Practical Steps for Building Prayer Habits

The youth group at the church I pastor has been talking about prayer over the last few weeks, and their conversation from last Sunday made for some solid, practical advice on prayer habits.

How do we build habits of prayer? What does it look like to become mature in our Christian discipleship in the place of prayer? How do we establish natural habits that keep us centered in prayer even when our schedules and our lives are in flux?

Here are some tips the youth group came up with:

1. Pick a Time

Most of our calendars are already full before we even turn the page to a new month. We schedule ourselves for work, schedule ourselves for trips, schedule ourselves for play and rest. But does daily prayer make it on our schedule?

Why not schedule daily prayer the same way we schedule lunch? If we truly believe that prayer is central to our health, central to what “success” actually means as a growing Christian, scheduling prayer simply makes sense.

I NEED to connect with God if I’m going to be at my best. I NEED to meet with God if I’m actually going to walk in the Spirit and be the best on the job, the best at the house, the best in the family, the best in my everyday relationships that I could possibly be…Why not schedule prayer?

Having a consistent time of prayer that we can set aside to intentionally seek God in prayer allows us to begin building habits in our lives that can help pull us back into the means of grace during those busy seasons. Do we have a scheduled prayer time? Is it part of our color-coded calendar?

2. Pick a Place

Us humans are not just rhythmic when it comes to time — we also have a thing for space. Certain places can carry sacred, set-apart meaning for us. These places also help our minds more fully enter that safe space of meeting with God.

Having a designated place where we daily pray — a quiet place where we can keep our “prayer tools” (such as a prayer journal and prayer book) — can become a grounding practice that builds healthy habits of “returning home” within us.

When picking a prayer place, it’s good to recognize where we find it difficult to pray. I find it difficult to engage God in intentional, devotional prayer in my office. Why? Because I have too much paperwork reminding me of all the to-dos on the table. I also find it difficult to intentionally pray in a devotional way in our family living room. I’ve noticed that, with littles still in the house, it’s hard to find that “closed-door” space to meet with God if I’m in an open-door location.

3. Pick a Pattern

A final practical tip that is often overlooked involves picking a simple and easy-to-follow pattern of daily prayer. For some people, this is as simple as daily praying through a short passage of Scripture. For others, this is more complex, involving a more robust prayer book.

There’s no need to overthink this practical step — but it is very important to think about.

A prayer pattern can be as simple as the following examples:

• Read Scripture - Pray through List - Write in Prayer Journal

• Daily Prayer Book - Daily Devotional - Intercession List - Song

• Psalm - Lectio Divina - Devotional Reading - Freeform Prayer

These are simple examples, and they all demonstrate a pattern. Having a pattern — an order we follow day after day — helps us establish consistent behaviors of prayer over time. These consistent behaviors eventually become habits.

Learning to Adapt

Sometimes, our habits will need to change. A mature disciple of Jesus Christ has developed rich tools for daily prayer that help them quickly rebuild habits of prayer when life flips things upside down.

For instance, what if my daily habit is to pray in the spare guest bedroom? What do we do when a guest stays for a week? Do we just stop praying?

What if my daily habit is to pray at 7:00 a.m. in the morning, but the baby suddenly starts waking up at this time? What if my habit is to pray after dinner, but I find that time constantly being interrupted by other demands of life? Do we just stop praying?

Or what if a certain pattern of prayer just ain’t working for us anymore? Do we just stop praying?

No! A mature Christian develops, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, certain tools that help push the “reset” button and quickly build new habits, adapting to whatever changes life brings.

But building habits is the aim. They help us stay consistent.
And consistency in the same direction is the essence of faithfulness.
And faithfulness is at the heart of holiness.
A little bit more like Jesus, one step at a time.