Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. – James 5:16 (NLT)
In yesterday’s devotion, we talked about how to make Bible reading easy for the new year. Today, let’s talk about prayer. It’s easy to feel weird when you’re about to pray. Sometimes you don’t know what to say or how to really get started doing it. So today, we’re going to show a few easy ways to make prayer part of your routine in 2020.
Tip #2 – Spend 5 Minutes in Prayer Each Day
When you’re starting off, it can be really exciting wanting to pray and you think, I’ll spend 30 minutes a day praying and it will be so easy and wonderful. Then three days later, you begin dreading the idea of praying in the first place. So instead of a huge and lofty goal of prayer, consider doing something sustainable.
Choose to spend 5 minutes a day in prayer. It might be while you take a shower. It could be waiting for the bus each morning. Find a place that works for you and commit to 5 minutes each day. Set a timer on your phone and when it goes off, you’re done. Setting a timer might make it feel a little less spiritual, but sometimes knowing you’re not spending hours on end helps you push in for a few minutes. If the 5 minutes is over and you’re still enjoying your time with God, don’t feel like you have to stop. Just let the five minutes be your starting point and commit to doing it each day.
Try Praying Like This:
Lots of times it can be hard to know where to start when you pray. One easy thing to do is to start by finding a couple of things you can thank God for. Find two or three things and spend a minute or two thanking God for the good things in your life.
After that, talk to God a bit. Tell Him areas where you struggle. Be honest and open with Him. Ask God for help and wisdom for the tough things you’re facing.
Finish up praying by telling God how much you love Him.
A simple format like this takes only a few minutes, but you’ll be surprised how much you’ll grow in your walk with God as a result of spending 5 minutes a day praying.
