Do you want to strengthen your prayers?
Prayers are the gasoline that fuels every believer in life. It is the sole medium of communication with the Father.
It bridges the gap between reality and faith and helps us better make sense of it all.
The bible showed us how powerful it is to the Christian life. Jesus was often seen on mountains, deserts, and other odd places, praying. He even thought His disciples how to pray.
To them he said, pray without ceasing.
However, as great as this inevitable tool is to every believer, most of us still struggle with it. We get on our knees and before we know it, we dose off.
We try to sit up, only to find ourselves the next day on the other side of the bed.
If that describes you, don’t worry. It happens to the best of us. 7 proven ways to strengthen your prayers, starting today.
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Approach God with a Sense of Worthiness.
Yes. As believers, we sometimes get into prayers feeling guilty of all the wrongs we’ve done, or how not faithful we’ve been to God. This feeling is normal.
However, Hebrews 4:16 made us understand that we should come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
It doesn’t matter how you feel before coming to God in prayers. All that matters is a sense of worthiness; that no matter how bad you’ve turned out – no matter how prodigal a son you’ve been –
He is still willing (and always willing) to hear you out. Know this: it matters to God even more than it is to you that you communicate with Him in prayers.
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Be Open-Minded.
If there is something God loves about his children, it would be to be as open-minded with Him as much as possible. Think of it for a minute.
He already knows everything about you; all you’ve done, all you’re doing, and all you’re going to do. Don’t you think it’s a deception to not open up everything to Him when you come in prayers?
King David was one open-minded prayer warrior. He would come to God in tears, bearing everything he had done and exactly how he feels about what he has done.
He speaks to God like a Father that He is. Little wonder God called him ‘a man after His own heart’ in 1 Samuel 13:14.
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Pray More Often.
Prayers, like any other thing in life, require practice and consistency to master. Yes, as believers, this is supposed to be the language we speak all the time, easily.
But sadly, we live in a world full of distractions; where our flesh easily gets carried away at the detriment of our spirit man.
This is why we need to discipline ourselves in order to strengthen our prayer life.
Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:27, ‘But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection…’ That is the type of discipline we all need as believers.
We need to bring our bodies under subjection, just like we try our best to go to the gym or do some form of exercise every single day.
The more often you pray, the more effective your prayer life would be.
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Engage in Corporate Prayers.
The bible said in Matthew 18:19 that, ‘Again I say to you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.’
Now, this scripture not only emphasizes how powerful corporate prayers are, but it also shows us how important it is to pray together with another believer.
Isaac Watts says it better in his famous book, A Guide to Prayer, ‘if we pray among a select society of Christians, we draw near to God with holy boldness, something like what we use in our duties of secret worship.
We have reason to take more freedom among fellow saints and whose hearts have felt many of the same workings as our own.’
Also Related: 13 Reasons Why I Believe in the Power of Prayer.
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Pray in Tongues.
Praying in tongues is praying in the language that confuses the devil and edifies us as believers.
I love how the New Living Translation of 1 Corinthians 14:4 puts it, ‘A person who speaks in tongues is strengthened personally…’
By so doing, you strengthen your spirit man more than you can imagine.
Have you ever wondered why it’s far easier to pray for long hours while praying in tongues?
It is because when your spirit man is energized in tongues, doing spiritual things – like a prayer – becomes easier.
Want to strengthen your prayers? Pray more often in tongues.
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Listen to God.
Like I will always say, prayer is not a monologue; it is you having a conversation with God – a dialogue.
Now, if you keep talking to God as opposed to talking with God, you will always feel frustrated in prayers because it feels like you’re only doing all the talking without hearing from the person on the other side.
This is why you need to learn to listen to God while praying. Sometimes, the answer to your prayers lies within one word from God.
Do not shut Him out; talk and listen for Him to respond. Now, this response comes in the form of an impression upon your spirit or – rarely – in an audible voice.
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Get a Prayer Partner (Accountability Partner).
Besides the power in corporate prayers, getting an accountability prayer partner helps strengthen your prayer life in a number of ways.
First, you lift each other up when one is down, prayer-wise. You encourage each other in prayers, and while praying. Secondly, an accountability partner helps your discipline.
Just like you try to please someone when you’re paired to do a task, an accountability prayer partner would do likewise.
I like to end with this powerful quote from Mother Teresa,
“In the silence of the heart, God speaks. If you face God in prayer and silence, God will speak to you. Then you will know that you are nothing.
It is only when you realize your nothingness, your emptiness, that God can fill you with Himself. Souls of prayer are souls of great silence.”