Have you ever fallen asleep praying?
Recently, my soul has been craving prayer, something that has become all too non-existent in my day-to-day life.
We all face days where we are desperate to hear God’s voice and to spend time in His presence via prayer yet become flustered at the thought of it or, when we start to pray, we end up falling asleep. It’s easy to lack prayerful consistency, confidence, and in the busy world that we live in today, prayer more often than not slips to the wayside and for some of us, becomes a forgotten art. Myself included.
I’ve whispered well-intended prayers that slowly trickled to nothing as I drifted off to sleep against my pillow, told someone I would pray for them but then forgot because I failed to write it down, and couldn’t sit still long enough to get past the five minute mark in my prayers when I do sit down to pray.
I’m not proud of this, but it is the truth, a truth that I’ve recently set about changing as I took a step back and examined the sad state of my prayer life. I’m confident that I am not the only young woman struggling to reap the spiritual benefits of a consistent prayer life, and I hope the tips that I’m about to share bless and encourages you to prayer more, with fervor, and to learn to enjoy and look forward to prayer.
- Make prayer a priority
It’s hard to be consistent in something that isn’t a priority in your life, so make it one. Set aside a certain time a day where you know you will have time (if you don’t, carve some in) to pray and be in touch with God. It might mean you have to spend some time away from the things you want to do, but that’s okay, because God should be at the center of your life before anything else. Let this be a reset and remind you of where your real priorities should be.
- Build your prayer toolkit
Praying the same prayer day after day can get exhausting and be a cause for less engagement and lack of discipline, so gather a lot of different prayer methods and rotate them around so you have fresh inspiration and tools to reach for when you feel like your prayer life is getting repetitive and for days when you feel more distracted.
Some ideas for this include:
- Prayer walks
- Silent prayers
- Praying through art with resources such as colouring books geared to help you pray as you create.
- Praying with music
- Praying through a passage of scripture
- Stop. Drop. And…Listen?
Don’t forget, prayer is a two-way conversation so set aside some time as you pray to just sit and listen for God. Sometimes His voice is a verse, a feeling of reassurance, or a song on the radio. Be alert and watch for ways He could be trying to speak to you!
- Write it down!
If you are still finding it hard to concentrate through prayer, that’s okay! Write it out, sometimes it’s easier to stay on task and focused when you are actively writing your prayers and thoughts out on paper. I did this for many years and have found great success with this method.
- Get accountability
To maintain long-term success, I find it helpful to find a prayer partner. Someone who will check in with you and make sure you are staying the course and that you can trust. Do what makes you comfortable and works for you.
I hope these tips were helpful for you and don’t forget to comment down below tools that you use (if any) to make prayer a more consistent part of your life.
Rebekah is a young writer and podcaster from Southern California who is a lover of all things books and Christ and has been writing and publishing articles on Christian living since the tender age of twelve. Her mission in life is to bring light to the darkness through the written word via fiction and nonfiction. She is the assistant manager of The Wilting Rose Project and hopes to inspire young ladies in their walk with Christ in a world where hope is hard to come by.
