The Importance of Prayer
The word “prayer,” or various other words like “pray,” praying,” et cetera, is mentioned over 350 times in the Bible. At least 38 specific occasions of Jesus praying are recorded in the Gospels. Another person in the Bible known to have been incredibly devoted to prayer was Daniel.
10 Daniel always prayed to God three times every day. Three times every day, he bowed down on his knees to pray and praise God. Even though Daniel heard about the new law, he still went to his house to pray. He went up to the upper room of his house and opened the windows that faced toward Jerusalem. Then Daniel bowed down on his knees and prayed just as he always had done.
Daniel 6:10 NIV
It’s very important to realize how important prayer is in our lives. It’s not just talking to God; it’s having a conversation with Him. But, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s always easy.
I’ve heard of people who pray for hours on end. This is incredible, but it’s obviously not something most of us are able to do, certainly including me. Even if you or myself aren’t able to do this, it’s important to realize that prayer is still very important, no matter how “good” or “bad” you think you are at it. It’s not about the length of prayer; it’s about connecting with God. Prayer provides us a way to speak with God anytime, anywhere. It’s a way to receive comfort, shed our burdens, and grow closer to our creator.
Just because prayer has so many benefits doesn’t mean that it’s always easy to do. So, I’m here to propose a few ways to help improve your prayer habits in a way that allows you not to be overwhelmed, and allows you to reflect.
- Try reading a daily devotional. Find one that goes for an entire year and stick to reading it every night. Then, when you’re done reading each day, summarize what you’ve just read in your mind and quickly speak to God about it.
- Start reading a spiritual book. The first way to improve prayer habits is to improve your relationship with God. Reading a Christian book allows Him to become a more prevalent piece of your life. Commit to reading a small designated amount every day.
- Write about it. Find a verse that you like in the Bible and write a sentence or two about it. Don’t overwhelm yourself — your goal is for this to be a gradual, consistent change.
- Build slow. For me, I was able to, through a devotional, slowly strengthen my relationship with Jesus. It took me over a year before I even became aware of some of my own questions I had, which really has allowed me to begin to strengthen my relationship.
- Be consistent. No matter how you’re working to improve, be consistent about it. Sure, reading a devotional a couple of minutes every day might not seem like a big change, or writing down one sentence. But over time, this builds up. You might begin to read a few devotionals, or will begin to write four sentences, or even a couple of paragraphs. For some, it might take a few months to make this change. For some it might take years, like it did (and still is doing) for me. The length of time doesn’t matter. Just stick with whatever you’re doing and be intentional about it; your goal will arrive eventually.
Building a connection with Jesus is the primary factor in our closeness with Him. Once we build this bridge, we’re able to continually widen it and better our relationship. Prayer is this bridge.
During construction, is a bridge built in a day? No. Did Daniel, just one day, decide to begin praying three times a day in the incredible fashion he did? Surely not. It takes slow, gradual, intentional work. And that’s okay. It doesn’t matter how long it takes, as long as we’re moving towards our goal.
And what is that goal, you may ask? It’s simple: To live and reveal God’s Kingdom to others through everything we do. Prayer is the start.
Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
