Just over a year ago, I made a New Year’s resolution to be faithful in prayer. The New Year came and I was off to a good start. But as the days got busier, I struggled to stay focused during my morning prayers, and my body began begging for more sleep. Yawn.
Let’s face it—keeping a consistent prayer life isn’t easy. But it’s vital.
Satan delights in busyness that leads us to become distracted, careless, and prayerless! When we go to God in prayer, however, the devil knows we’re gaining strength against him, so he opposes that practice with all his might.
Perhaps that’s why the apostle Paul wrote: “Never stop praying” (1 Thessalonians 5:17), “keep on praying” (Romans 12:12), and “devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart” (Colossians 4:2). All of these commands contain the idea of persevering in our prayer life.
If you’re like me, you’re eager to regain the momentum of a consistent prayer life. Here’s where we can start: (1) Ask God for an “alert mind and a thankful heart” (Colossians 4:2). (2) Start a prayer calendar and set a prayer focus for each day.
We can also gain inspiration from the prayer requests Paul lifted up in Colossians. Like him, we can pray for ministry workers and missionaries (Colossians 4:3); for the opportunity to share God’s story in our workplace, school, country, or other parts of the world; and for other believers in Jesus—specifically for their testimony before unbelievers (Colossians 4:5-6).
God provides all that we need to persevere in prayer and experience His amazing power. May we seek to spend time with Him today by the power of the Holy Spirit—resisting distractions and growing in faith.
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: Genesis 32:1–33:16
More:
Read 1 John 5:14 and consider what happens when we approach God in prayer.
Next:
Have you stopped praying about certain issues in your life? What’s keeping you from praying? What’s one thing you can do this week to move toward a healthier prayerlife?
gagirllive on January 20, 2016 at 6:55 am
Of all the spiritual disciplines, prayer seems to be the one that we struggle with the most. I love that Paul admonishes us in several of his letters to pray with thanksgiving. That is a key component, I think. An attitude of gratitude does something to the heart, doesn’t it? For me, it’s not so much a problem of consistency as it is in keeping it fresh and vibrant…not praying the same thing the same way everyday. Praying with thanksgiving has helped me with that. However, praying God’s own word back to Him has been a life-changer for me. It has revitalized our conversations. I haven’t tried it before, but I like your idea of a prayer calendar, too. I’m sure that would help with focus. Thanks, Poh, for this much needed encouragement to persevere in prayer. No matter how we struggle, we all need to “just do it”!
trinity of faith on January 20, 2016 at 7:24 am
I find todays journal extremely encouraging for me as I have been finding it hard recently to constantly pray every day and read God’s Scriptures. Thank you!
Tom Felten on January 20, 2016 at 9:18 am
Poh Fang, as I think about an “alert mind and thankful heart” I’m reminded of how a prayerful state throughout the day can help us draw closer to God, experience greater gratitude, and show greater grace to others. May we submit to the Holy Spirit today and think and speak and act out of a prayer-filled walk in Jesus!
Tim Gustafson on January 20, 2016 at 9:52 am
Prayer is perhaps my biggest struggle. And I have quite a few struggles!
sandy229 on January 20, 2016 at 12:18 pm
It’s really good to know that someone like you has the same struggle I do with prayer. Thank you so much for your honesty. Thank you also for all the devotions you write for ODB. They are so meaningful to me.
Roxanne Robbins on January 20, 2016 at 10:13 am
“Praying” is easy to post on someone’s social media in response to a need or trial they’ve shared. We need to remember the incredible privilege and responsibility we have to go beyond saying “praying” and truly praying.
sandy229 on January 20, 2016 at 12:30 pm
I agree with you Roxanne. It’s so easy to say we will pray for someone when what we should be doing is praying for them!! For example, a woman that used to work for us in the care of my Mother in law asked me to pray for her because she was worried about her son. I said I would pray for her and walked away. As I was walking away, this little voice is telling me…..why can’t you pray for her now? I immediately went back and took her hand and prayed for her and her son. She was so thankful and not expecting me to do what I did, but the point here is that when we tell someone we will pray for them, we need to stop what we are doing if at all possible and really pray for them. If we wait till later, we might forget unless we write it down but it’s so important to pray for them as soon as we can. I really struggle with prayer and at first I was a little leary of just taking her hand and praying for her because I had only done this once before, but God told me what to say, and it really felt like I was allowing the Holy Spirit to guide me in my words. and BTW, the time I did that before was when this person off the street came and ask me for money and said she was having a miscarriage…..the first thought that came to mind was “pray for her” so I did, and she really freaked out and later I found out she just wanted money from people which maybe I should have known but I didn’t care because all God told me to do was to pray for her.
jim spillane on January 20, 2016 at 11:14 am
Poh Fang – your comments regarding Satan were spot-on. He certainly tries to keep us busy with other things because he “trembles when he sees the weakest sinner on his knees.” Remember this about the word “b-u-s-y” – Burdened Under Satan’s Yoke. Blessings to all here at ODB.
sandy229 on January 20, 2016 at 12:20 pm
I would like to thank Poh Fang for the devotion for today and also you jim for your comments today. I never heard that one before about ” Remember this about the word “b-u-s-y” – Burdened Under Satan’s Yoke”
sandy229 on January 20, 2016 at 2:41 pm
Thank you Poh Fang for your words in today’s devotion. I can really relate, it’s just what I needed to hear today. I made myself a promise to pray every day for all of the people in ODB that leave comments requesting prayer. Then it seemed like my days got more busy even though I didn’t add anything to my daily agenda. It’s like I am thinking of more and more things to do and add to my to do list than ever before when I don’t even have a to do list. I know I probably sound crazy but that’s how it seems. Now that I have learned much from your words today and all the other comments I read here today which I read every day.
joe_w on January 20, 2016 at 3:24 pm
Thank you Poh Fang, your words hit me right between the eyes every time. God bless!