Priorities that Make a Difference – Part 6

For those of us who grew up in church, it isn’t a newsflash that we should read our Bible and pray. Yet if we were to be transparent, most of us find ourselves wanting the time to be more impactful at best or, at worst, we’ve given up in defeat. Like many other aspects of life, we assume other people have figured it out while we stay quietly frustrated or simply move on.I hope this series has encouraged you with a practical how-to guide… but more than anything, I want it to help you see your priority time as an intimate dialogue with the One Person who will never disappoint you. If you’re struggling in your priority time, please reach out to me. Only the enemy wants you to give up in defeat.

The last two elements of a priority time – Interactive Prayer and Life Journaling – are where I most frequently capture the sense that God really is for me and cares about me. I hope you find these pointers helpful as you grow in your love for the Lord.

Interactive prayer

Don’t quarantine your prayers to the “appetizer” or “dessert” sections of your priority time. This is a relationship. When you’re alone with the Lord in your priority time, allow prayer to be a conversation. I often have an extended time of prayer during my time with the Lord, but I’ll also stop and pray as I’m in the Word if there’s something I sense the Lord has brought to my mind that I need to take to Him.Here are some practical tips when it comes to incorporating interactive prayer into your priority time…

Get AloneThere’s a time for praying with others, but this is not it. Be somewhere you can truly worship, kneel, respond, and not be self-conscious.

Get RealTalk to God just like you would any other person. Fancy words are unnecessary. He already knows your thoughts, so faking it is a waste of time.

Get QuietDon’t do all the talking. We often run in and spew all our baggage and then say, “Amen.” Practice being still. Ask the Lord to give you a sensitivity to His Spirit. Ask Him what’s on His heart and see what else He brings to mind for you to ask Him about, or how He might guide you in response to something you’ve asked. While I don’t hear an audible voice, I can evaluate the thoughts that come to mind against His character. Occasionally, I might be distracted by my own train of thought, but if what comes to mind is Christ-like in its essence, I can rest assured it’s Him and obey as He leads.

Get LoudThis definitely requires that you get alone (see above), but I find that praying out loud significantly improves my prayer time. Not only do I stay more focused, but also hearing my prayers reinforces both my needs and my dependence upon Him.

Get PersistentIf you don’t have an unanswered prayer, it can only mean on thing: You don’t pray. I’m kidding… kind of! All of us can point to prayers we’ve prayed so many times that we’ve not only lost count, but we’re weary and even angry. The Lord gave us Luke 18:1-8. Let it encourage you like it did me to keep coming before His throne with the burdens He’s put on our hearts. As Lysa TerKeurst eloquently said in her book It’s Not Supposed to Be This Way…

God loves me too much to answer my prayers at any other time than the right time and any other way than the right way.

You and I are both counting on that!