Offer prayers and petitions in the Spirit all the time. Stay alert by hanging in there and praying for all believers. – Ephesians 6:18 (CEB)
Finding a regular routine for prayer is always a challenge for me, as it seems to be for most people. It is not resistance to the idea of prayer that is the issue. It is allowing the space for it in the midst of all the things that need done each day. I have tried all sort of tricks over the years; most of them work for a little while, whether that is a few days, a few weeks, or a few months. At one time, for instance, I used to always write “Pray” at the top of my daily task list. It seemed like a good idea, and I did it for a few years. Yet within the first month I began to notice that when I looked at my “to-do” list, I no longer even noticed that top line. My mind had decided that “pray” was more like heading than an actual item on the list. That is actually decent theology, as all of our work is a type of prayer. Yet it did not help at all with my intention, which was to make sure to stop for a few minutes each day to intentionally focus on prayer.
In recent years, I have found physical actions to set aside some time for prayer to be more helpful. In my office I have a small water fountain that I can plug in, as well as a metal lantern in which I can put a tea light candle. I have found that if I have both a candle lit and the fountain going, it gives my desk a more prayerful atmosphere. The act of both turning on the fountain and lighting the candle breaks me out of my routine enough to recognize the time as more prayerful. I still go about getting tasks done with those two things happening, but having the fire and the water gives the area of my desk a different feel so that my time working is also recognized as prayerful. It works fairly well, though I do not remember to do it as frequently as I would hope. When I bought the big box of tea light candles, I would have expected to be through most of the box by now yet I am not even close. Nonetheless, incorporating physical actions and the physical space does help.
What hacks do you use to set aside time as prayerful? Perhaps it is a time for focused prayer, or perhaps ways to make the tasks you already do be recognized as a form of prayer. Do you have ways that work for you? Do you try out new ones regularly so that you don’t start to tune out the reminders? Praying regularly is harder than it sounds. It takes not only dedication but also creativity. Hang in there, keep working at it.Check back next week for a devotion.