Prayer Warrior Guide

Growing up I was always asked to pray at the dinner table or sometimes in Sunday school. My parents made sure I prayed before bed, and I prayed with them some mornings. As a kid, I’d just say a little “Thank you God for everything you do and for my family, amen.” 

The older I got, the more advanced praying seemed to become, with pastors and speakers using all these fancy terms and expressions in their prayers. I started criticizing my own prayers, thinking they weren’t good enough. 

I asked my dad to help me with praying, and he gave me five good tips, which I’ll share with you. 

• Read your Bible
  Praying without knowing a bit of God’s word is sort of like holding a one-sided conversation. You want to be able to incorporate His words into your prayers to connect even more with God. It can even be as simple as reiterating that you know God is good, and His mercy endures forever. Psalm 136:1

• Simple is GOOD
  Personally, I have always been in awe of those that pray so perfectly and seem to have extensive knowledge of all Scriptures and Christian jargon known to man. However, I had to level myself and realize not everyone is built to be so in-depth with their prayer, and OUR prayers are OURS. God doesn’t care if we can only manage to give out a simple thank you on the way to work versus a 10-minute outcry. Speak your truth and own it. God sees you for who you are. 

• Spice up your prayer experiences!
  There is no rule that says you can’t fix up your prayer space to make it more welcoming to you and your spirit. A friend of mine lights a candle, and I often play a prayer time playlist, full of Christian worship songs to invite the Holy Spirit into my space. You also can try new locations. A walk in the park while you pray to yourself can be pleasing to the mind and body. 
  
  Don’t limit yourself! Try new experiences. You can even create a prayer journal to jot down prayer thoughts and keep track of your spiritual growth. 

• Stay as consistent as possible. 
  The Bible says we should pray without ceasing, but I always wondered, how can anyone really live up to that standard? Well, I found that praying for the little things count too. You can begin to routinely pray in the mornings and evenings, and find ways to bring prayer into your daily life. It could be anything from praying for a car accident on 695 to a simple prayer over your work schedule. Just remember nothing is irrelevant in God’s eyes, so talk to God about anything. 

• Anticipate God’s Response
  Matthew 7:7 encourages us to seek out God and not to be afraid to ask in order to receive God’s blessings.  Often times we think asking for some things is useless or even selfish, but I find it settling to be able to know I can speak to God about anything. Even if His answer isn’t immediate, or not the answer you’d hoped, you can never know the outcome if you sell yourself short of a prayer. So anticipate God’s response; I guarantee you, an answer is coming, and the outcome is always what’s best for us, even if we don’t understand how just yet. 

Now you have five easy tips to consider for reconstructing your prayer life so you can be a prayer warrior!
I’ll leave you with my favorite daily prayer of strength.

Serenity Prayer 
God, give me the serenity to accept all the things I can’t change, the courage to do what I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. 
Amen.