Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
The first time I remember hearing a sermon on this verse I was in college. I thought this literally meant to be praying all the time. I know, I know, I had a lot to learn about Jesus. But, I remember thinking, “I have to go to class.” I am no longer that confused college student and my faith has grown tremendously since then. Now, I have a much deeper understanding of who God is and what God wants my prayer life to look like. So for you, here are a couple ways to get into the rhythm of praying without ceasing and establishing your prayer life.
Pray First
Let prayer be your “go to,” your default, your automatic response. It doesn’t have to fancy, long, or detailed. Short and sweet is a great place to start. Maybe you just pray “help me, Jesus,” “I need you Jesus,” or “what do I do Jesus?” We aren’t trying to impress anyone, just trying to shift our focus to Jesus. So, the next time something goes wrong, opt to pray and not complain.
Create an attitude of prayer
Try to turn your worrying into praying. The Bible says not to worry about anything but to cast your cares on him. It also says to take every thought captive and make it obedient. When you shift from worrying to praying that is what you are doing. Having a thought, taking it captive and turning it into a prayer and giving it to God. This takes practice and is not natural as we humans normally have significantly more negative thoughts than positive. But, you can do it.
Create an outline for your prayers
Most productive meetings have an agenda, an outline, or a plan. This is something that I desperately need to stay focus. I frequently have closed my eyes and started praying, only to wake up ten minutes later having fallen asleep. I created my TAG prayer outline, which you can find here. This has helped me tremendously with staying focused and has increased my confidence when praying out loud.
Set up a Prayer Wall
Mine is in my closet. It is a visual clue, reminder, or signal that I need to pray. On my prayer wall you will find things that I am believing for, bible verses, people that have asked me to pray for them and numerous short prayers at I always need to be praying. This way I can pray while getting ready in the morning, pray while putting up clothes, pray while changing into work out clothes, basically every time I walk into my closet I am reminded to pray.
Write some prayers
This has grown my faith the most. Writing my prayers leaves a written record of what God has done for me. I can look back, see my prayers and remember how God answered them. These prayers are also useful when you don’t have words, when the storms of life are raging and you don’t know what to pray. Just read the prayers and call out to God.
Let me know if you need any extra tips setting up your prayer wall or finding your prayer rhythm. I’ll do a post about my prayer wall in coming weeks.
Love it.