometimes we find ourselves just listing off all our needs, worries, and wants. As if God is Santa Claus.
Imagine your daily conversations with family and friends. What would life be like if the people around you only spoke to you about their needs? Beginning with, “Good morning” or “Hello Dear,” what if every person in your life then proceeded to hand you a list of all the things they needed or wanted from you–and just like that, with a quick “Have a good day,” they were gone?
Real relationships don’t work that way. Yet, how many times do we pray to God with only a list of demands–handing Him our list and then we’re on our way to offer the rest of our daily word count to others around us?
When we begin realizing the power behind Who He is, we’ll throw away our ready made list and fall on our knees in powerful prayer.
What about you?
How do you keep your prayer life active and awake to hear His calling?