My Guide to a More Powerful Prayer Life
Some of you may know me for being the girl who writes about how to radiate God’s joy, but what some of you don’t know are the deep, deep valleys I’ve had to walk through on this journey. It’s through these deep valleys how I learned to pray: to get real with God.
As I’m sitting here writing this I know I would much rather be sitting across from you wearing sweats, my hair in a top-knot, and truly listening to your story so I can make this as personal as possible. Unfortunately, I don’t get to do that…yet. So what I hope you find in this guide are practical tips that I’ve used to help you deepen my prayer life.
Be Honest Always
Don’t Hold Back
Be Consistent & Persistent
Number 1: Be Honest Always
I know you’ve probably heard this a lot…”be vulnerable, be honest with God, don’t hold back,” but I also know that sometimes those just feel like words. How do you really put that into action? How can I be honest with God who gave me everything? Will he still love me? Will he think that I don’t love him? I know these are some questions you’ve asked, because I have asked them. It’s normal to question God. I’m going to say that again….it’s NORMAL to question God. But, here’s the truth God wants to hear your heart, every part of it. He wants to hear the part that is frustrated, the pieces that are upset, the sections that are broken, and the bits that are thankful. He wants you to tell Him when you’re so mad at Him. He already knows what’s in your heart, now it’s just time for you to be honest about it. Stop living in fear that you are going to offend God and just tell Him what he already knows. You’re not hiding anything by not telling Him, you’re just not being fully open and completely honest.
Number 2: Don’t Hold Back
You’re probably thinking that just is going to be a reiteration of number 1, but I promise you it’s not. This time it’s not about telling God things that you’ve done or thought. It’s about your requests, what your heart longs for, and all of the desires in your heart. You’ve probably got some big dreams. You probably want things that may seem impossible to you or maybe you are scared to dream. Don’t hold your requests back. Dare to pray BIG prayers. Ask Him for what you think may be impossible. Over the years I’ve learned that we can’t limit God. He’s far bigger and and greater than our wildest dreams are…He doesn’t fit into a box and neither do his plans for our lives. So start thinking outside the box, start dreaming big things and telling God about it. Don’t limit yourself because you don’t think God can handle it, when the truth of the matter is….you’re scared. You’re scared because it might now work out. You’re terrified it may not go your way. You’re just trying to hold onto the plan like it’s something you can control…but you can’t, and that’s terrifying.
Number 3: Be Consistent & Persistent
We are called to pray continually. Continually means never stopping. God wants us to be in communication without Him throughout our daily lives…not just at meal time, not just before bed, and not just when it’s convenient for us. If we are only going to God when it’s convenient for us, we aren’t in a continual pattern of communication with Him. Consistency is important, but it’s also important to be persistent - to never stop praying about things that are heavy on our hearts. However, just because we are persistent doesn’t mean God is going to answer our prayers in the exact way or time frame we want Him to. Ultimately, it’s still very much up to God about what happens because He already has a plan for it all. This doesn’t give us the right or the permission to slack off when it comes to communicating with Him, though. Persistency also doesn’t mean pushy. There is a way to be persistent in our prayers, without being bossy and pushy toward God. We can be persistent by continually praying for something, by reverently asking in faith for things, or even by just being in that constant communication with him - none of this equates to being pushy.
As you continue in your prayer life I challenge you to always be honest with God, don’t hold back on anything, and to be in consistent communication with Him throughout your daily life.
In Him,
Rachel Marie
