This past Sunday, while working our way through John 15 and Jesus’ command to “remain in him”, we talked about some ways to develop a life of prayer.

While prayer is one of the most rewarding things I ever do, it is also one of the most difficult things for me personally. And that is often the case—things that are very rewarding are often very difficult!

So to help us (and me!) cultivate a life of prayer in this New Year, I put together these 5 tips. Whether you’ve never prayed before or you pray somewhat regularly, I hope the following guidelines serve to aid you in growing in the practice of prayer.

  1. The Gospel Enables a Life of Prayer

First, for Christians, the initial truth to remember is this: we don’t have to pray…we get to pray, and that is only because of what Jesus did for us on the cross. Before the cross, we were separated from God because of our sin. But through the cross, Jesus forgave us and reconciled us with God. The best news ever is that we can “come boldly to the throne” of God again when we come to him in repentance and humility.

Tim Keller says, “We can pray because God is our loving Father, because Christ is our mediator giving us access to the throne of the universe, and because the Spirit himself indwells us.”

  1. Real Change is the Purpose of Prayer

It can be easy to read a passage like John 15:7 (ask whatever you want and it will be done for you) and begin to think of prayer like Aladdin thought of the genie–like prayer is just rubbing the lamp so you can ask for literally anything you want!

But Mark Batterson says this about the purpose of prayer:

Can our prayers change our circumstances? Absolutely! But when our circumstances don’t change, it’s often an indication that God is trying to change us. The primary purpose of prayer is not to change circumstances; the primary purpose of prayer is to change us! But either way, the chief objective remains the same: to glorify God in any and every situation.

Prayer is meant, first and foremost, to change our desires and bring them into alignment with God’s.

  1. Privacy is the Place of Prayer

When it comes to practical steps to cultivate a life of prayer, an often overlooked one is finding a private place in which you can pray. Some have called this their “secret place”, or a “prayer closet.” It just refers to a place you can go regularly to have an open and honest conversation with God. While you can theoretically pray anywhere, having a quiet private place to focus is so important to building a life of prayer.

Matthew 6:6 in the Message Translation says this: “Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.”

  1. Scripture is the Vocabulary for Prayer

Have you ever gone to pray, and right as you begin, you find that you have nothing to say? You want to pray, but you can’t find the words?

Author & Pastor Eugene Peterson said that the starting point for prayer must be immersion in God’s Word. It is only by immersion in the language of the Bible that we learn to pray.

In Scripture, God speaks to us. From scripture, and through prayer, we learn to speak back to God.

Bible Reading is never complete until you turn what you have read into a prayer. On top of that, the Bible is full of prayers that you can use as models for your own prayers, such as The Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6…

  1. The Lord’s Prayer is the Model for Prayer

Pete Greig says that, “The Lord’s prayer is simple enough to be memorized by small children and yet profound enough to sustain a whole lifetime of prayer.”

Martin Luther once instructed his barber to pray like this: “After meditating on Scripture, pray through each petition of the Lord’s prayer, paraphrasing and personalizing each one using your own needs and concerns.”

The Lord’s Prayer is often my own launching point for prayer. After reading my Bible, I’ll turn to Matthew 6 and go line by line through the Lord’s prayer, putting it in my own words for that day.

So here is the prayer challenge:

  1. First, thank God that we get to come to him in prayer.
  2. Realize that prayer is often more about changing you than your circumstances.
  3. Find a private place you can go to regularly to pray.
  4. Open your Bible to Matthew 6:9-13. (The Lord’s Prayer)
  5. Pray through it, voicing your own prayer back to God.

I hope that our church becomes more of a praying church—a church that realizes that “apart from Him, we can do nothing.” That’s why we are beginning corporate prayer meetings on Mondays of this year, and why we are pushing you individually to foster a life of prayer!