Praying with Purpose: 5 habits to make the most of your prayer time.

I believe in the power of prayer.  I believe by praying to God things happen.  Families are healed.  People are set free.  Chains do break.  Lightness breaks through darkness.  Wholeness replaces brokenness.  Hope rises from the ashes of despair.  Life comes back into lethargic situations and dead circumstances.   Lives change all because of prayer.   

Do you believe this? Have you seen the power of prayer in your own life or in someone else’s life?  When you see your praying impact you or someone else, you will notice your faith will rise. Your confidence in God grows stronger.  Your trust in Him increases. 

Or maybe you have never seen the results of the power of prayer because you believe you just don’t know how to pray.  When you hear the term “prayer warrior” a few people come to mind that you know are strong pray-ers but you would not add yourself to that list.  Well today that is going to change!  I am going to show you five ways you can not only become a “pray-er” but a “prayer warrior” where you can pray with purpose and see the results from the power of prayer.
 

Praying can be done anywhere.  Jonah prayed in the belly of a whale.  David prayed in a cave.  Hannah cried out to God on the floor of the temple.  Jesus prayed in the mountains and in the wilderness.   I pray wherever I am when I feel led to pray by the Holy Spirit. Sometimes I pray at red lights, grocery check-out lines, in the laundry room, while cooking, in the living room chair when I wake up or in bed before going to sleep. Sometimes I pray in the carpool line at our children’s school.  There are times I pray with friends and others at church.  Praying can be done anywhere and it doesn’t always have to be long and wordy.  Actually I have found that getting to the point with God allows me to be honest and heartfelt while I am praying.  However, there are times where throwing up a few short sentences is not what is needed. There are times in life where I know I need to enter into prayer and press in for a certain situation or a specific person.  In these times, I have learned a few habits to make the most of my prayer time with God.

Below are five habits to learn to make the most of your prayer time.

1. A Place to Pray. Set apart a place to pray.  I am married with 8 children (six live at home).  I have daily distractions.  There are times when I need to pray but with all life responsibilities calling for my attention it is almost impossible to check out and enter a prayer closet and pray.  So during these times I look at my calendar and what needs to be done that day and then I am intentional about setting apart a place and time to pray.  It can be done.  It may be waking up a little earlier than normal or praying a little later when everybody has gone to bed.  Whatever it looks like it can be done.  

2. Your Motive. Check your heart and motive.  Before praying to God make sure you have the right motive to pray.  For example, you would obviously have a wrong motive if you came before the Lord because you are so mad at this person that deceived you and now you want to pray and ask God to kill them J.  Yes, I am exaggerating a little but you get the point.  We don’t want harm to come to people.  We want our heart to be moved by the Spirit.  We want our circumstance to change.  We can be upset, hurt and mad at a person or a situation but let’s follow the example of Jesus and clothe our self in humility and love and then we can pray and know God does hear your prayer.   

3. Petition God.  You are coming to God in prayer for a reason.  To petition God is simply to make a request, to ask Him with deep sincerity.  Tell Him your desire.  This is the time to be honest and heartfelt and let God know your heart’s plea. 

4. Thank God.  Don’t forget to thank Him while in prayer.  When we thank God before we see the answer to our prayer, this tells God, “Lord, I believe that You heard me.  I trust You in this situation.”  There is something powerful about thanking God for what He is going to do before we actually see it happen.  So go ahead and get in the habit of thanking God when you pray.

5. Praise and Worship God.  While you are thanking God for all He is doing, praise Him for Who He is, the Lord of lords and the King of kings.  Show God adoration with your words.  Love Him and praise Him with your lips.  I’ll shout praises from my mouth and lift my chin high to Him.  Sometimes I start clapping for the Lord.  Don’t be timid in prayer instead replace bashfulness with boldness and courage.  The Lord loves when you talk with Him and seek Him. 


One of my favorite verses in the bible is, “For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of Him.”  Hannah poured out her heart to the Lord. Hannah prayed with purpose and God answered.   

Did this help you see that praying is easier than you thought?