4 Simple Steps To A More Vibrant Prayer Life

Prayer can be hard. The vast majority of people I know would say they wish they were "better" at it (i.e. took it more seriously and prayed more consistently).

Even as a pastor, this has been my story. But earlier this year after being inspired yet again by someone who prayed well, I decided I didn't just want to be inspired by others, I wanted to actually do something about it.

I'm still learning as I go, but I can at least say I really do pray now. At least more intentionally and earnestly than I did before. And so below are four simple steps I took that have vastly improved my prayer life.

1. Ask a few people around you for one or two specific things you can be praying for

To get started, simply reach out to a few people and ask one or two things you can specifically be praying for them for. I have found it to be helpful to be intentional about only asking for one to two things, so don't overlook that part!

It's not that you shouldn't pray for more than two things, but giving people a specific (and small number) makes it more likely for people to share their most pressing needs. Simply asking "how can I be praying for you?" can be too open-ended.

Once you have done that for a few weeks, you'll likely find people will be more willing to share what they are really needing prayer for once they see you are actually praying for them and not just asking to be nice.

As you slowly ask more people you may then find you need to get a bit more organized.

2. Create a written list of prayer needs

There are different apps or ways you could do this, but for me, I have found Google Sheets work best. It's not ideal for how I would want it to work, but it is the best way I have found to organize it (and I can edit it on my phone or computer).

I currently have 8 different tabs divided up as follows:

• Family
• Personal
• New City Church
• People (people I am praying for, this list is the longest)
• Acts 29 (our church planting network)
• Salvations (people I am praying would trust in Christ)
• Los Chilitos (our partner church in Guatemala)
• Churches (other churches local to Raleigh and elsewhere I am praying for)

On each tab/sheet, I list out everything I am praying for. It's an easy way to keep track of everything and to follow up with people and see how things are going.

To be clear, I did not start out with eight tabs. I started with one and then realized I it was praying all over the place. So start with one list or tab, and add more as you see fit.

3. Pray through your list and move to the next item when you get distracted

This is the key. All of us get distracted while praying and then feel guilty about how we can't seem to focus.

The benefit of having a list of things to pray for is the moment you get distracted you simply move to the next item. What if you can only go ten seconds before losing focus? That's ok. I'll take someone praying for me for ten seconds every day over nothing any day of the week.

Like any discipline, extended and intentional prayer takes practice. At the end of the day it's not even about the list, it's about spending time with God and loving those you are praying for.

I started with ten minutes a day. At first, it seemed like a lot, then I found myself at least finishing the "tab" I was on when my ten minutes were up. You have actually have a plan for how you are going to pray, it becomes much easier to do.

4. Commit to pray over that list for a brief amount of time each day

When I first started, I simply set aside 10 minutes every day (Monday - Friday) to pray through the list. The next day, I just started where I left off.

Ten minutes may sound like a lot until you realize that's only twenty people/things you am praying for if you spend 30 seconds on each one. That's the benefit of your list. Spending a few seconds on each one, it becomes quite doable.

But the amount of time is irrelevant. Start with five minutes or just two minutes. The goal is to build the habit and discipline of prayer.

This method is not the only or even the best way to go about praying, but it's something. At the end of the day Jesus wants our hearts, not our tasks. And I have found this to be a simple way to ensure that I am following the way of Jesus by being intentional in prayer.

The truth is something is better than nothing. I have found this practice to really help my prayer life. I still have a ways to go, but this is a practical step I have taken that has deepened my relationship to the Lord and my love for others. After all, the more you pray for people the more you genuinely care about how they are doing.

And when people tell me how I can pray for them I genuinely do it, which is pretty neat too.