Your prayer life is one of the most important aspects of your relationship with God.  Imagine if you have a friend, and you claim you know him well, but you never talk with him!  The same goes with God.  If you think you know God, but you never talk with Him, then you are only fooling yourself.

When you pray, you get to know the Creator of the universe, a thought that staggers the imagination.  Unfortunately, most people don’t seem to understand this, and never take time to draw closer to Him.  In my article titled “1000 Miles”, I wrote about how we should strive to draw closer to God in this life.  One of the best ways to do this is with your prayer life.

Maybe your prayer life isn’t as good as you’d like, or you just can’t seem to make a habit out of it.  If this is true, then the below list of ways to “jumpstart your prayer life” is just for you.  If you already have a good prayer life, then you may be able to draw new ideas from the points below.

1. Pray through the Psalms

If you are learning to pray, and you can’t seem to find words that sound right, then the best place to start is with the Psalms.  Pick one of your favorite Psalms, like Psalm 92, and read it out loud.  Think about the words while you say them, and let their meaning and significance sink in.

Some of the Psalms are harder to pray, like Psalm 38, and when starting out you may not want to go through them.  I suggest making a list of your favorite Psalms, and praying through them on a regular basis.

2. Pray about things you care about

When you struggle with not enjoying your prayer time, the reason is usually that you find it boring.  This stems from a number of things, but the most prominent reason is that you don’t pray about things you care about.  Most people feel like they have to pray a certain way, or for certain things (like saying the Lord’s prayer over and over), but this isn’t true.  God wants to just be your friend, and you should feel free to talk to Him about whatever is on your mind.

3. Pray by singing songs

Some of my highest prayer moments have happened while I’m listening to praise and worship songs.  Something about music can really draw you into the presence of God, and vertical songs, or songs that have words that you can sing directly to God, can make great prayers.

4. Praise God for your favorite things

This goes hand in hand with point #2.  If you’re having trouble praising God, try thanking Him for your favorite things.  It can be anything – family, friends, nature, ice cream, whatever you enjoy.

5. Pray through a prayer list

Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by everything I could pray for, so I don’t even bother starting.  The same thing happens when I can’t think of anything to pray for.  When this happens, I turn to a list I have of all the prayer requests I receive.  Every time someone asks me to pray for them, I write it down on the list, and when I need something to pray about, I go through it.

If you have a lot of prayer requests on your list, one thing you can do is make a “prayer schedule”, or a schedule that lists each thing you should pray about each day of the week.

Conclusion

So if you’re feeling dead in your prayer life, try doing the things in the list above.  Remember – God wants to have a relationship with you.  Don’t let that relationship die.