Most of the Christians I talk to are neither on fire for Jesus nor ice cold about him. Most days, most of us just feel kinda meh about our faith. If that describes how your faith is going lately, I hope this message will provide the spark that reignites the fire in your heart!
Part One: PRAY on PURPOSE
Imagine you’re about to walk into the most important meeting on your schedule this week. Maybe it’s an evaluation with your boss, a consultation with your doctor, or a business pitch to investors. What will you have done prior to the appointment to prepare? What tools will you carry into the room with you? What outcomes would constitute a successful meeting?
These three questions (or something similar) come naturally to most of us in our day to day lives because we know how to function properly in professional settings. But when it comes to the time we spend in prayer – which we might call our “appointments with God” – most Christians are far less adept. Instead of preparing for our time in prayer, going into our “meetings” with the right tools in hand, and having a clear idea of what a successful or productive prayer session looks like, we tend to meet with God with all the casual nonchalance of a person who’s scrolling on their phone while waiting in line.
Don’t get me wrong: I’m a big fan of casual prayers, and I think God is too. He’ll take whatever time and attention He can get from us. But if you’re hoping to get unstuck this year, praying with more focus and intentionality might be the key. To that end, I offer these two suggestions:
1. LIST before you LIFT.
Whether it’s groceries, errands, or big ideas, we all know that keeping lists is a great way to stay organized and on-task. But if remembering to grab a jar of peanut butter at HEB is important enough to write it down, surely remembering to ask God about a fight you had with your spouse is, too. I keep a running list in my phone’s Notes app of all the things I intend to lift up in prayer. These words probably don’t mean much to you as you read them (and I try to keep names confidential just in case), but I know exactly what every item on this list refers to.
2. Lift prayers UP by writing prayers DOWN.
Here’s a weird confession to hear from your pastor: I don’t say a lot of prayers – you know, like, out loud. In fact, almost all of the prayers I say out loud are the ones I say with others present: during worship services, in meetings, over meals, etc. When it’s just me and God, my preferred prayer method is the written word.
For years, I wrote my prayers in paper “prayer journals,” but after years of paying $20/pop for Moleskine notebooks (a third of which I lost!) I started writing my prayers on an electronic writing tablet. You could even use your phone or iPad; however, for reasons I’ll get to in a moment, I’ve found my phone to be more of a hindrance than a help to my prayer life. I use something called the Remarkable writing tablet instead because it doesn’t interrupt me with notifications or tempt me with internet connectivity. In the spirit of full disclosure, here’s an example of one page of my digital prayer journal:
Writing prayers down has made all the difference for me. First, I’m able to organize my thoughts as I pray. Second, I’m able to remember more of what I pray. And third, as time goes by, I have the ability to revisit my past prayers to pick up on patterns of sin and to celebrate all the victories that the Lord has given me. I really can’t recommend the discipline of writing prayers down highly enough!
