An Intentional Prayer Life

By: Grace Metzger 

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. 

Colossians 4:2

Recently I saw a TikTok about a movie I saw years ago and it prompted me to try to rewatch. The War Room was an amazing movie about building a strong prayer life and watching it would change your life. I love the movie, but every time I watch it I start to think, is my prayer life as strong as it should be?

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.
 With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

Ephesians 6:18

Sure, I pray for my meals, I pray at church, and I even pray when I see an accident on the road. But am I truly praying on all occasions? Am I lifting my requests to God or am I simply doing this out of habit? Doing things in my walk with God out of habit is probably one of my biggest struggles. I grew up in a very Christian household, with parents who taught me to pray for every meal. It's not even something I have to think about. But what ends up happening to me is I get into a habit and I never actually use my prayers to grow my relationship with God. I'm not praying for Him to help me with my struggles, I'm not praying in thanksgiving. I am simply praying because it's something that I'm supposed to be doing.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition,

with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which

 transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

There are more benefits to prayer then I can even list off. I challenged myself the last few weeks to spend time in intentional prayer with God, even if it's a five minutes while I'm driving to work. I noticed a big difference in my life from just that, from being more patient to feeling more peace. The effects it's had on my life have been big! 

I challenge you this week to spend some intentional time with God, start with five minutes a day. If you can spend hours on social media then I know you can find five minutes a day to spend in prayer. But spend a week in prayer and then come back to take note of what effects you're seeing from it. Has it changed the way you're approaching issues? Are you in a more peaceful mindset? Have any of your needs or the needs of those you prayed about been answered? Whatever the change might be, take a note of what changes you see and how it can improve your life!

Discussion Question:

What has helped in your prayer life in the past?