Praying Deep in Real Life

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Five minutes somehow turns into 20. A quick check of Facebook and the next thing I know I’ve wasted nearly half an hour I had planned for something else. Or, I sit down to watch my favorite show on TV, but end up watching two or three. Not just a half hour break, but now two hours gone and it’s time for bed.

Does this sound familiar? We’re all so busy and the days just seem to slip away. How do we find time to add anything new, even if it’s important?

As I stepped into this series on prayer, I worried how would I find the time to really dig deep and experience the prayers. I wanted to know them well before I wrote about them, yet I didn’t think I could find the time to commit. I knew it would take a commitment of 20-30 minutes of daily prayer at least, but I typically only have a few minutes here and there for prayer (often as I’m driving). I knew I’d need a quiet place and time to focus and listen for God, yet my house is always abuzz. How could I practically improve my real life prayer time?

How we spend our time is a reflection of our priorities

We’re all busy, but how we spend our time is a matter of choice and priority. Somehow I make time to check Facebook and email regularly. I make time to catch my favorite shows on TV. So, why couldn’t I make time to spend with God in prayer? Isn’t He so much more important than Facebook or TV?

I had to be intentional about setting aside time for prayer, making an appointment with God. For me, it’s been a half hour in the early morning, before the rest of house is awake. I took this from my morning writing time, but I knew starting the day with prayer would be so much more important.

So, what will you choose? How will you be intentional about your real life prayer time? Maybe not a half hour, but what time can you commit to an appointment with God?

Be purposeful about prayer to maintain God’s purpose for your life

Jesus gives us a good example of praying deep the night he prayed in the garden of Gethsemane. Here he prayed his most fervent prayers. He prayed for quite a while that night, probably several hours as we see him admonish the disciples three times for falling asleep.

What did Jesus pray about for so long? I’m sure he covered a lot with God that night, but the point of that night’s prayer was to accept God’s will as his own.

“My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:39)

Isn’t that what our prayers should be too? Even when we bring our requests to God, the request really is to bring our hearts in line with God’s plans around each of those requests and to help us be open to His answers.

“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26:41)

We also learn from Jesus why it’s so important we stay grounded in prayer and continue to pray deep. As much as we want to follow Jesus and live according to God’s will, it’s hard and we’re faced with temptations every day. We need to stay in prayer to help us be focused on God’s purpose for our lives.

What does “Pray Deep” look like for me?

As we conclude the Pray Deep series, I thought I’d share a glimpse of how I’ve been using these prayers. I discovered I pray better when I use different methods. These different experiences and utilizing different senses and thought patterns keep me engaged and listening for God’s word in fresh ways.

I like praying from the week’s lectionary scriptures, so I’ll often start the week by looking up the verses and reading through them. It gives me a chance to pray through the scriptures before I hear them in church, which I’ve found enhances my Sunday morning experience.

Some mornings I’ll write prayers from the scriptures or journal what I’m hearing from God through the verses.

Another morning I may decide to pray through doodles or color a mandala. This is one of my favorites. I may write out verse from the day before, phrase by phrase, committing its words to my heart. Or I may write out my prayer requests and spend time praying over each of them.

Maybe the following morning I’ll walk the labyrinth. I have one printed on paper to do a virtual walk. I trace the path with my finger and allow God to speak to my heart.

Some mornings I’ll just sit with my prayer request list and pray over each name and each need.

No matter the method I choose for my daily prayer, I’ll always pray over the names on my prayer request list and then usually close with a prayer from the Book of Common Prayer. I have a selection of them printed as prayer cards and I’ll rotate through them.

During the day, I’ll sometimes use prayer prompts to integrate prayer into my daily routine. I’d like to get back to praying the Examen in the evenings, so maybe that’ll be my next goal…

Through this discipline of prayer and exploring different ways to pray, I’ve transformed my view of prayer and grown my relationship with God. I look forward to my morning prayer time and often wish I had more time for prayer. I find that prayer has become intertwined throughout the rest of my day, a part of who I am.

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My challenge to you is this. If I can set aside time for prayer, then so can you! How will you be intentional and choose time for God?

Your real life prayer time will look different than mine. It may be at a different time of day, for more or less time, with different choices for prayer methods. If you’ll be intentional, though, and commit to pray deeper, I think you’ll also find a renewed relationship with God and a deeper love of prayer.

PRAY DEEP CHALLENGE: Decide how you will make prayer a focus. How will you carve out time for prayer and take your real life prayer life to the next level? Start today!

Resources:

Like this post? Explore this and other forms of prayer through the Pray Deep prayer journals. Each book will lead you through a variety of prayer methods through 21 days of focused prayers. Get started with one today!

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This post is part of the “Pray Deep” series. For more information on the series or to download a complete set of printable prayer cards, click HERE.