I have spent most of my Christian life troubled by prayer. I hear stores of people who pray for hours on end and then think that I should be more like that. I think something is wrong with me when I don’t pray that long. People throw around quotes about Martin Luther and how he spend hours in prayer and the more busy he was the more time he spent in prayer. All of these things led to me feeling like something was wrong with me.

To be sure, I could have done a lot better in my prayer life, and I still could. But the reality is that prayer is hard. It isn’t natural to talk to someone who doesn’t talk back to us, who we cannot see, who speaks to us through a book though we speak to him in spoken words.

Prayer is no doubt important for Christians. It is the source of power in our lives and in the church. We should give high priority to it. But it is also something that is learned and must be taught. For years I wished someone who prayed well would invite me into their prayer life to see and hear how they pray.

So that is what I want to offer you. I have learned through a lot of failure and frustration some things that have helped me to have a more meaningful prayer life. I have also learned from successes. I have read countless books on the importance of prayer, but not many of them actually helped me learn how to be a better prayer.

I would like to invite you in the coming weeks to learn a little from my experiences. What you will learn isn’t so much about the right or wrong way to do things. This is about what has worked for me. If something helps you then I would encourage you to use it. If it doesn’t, well then that’s okay too. The point is to have a plan and stick to it!

Prayer has often been a struggle for me. I am easily distracted and my mind wanders. I have felt the burden to pray for some many things that I don’t know how to get them all prayed for. I have felt that it was selfish for me to pray for myself before praying with others. I have lived under the burden of feeling like I need to pray every day and that if I haven’t that God is disappointed with me.

I want to share a few thoughts with you that might help free you from some of these pressures if they have plagued you as they do me. But first…

I am going to strongly urge you to use a prayer journal. I cannot underestimate the value this has been to me. I use a digital journal on my iPad. I simply use the notes app and an Apple Pencil to write down items to pray for. You can do this any way you like. Use a tablet or your phone if that works for you. If you prefer to use paper then that is great too. If you are going to use paper then I would encourage you to have a paper journal, something to write with, and Post-It notes.

The Post-It notes might seem weird. However, a cluttered journal is hard to use. If you stick Post-It’s in your journal and wrote on those then it is easy to peel them out and start over as prayer needs change and as God answers your prayers.

Over the coming weeks we will set up several pages in your prayer journal. For now I would encourage you to get the supplies you need and then have them ready as we get them set up in the coming weeks.

With those things being said…

Let me share several thoughts with you that might encourage you in your prayer times…

• Know what works best for you

  I like to get up at 5:00 am and pray… but mornings aren’t for everyone. Jesus rose early to pray and so did the psalmist. I do think there is something to be said for starting your day out with prayer and Bible reading, but if that doesn’t work for you then figure out what does. Whatever time of day is your best, most focused time… give that to God. He deserves our best.

• Shoot for 5

  I have lived under the pressure of thinking that I was failing God if I didn’t pray and read my Bible every day. In an ideal world I would, but often times things get out of control. I shoot to pray and have my quiet times 5 days a week. This is usually doable and I end up less frustrated with myself.

• Don’t pray for everything every day

  I have 10 categories of things I pray for in my prayer journal. And every day that I pray I work through all 10. I do NOT, however, pray for everything on every list every day. I pray for one or two things on every list every day. I make a mark next to the things I prayed for today and when I have prayed for everything on a list then I start over again and erase marks as I go. But I don’t pray for everything and everyone every day.

• It isn’t selfish to pray for yourself first

  Often times we think we should pray for everyone else first and ourselves last because this is the selfless thing to do. The greatest thing you can offer your spouse, children, neighbors, co-workers, and church is a you that is right with God. I pray for myself early on in my lists and then I pray for others.

• Write things down

  The chief way that I keep myself from being distracted is to have a list in front of me of things that I am praying for. There’s a danger here as it becomes easy to just pray through the list without really meaning what you are praying. So be vigilant to be sincere in your prayers.

• Brief and Biblical, not lengthy and hollow

  Brief prayers that are biblical are better than long prayers that don’t mean anything. Check out Matthew 5 if this doesn’t sit right with you. God desires that our prayers reflect His heart. The prayers in the Bible are usually prayers that cling to the promises of God. Short prayers that are Scripture filled are far better thing lots of “God please bless…” There’s nothing wrong with asking God to bless people, but be specific about how you are asking Him to bless them.

• Give yourself some grace

  When you don’t pray like you want, or as often as you want, or something goes wrong… just give yourself some grace. When you get to end of long day and you hit the bed and haven’t got your prayer time in, then confess it to God, let it go, and go again tomorrow. But legalism is the sure fire way to kill you prayer life.

Get you supplies together and we will start this journey together. If you need help in any way please feel free to contact me at logan@trinitywallawalla.org.