Do you pray regularly? Or do you want to learn how to pray more often? Learning how to pray consistently is so important.
God stresses the importance of prayer so much in The Bible that He even goes to the lengths of commanding us (through Paul) that we are to pray persistently (Romans 12:12) and without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
But sometimes prayer becomes a plan B, or we simply forget to pray. But developing a habit of prayer is essential for your walk with God. Because it’s your line of communication with Him. And you need Him in everything you do — we all do! Plus, it can also help you to learn how to pray more often over your children too!
So here are some tips and tools that can help you to pray more consistently and to develop a habit of prayer that sticks.
Have a designated prayer time
While praying all throughout the day is great, it can also be easy to forget when life gets busy. So setting aside at least one time throughout the day to have quiet time with God and to specifically pray can be a great way to get into the habit of prayer. Pick a time that will allow you to have a lot of quiet and stillness with God. Then continue to pray throughout the day, but this way you will have at least one time in the day that you are sure to come before the Lord.
Use prayer prompts
Sometimes the problem you might find with not praying enough is sort of drawing a blank about what exactly to pray for. It’s not like there isn’t an abundance of things that need to be prayed for, it’s just that when you’re in the moment you tend to forget what all of those things are. And this is where prayer prompts can really help. You can make a list of prayer prompts yourself, or even try out the ones I have for your husband, children, self, Church, the world, etc within my printable (PDF) Prayer Journal Binder. Here are some other great options too:
Set up a prayer planner
Another great way to designate what you want to pray about in an effort to learn how to pray consistently is to setup a prayer planner. This can even be used in conjunction with your prayer prompts. Or you can just plan out what things you want to focus on during your prayer time throughout the week/month. You can set up your own using a regular calendar, or also check out the prayer planner pages I’ve created for you in my Prayer Binder (printable PDF). And here are some more prayer planner options you can consider:
Set a reminder on your phone
If you want to learn how to pray consistently throughout the day, then another option would be to set up a reminder on your phone to go off every “x” amount of time. You don’t have to necessarily do this forever, but it might be a good way to initially get into the habit of praying frequently throughout the day. Just be realistic here. Don’t set your timer to go off every 5 minutes because you will start to get annoyed and might even just turn it off. Try every hour or two at first, and then go from there.
Download a prayer request app
There are lots of great prayer request and reminder apps that you can get for your phone too! My favorite one is called Echo Prayer App for the iPhone. And there are lots of different options for managing your prayer requests. You can even set it up to remind you to pray for a random request or specific request at certain times. This can really take things up a notch from just simply setting a generic reminder!
Hang prayers or prayer requests up
If you have certain prayers or prayer requests that are very important to you, then going to the lengths of hanging them up in a place you see frequently might be a good idea. Like you could hang your prayer and/or requests up on your bathroom mirror, or even on the dashboard in your car so that during those moments you are mindlessly brushing your teeth or waiting in traffic you can remember to pray for them!
Have pre-written prayers on hand
When you’re drawing a blank or just don’t know what to say, then having a book of thoughtfully and prayerfully pre-written prayers on hand, or even some prayer cards like the ones I have in my shop, can help. Just pull out a prayer that is relevant to what is going on with you in your life or whatever is on your mind, and pray it. Just remember to really think and consider the words as you pray, so that they aren’t just something you’re reading, but also something you’re meditating on, and that you really mean the words you’re praying.
Start a prayer journal
Alongside that prayer planner I mentioned earlier, starting a prayer journal can also really help you to develop a habit to pray consistently. Within a prayer journal you can write out your own prayers, journal prayer ideas, write out requests, and more. And the right prayer journal can really help you to dive deeper into your prayer life.
I also have a printable (PDF) Prayer Journal that is completely customizable to your needs. Click here to learn more about it. There are also lots to choose from on Amazon, Etsy, and more:
Find an accountability/prayer partner
Having your husband, friend, or family member to come alongside you for support in your prayer efforts can make a big difference in your prayer life. Find someone that is reliable, trustworthy, and strong in their walk with God. So that you can have a strong prayer partner praying with you when needed, and someone that can hold you accountable as you grow in your prayer life.
Join a prayer group
Another way to gain accountability and pray more often, but not necessarily one-on-one, is to join a prayer group. A prayer group that meets regularly (in person or virtually) can help you to stay accountable, but also to get into a good habit of prayer. You can learn so much from how other people approach prayer and get fired up in your prayer life when you see other people so passionate about it as well.
Listen to the nudging of the Holy Spirit
The final tip I want to share that can help you to pray consistently is to listen to the nudging of the Holy Spirit. It can take a lot of practice to hear and feel God’s nudging, so don’t feel bad if you don’t right away. One tool that I love and have learned a lot from is the 4 Keys to Hearing God’s Voice by Mark and Patti Virkle, it can really help to learn how to discern God’s voice. But basically you want to pay attention to those random thoughts that pop through your head about something or someone to pray for. Sometimes it’s even just as simple as a person coming to mind randomly.
These kinds of thoughts are God trying to urge you to pray for someone or something. And it’s important to pray for these things immediately in the moment, even if it’s just a short silent prayer. If you think to pray about it more in depth later then that’s great, but don’t ignore the nudging in the moment either.
You can learn how to pray consistently!
Learning how to pray more often and frequently will strengthen your prayer life and walk with God so much. Plus, learning how to pray consistently will equip you to be able to teach your children to pray too! And there are a lot of great tips and tools out there than can help! I hope that this list has given you some ideas to get started. Now it’s time to come up with a game plan and get praying! 🙂
Learn how to pray more often with my printable Prayer Journal
As I’ve said above, having a prayer journal can really help you to pray more regularly and even more powerfully! If you’re ready to take your prayer life up a notch then you’ll definitely want to grab the printable Prayer Journal I created to help you do just that. It has (so far) 118+ pages and includes prayer planning tools, prayer prompts, lots of prayer journal page variations, multiple cover options, binder binding option, tabs, and more! Click here or the picture below to learn more about it.
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