7 Proven Steps On How to Develop a Consistent Prayer Life
It’s in the desire of God that you walk with Him consistently. He’s a loving father who doesn’t love accidental relationships; He wants you regular and consistent with Him. Without an effective prayer life, consistency with God is not possible. Your closeness to God is as solid as the consistency of your prayer life.
Prayer is the mode of communion with God to maintain your relationship with Him. The greatest ingredient of a viable relationship is communication. Relationship dies when communication drops. If your prayer altar is inactive, your relationship with God cannot be fruitful. In other to maintain a fruitful relationship with your heavenly father, it’s vital to learn how to develop a consistent prayer life.
If consistency in prayer has been your challenge or you even desire to improve on your communion life with the Spirit of truth, I have made helpful tips available for you so that your relationship with God can grow to another level.
Developing A Deeper Prayer Life
Below is how to develop a consistent prayer life!
¥1. Sustain an understanding that your life depends on prayer. Understanding is your greatest asset in your walk with God. If you have an understanding of why certain things are to be done or not be done, you’ll not need encouragement to do them. It’s good to understand why prayer is important.
Nobody jokes about what their lives depend on. Everyone will seek to maintain a bond with what sustains their lives. Fishes cannot separate themselves from water. Why? They are aware that their sustenance depends on it! If you take a fish out of the water, it will struggle its way back there. This is because its survival depends on that zone.
If you know that your spiritual health and physical wellness depends largely on the viability or vibrancy of your prayer life, then, prayer will become your utmost priority. If you truly agree that prayer is your oxygen, you’ll be very consistent. Therefore, consistency is a product of understanding. Consistency is one of the elements of an effective prayer life.
¥2. Prioritize prayer. It’s what you prioritize that will take preeminence in your heart. You know what is important to people by the scale of their priority. There’s nothing like you’re very busy that you don’t have time for certain things, you have only prioritized what’s important to you. If you see prayer as an indispensable activity, it will be at the top of your heart. This is how to develop a consistent prayer life
No one who wants to have a viable walk with God will relegate quality time with Him to the background. Talking to God should be the only engagement that makes one fulfilled in each day. Consider your day incomplete if you have not spent quality time with your maker.
If you want to pray effectively, do not make your prayer your last event of the day, rather, make it the first thing you wake up doing. You cannot make God your last priority and He takes you first in His heart. “I love them that love me, and those that seek me early shall find me”( Proverbs 8:17).
Early in the morning before the activities of the day begin is the best time to seek Him. While your body is fresh and your energy is renewed, seek Him desperately and heartily. A lot of people don’t pray because they feel don’t have time and got a lot to do. Whereas, the reason why they couldn’t do a lot is that they do not spend enough time praying.
Prayer positions you for divine assistance and speed to cover quickly what your human strength cannot catch up with. Praying is making the power of God available to aid you in the activities of the day. When you have the power of God as your aid, your results will be different from those who don’t have such at their disposal. What a beautiful things to pray!
¥3. Live in the consciousness of the presence of God. Communion with God ought not to be intermittent; it ought to be constant and continual. You can carry God’s consciousness in your heart while you get busy with your daily schedules. This is the best way to pray without ceasing. Connect with God and communicate with Him through your heart. He doesn’t only answer your speech, but also your thoughts. Entertaining Him in your heart always makes you host His presence tangibly around your life and all you do.
¥4. Schedule a prayer time: Can we pray anywhere? Yes! Can we pray anytime? Yes! Why is prayer time now important? I’m about to show you.
You need to know that, whatever you don’t schedule cannot be continued. Until it is seen as a necessity, commitment cannot be guaranteed. It’s best for a believer to have a time of prayer he’s committed to. The time of prayer was very significant in the bible. There are several instances where people stick to a particular hour of the day for their Communion with God.
One of the examples of such was David. “Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice” (Psalms 55: 17). The Psalmist prayed three times daily. This is the perfect expression of consistency. Anyone who keeps such a structured system of waiting on God will have a close walk with Him.
Another practical template was Daniel. “Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he knelt upon his knees three times a day and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did afore-time” (Daniel 6:10).
We saw the disciples portrayed the same attitude toward prayers. “Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour” (Acts 3:1). The hour of prayer was employed by the disciples to maintain consistency. This is not to idolize anytime above the other but to ensure efficacy. This connotes dedication and commitment. If this is maintained over time, your consistency in prayer will be visible.
¥5. Do it gradually: Everything that will last longer must follow a due process of growth. Nothing gets to the top without beginning from the bottom. Don’t expect to be fervent and consistent in prayer without following a due process of building up. If you desire to have a duration of 3- hours of prayer daily, you’ll need to begin with 30 minutes and be consistent in it.
30 minutes will always become 3 hours if done continually. Frustration begins when people want to arrive at the top of the mountain overnight. When you see people with giant prayer life, you always want to emulate them. It should be known that they didn’t become like that in one day. A process of discipline and training must have been endured before they could get there.
Rome is not built in a day. Begin with your little strength and be faithful to it. 20 minutes, 30 minutes, 40 minutes, 50 minutes, 60 minutes, and so on. This will effectively guarantee an effective prayer Life
¥6. Live in the scripture. Every believer is expected to be filled with the word of God in their hearts. Do not just fill your head with them, live in them. When you are word-filled, you’ll be often incited to pray constantly. Your prayer cannot be consistent if you are void of the word in your heart.
The word is the fueling force of an effective prayer life. The word can be likened to firewood. If it’s not there, fire cannot burn. In the same vein, the fire of prayer cannot bear unless you’re filled with the wood of the word. The knowledge of the word is your advantage in the hour of prayer. The word-filled heart will always induce prayer. There’s nothing that inspires or encourages a fervent prayer life as the heart is filled with volumes of scriptures.
¥7. Be thankful at all times: Creating a worship atmosphere around you is a prerequisite to effective prayer life. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Colossians 3:16).
As you consciously allow the word to be deeply seated in your heart, it will inspire a song. This attitude of singing needs to be cultivated on a daily basis. If you’re an effective worshiper, you won’t find it difficult to pray also. Praising is a precursor to praying. God expects His people to have an attitude of worship. It pleases God to give pleasure to Him. Singing stirs the anointing to pray fervently.
Relevant topic: the prayer life of Jesus
Consistency In Prayer Verse
1. ‘Peter, therefore, was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him’ (Acts.12.5)
2. ‘Pray without ceasing’ (1Thess.5.17)
3. ‘Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints’ (Eph.6.18)
4. “And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint’ 9 Luke.18.1)
5. ‘I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting’. (1Tim.2.8)
6. ‘Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving’ (Col.4.2).
Benefits Of Consistent Prayer
1. Consistent prayers deepen your relationship with God: Relationship with God is the bedrock of your destiny, you need to sustain consistency in it to build it strong.
2. Consistent Prayers heighten your sensitivity to the Holy Spirit: God is always speaking but you cannot hear him clearly if you’re not given to prayers.
3. Consistent Prayers help you to conquer stubborn situations: there is nothing the power of prayer cannot conquer if you continue in it.
4. Consistent Prayers Strengthen Your Faith: the scripture says, you should build up yourself on your most holy Faith by praying in the holy spirit
5. Consistent Prayers multiply angelic activities in your life.
Start your day with: good morning prayers and blessings