Ten Tips for Breaking Prayerlessness
Praying is building a relationship with God. It's more than just a duty; it's talking to God. Here are some hints to help make prayer regular:
Deal with Lingering Sins and Personal Hindrances.
If you are struggling to change something in your life that you know God wants you to give up, bring it to God in prayer. Pray for the strength to change; pray for the desire to change; pray for the will to change.
Repent. Decide to obey and bring it to God for the grace to carry it out.
Challenge God for the power to deal with the sin.
Ask God for the answer or the way to overcome sin.
Mend Broken Relationships
Often, a broken relationship with another person may hinder one’s prayer life. Someone may have offended you or you may have offended someone else. Be quick to settle offenses so that you can pray with a free conscience. Do the following to mend a broken relationship quickly.
Forgive
Matthew 11:25 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
Seek forgiveness
Apologize
Matthew 5:23-24 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; 24Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.
Honor Spouse 1 Peter 3:7 Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.
Keeping an offense with someone is not worth being outside the presence of God. Treasure God’s presence, and so quickly settle offenses so that you can move on to enjoying God’s presence freely.
Practice to Immediately Bring Evil Reports, and Issues to God
The moment you hear negative news, receive a bad report, or face a challenging issue, bring the matter to God right away. Don’t allow the problem to bother your mind; often, it can press you down so that you lose the courage to pray about it. You remain in God’s peace when you bring matters to him right away, and it causes prayer to become a more natural occurrence in your life.
Pray the Scriptures.
Open to a prayer passage in the Bible and pray it to God ( Psalm 51, Psalm 105, Psalm 107, Daniel 9, Ephesians 1:17-23; Ephesians 3:14-21; Colossians 1:9-11).
For example, Psalm 51 is an example of confessing your sins to God and drawing closer to him. Other passages in the Psalms are filled with prayers of thanksgiving. Ephesians have some prayers for spiritual growth and development. When you don’t know what to pray or find it difficult to remain focused in prayer, pray the scriptures to God.
Make a Prayer List
Make a prayer list of people and things to pray about. When you get stuck in prayer, then pull it out and pray from the list.
Deuteronomy 4:7 or what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for?
What an awesome scripture! God is in all things that we call on him for. Make a prayer list, and watch as God moves in those areas.
Give a Litany of Thanks
Take the time to thank God for everything he has done starting from Genesis and going through the stories and events of the Bible. Then start from the beginning of your whole life until now.
Pray at a Time and Place with Minimal Distractions
Pray at times when there are no distractions. Early early morning or overnight. When no one is home.
Read and Meditate on Scripture Before Praying
Before prayer, read the Bible and keep thinking on and speaking out scriptures to yourself and then pray. This will focus your mind on God and his words, and will often usher you into prayer.
Pray a Song to the Lord.
Ephesians 5:18-19 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; 19Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
Hang Out with God
Just hang out with God even if you are struggling to pray. Stay with the Lord with thanksgiving and listening to his voice. Daniel often remained prostrate before God and waited for God to speak to him. God wants to speak to you as well. Remain before him at your prayer altar. Give him thanks or just remain silent before him and listen to his voice. God may lead you to read His Word or may remind you of a promise or prophecy. From there you can talk to the Lord more about what He may He saying to you.
