Tips to Jumpstart Your Prayer Life

Whether you’re a new believer or a seasoned believer in a rut, there are many ways that you can jumpstart your prayer life. Some tactics that you can use include:

• Making God a priority
• Including worship music in your quiet time 
• Remembering what God has done 
• Consulting the Bible 
• Using prayer tools
• Asking the Holy Spirit for help 

Want to learn more about how you can jumpstart your prayer life? Keep Reading!

Tip #1: Make God First

My favorite time to pray is in the morning when I first wake up. I do it as part of my morning quiet time—a time of worship, prayer, and Bible reading. I find that the morning is the best time for me to concentrate on prayer. This is because my mind is fresh and the cares of the day haven’t yet begun to demand my attention. Also, when I pray in the morning, it helps to frame my whole day. For example, I remember that God directs my life when things go wrong. Another example is that I tend to remember to be gracious to others since I received forgiveness for my sins that morning. 

Perhaps you wake up in the afternoon or at night due to your work schedule. That’s okay. The idea isn’t to necessarily pray in the morning but to make prayer the first thing you do in your day. When you put God first in your day, it helps you to remember the truth that your Heavenly Father loves you and has a plan for you. It also reminds you that your life’s goal is to love and serve Him. Carrying these thoughts into your day sets you up to be compassionate with others and to turn to Him when problems arise.

Tip #2: Jumpstart Your Prayer Time with Worship Music

I love to listen to worship music before prayer. I find that it is one of the best ways to jumpstart my time in prayer because it prepares my heart for seeking God. The music reminds me that God purchased my salvation, that I have eternal life, and that God has answered previous prayers. Listening to worship music helps me to build faith and go into prayer fired up about what God will do in the future. You don’t have to listen to a lot of songs. In fact, depending on how much time you have, you may only listen to one or two short ones. The main goal is worship. 

Something that I’ve found helpful when incorporating worship into prayer is keeping my worship music sorted into playlists on my phone. In fact, I even have a thirty minute devotion time playlist for when I don’t have a lot of time in the morning. The point is to use worship to remind yourself of God’s nature and His relationship with you. Remembering these things may encourage you in prayer.

Tip #3: Remember What He Has Done

I often remind myself of prayers God has answered in the past and the testimonies I’ve heard from other believers of God’s faithfulness. Remembering what God has done helps to build my faith and jumpstart my prayer life by encouraging me to ask for new requests in prayer. 

To apply this tactic, you can choose to write down answered prayers in a journal, recall them from memory, or use a keepsake as a reminder. You can then use these reminders of answered prayer during times of hardship or when doubt starts to creep into your prayer life.

Tip #4: Consult the Bible

Scripture can be a powerful tool to help build faith during prayer. Personally, I often memorize scripture related to my prayer requests. I may even write down a Bible verse if I anticipate that I’ll be using it often in prayer. When I pray using scripture, it helps me to feel confident because it reminds me of the promises God has made to His people in the Bible which are available to me today. Some passages even remind me that God has answered a similar prayer for someone else in the Bible. 

Furthermore, the Bible reveals God’s will. According to the Bible, if we pray in the will of God, our prayers will be answered. This means that, when we pray using scripture, we are asking God to not just fulfill our request but what He has already promised in the Bible. Using scripture can help us to jumpstart our prayer life because we feel confident about approaching God in prayer since our prayers align with His will.

Tips #5: Use Prayer Tools to Jumpstart Your Prayer Time

If you need help getting organized in prayer, use a prayer tool! There are prayer journals, prayer jars, and prayer boards to name a few. These tools can help you streamline prayer so that you don’t forget prayer requests.

I don’t always use prayer tools, but they have been helpful to me in the past when I’ve had a lot of prayer requests for myself, family, friends, and my church community. I currently have a collage picture frame with photos of family and friends that I have made it my mission to pray for daily. The photos are a constant reminder to pray for them. I also keep photos of missionary couples and occasionally use a journal to write down prayers and record when they are answered. 

Prayer tools can be helpful when I get distracted or doubtful. For example, there have been times when I’ve been low on faith and decided to read through a prayer I’d written down in my prayer journal. Reading previous prayers helped to encourage my faith and also gave me the words I needed for new prayer requests while helping me to stay focused. 

Using prayer tools can be a great way to jumpstart your prayer life, especially if you sit down to pray and find yourself forgetting prayer requests. 

Tip #6: Ask the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is our helper and counselor. He is also able to help us pray if we submit to Him. Some of my most encouraging prayer times have been the result of submitting to the Holy Spirit and letting Him inspire my prayers. All you have to do is ask the Holy Spirit for help in prayer and faithfully trust Him to intercede for you. Doing this will help you to build your faith but also remind you that you are not alone in your prayer life because God is with you!

Please let me know in the comment what tips you have for jumpstarting your prayer life when it feels off kilter. New to prayer? Check out my Beginner’s Guide to Prayer blog. You can also check out scripture that will encourage you in your prayer life. Thanks for reading!