Today’s guest blogger is author Lori Hatcher.
Sometimes prayer is boring.
There. I said it. Are you shocked? I’m just being honest here. And if you’re honest, you’ll probably agree. As lofty and magnificent as it is to pray to the God of the universe, if we do it often enough, sometimes our prayer times can grow a little, well, stale.
Several years ago, during a season of unemployment, my husband, David, and I started walking together in the mornings. In all our 30-plus years of marriage, we’ve never had schedules that allowed time to exercise together, but for three months we walked for an hour every morning. While we walked, we prayed.
After a few weeks, I noticed we were praying the same prayers, in the same order, for the same people, day after day. I knew repetition was necessary, but boredom was not. We put our heads together and brainstormed ways to infuse new life and joy into our times of intercession.
Whether you pray regularly with a partner or alone, these three practices can help jazz up your prayer time.
1) Use the alphabet to praise God.
David and I began most of our prayer times by praising God. Reminding ourselves of who God is reminds us that He is quite capable of answering our prayers and working on our behalf. Using the alphabet, we listed a character quality or attribute of God for every letter (X is tough). Then we turned each attribute into something for which to praise Him.
The psalmist prayed, “My mouth is filled with your praise, declaring your splendor all day long” (Psalm 71:8).
2) Use the alphabet to pray for people.
Like chronicling the attributes of God with the ABCs, praying for people using the alphabet can also take your prayer time in a fresh new direction. Use the sequence of letters to prompt you to pray for a person whose name (first or last) begins with that letter.
3) Pray for people for whom you don’t regularly pray.
The only rule for this prayer approach is that you can’t have prayed for the person recently. Ask God to bring people to mind, and then pray for them as the Spirit leads you. When my husband and I pray this way, we’re always amazed at the people who pop into our minds— friends we went to church with 20 years ago, other people’s children, even patients of mine (from my work as a dental hygienist).
Trusting that the Lord knows these people need special prayer, we lift each one to the Lord. We’ll probably never know how God used our prayers, but we can be confident that He took note of them and answered their needs appropriately.
God calls us to prayerful persistence, and often such repetition can be a little dull. Thinking creatively and mixing up our routine every now and then can renew our enthusiasm. If your prayer life needs a spark, try one of these ideas or brainstorm one of your own.
Adapted from Refresh Your Prayers, Uncommon Devotions to Restore Power and Praise by Lori Hatcher
