7 Quick, Bible-Based Tips to Power Up Your Prayer Life

On February 22, our church focuses on prayer. We are setting aside a full day of Prayer — with a prayer chain starting at 6 am and culminating at our 7 pm prayer service. And, so, it seemed like a good time to reflect a little bit on prayer.

Over the years, I’ve gotten lots of questions about prayer. These questions have included:

How do I pray?
What do I say?
How do I keep my mind from wandering?
I don’t know how to pray for more than a few minutes
How do I know what God’s will is?
Does God want me to ask even for (insert need or desire)?
How do I know God is listening?
and much more

Do you perhaps have some of those questions? I encourage you to open up your Bible and do a study on prayer. If you need some help with that, feel free to reach out to me. There are also some great Christian books on prayer that serve as Bible studies on the subject.

Few topics are more important than that. In the meantime…

Here are seven (7) quick, Bible-based tips to help you improve your prayer life.

Read and study the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:1-4). Consider this a model prayer and order your prayers accordingly.
Pray through the Psalms. Most of them are poems of praise and prayer. You can’t go wrong by incorporating those prayers into your life. Read through them aloud as you’re in a state of prayer with God – and, as you read through them, take what seems to apply to your life and let God know that you feel a connection to that feeling, desire, passion, or need that David (or whoever the psalmist might be) addresses.
Make a list of everything for which you have to be thankful. Be as specific as possible. And then pray through the list, thanking God for each item – and letting Him know how grateful you are. We are repeatedly told in the Bible to offer up our prayers “with thanksgiving” and Paul tells the church in Thessalonica to “In everything, give thanks” (I Thessalonians 5:18). So, let’s do it.
Now, make a list of every concern you have for every person you can think of in your life. This would be all the prayer needs on your church’s prayer list. It would also be all the items in the news that cause you concern. It would also be the prayer needs in your family, of course. Remember that Paul says we are to offer “supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks” on behalf of and for “all men” (I Timothy 2:1). That’s everyone in your life.
Make a list of all your needs, concerns, and desires. And then “let your requests be made known unto God” (Philippians 4:6). Here’s the rule of thumb: If it’s on your mind (especially if it’s weighing down your mind or causing you any stress), write it down and put it before the Lord in prayer.
Ask God for wisdom (see James 1:5). And consider reading through the Book of Proverbs (either during your prayer time or afterward) and ask God to speak to you through that book. Proverbs is the greatest collection of wisdom sayings in human history. And most of them were written by a man who received wisdom directly from God.
Ask God to purify your thoughts and focus your mind on what He wants you to focus on (see Philippians 4:8). And then close your prayer time with an affirmation of your worship and your commitment to God’s will (see the Lord’s prayer).