As Christians we sometimes underestimate the power of prayer in our lives. I certainly did before joining Lead Prayer at Freshley and Wesley here at UGA. I’ve learned that you cannot grow in your relationship with God without dialogue- listening to a few sermons a month just won’t cut it. How is He supposed to know what’s on your heart if you’re not communicating where you’re at in life? Now, I’m not suggesting that you pray all day every day (unless you’re that person), but I’m going to suggest 5 ways to easily improve your prayer life based on what I’ve been being taught these past few months. You may be shocked at how we misunderstand the prayer world. And why should we care about prayer? We should care about prayer because it is the one way we truly get to know who God is and the one way He truly gets to know us.

1. Drop the Christian Clichés. Don’t Overthink It.

Sometimes we get caught up in the idea that we should be praying long, exaggerative phrases to God that include big Christian clichés like “Lord cast your blessings over this town and anoint us all with grace and purity blah blah blah…”. Frankly, I feel like people pray this way to sound like they’ve got it all together. Prayer should be honed in on the meaning of the words you say, not how fancy you sound. Make your prayers simple. Make your prayers matter. Don’t fear prayer because of the idea that you have to sound like the Pope (no offense to the guy). Every person prays differently outwardly and inwardly. The more honest your words are, the more you’ll mean them and TAH-DAH! The more you will get out of your prayers because you’re being sincere.

2. Pray for God’s character, not for circumstances.

In Acts 1:6-8 Jesus tells his disciples it’s not their job to know the times or dates of actions yet to take place. Sometimes we pray for God to make situations work out in our favor at a certain time and in a certain way. Rather, we should be praying for God to handle our circumstance how He sees fit. His character is what we should ultimately trust. Praying for earthly circumstances rarely works out the way we plan. Why? Because we are not the master planner of every event of this earth to ever occur- God is. That’s why praying for His will to be done is so key. Praying for our Creator over His creation will prevent you from being let down in your prayer life, and it will instead build your trust.

3. Find your place, not your time.

Finding one place where it is comfortable for you to pray instead of one set time for you to pray is much more realistic because it prevents inconsistency. What I mean is, if you find that praying in your car feels best, that’s great because you can always go to that place at any time. However, if you vow to wake up everyday at 7:30am to pray, sooner or later you’ll oversleep and give up on that discipline, fall out of prayer and get discouraged. Find a place you’re near daily. Find a place where you feel confident in being alone an vulnerable with God; a place where you can be you. This way you can’t make excuses (unless you forget to lock your car and… you can figure out the rest).

4. Worship.

Worshiping is a form of prayer because worship itself is simply you celebrating who God is and what He’s done in your life. Intently and purposefully listening to a worship song could easily be your prayer for that day because there is truth in the praises you’re singing. I don’t know about you, but sometimes songs communicate where I am in my life better than I can myself. Don’t neglect worship’s power in praising God- go completely Glee on prayer and you can be the Rachel Berry of prayer. Also, you’d be surprised how listening to worship music while journaling and praying to God fuels your prayers in a more enriching way. So worship on.

5. Prayer is a two way street.

You can gush to God all day long about what’s on your heart through prayer, however, prayer is a conversation and conversation involves 2+ mediums. God loves to hear from you, but you have to be listening out for Him, too. In Wesley’s series “God With Us” (click here to listen) , I learned that God’s voice is not a big booming voice speaking to us through some golden clouds in the sky. The most common way God’s voice can be heard through our simplest of thoughts. The sermon continues in saying that Gad can even speak to us through images, feelings, friends and dreams. Don’t deprive yourself from the opportunity of hearing the valuable things God has to say to you by thinking He isn’t always speaking to you. He is always communicating with you. Be still at a point during your prayer time and some way, somehow, I guarantee you’ll hear Him.

So be intentional, pray for His character, find your place, worship and listen. Don’t over underestimate prayer’s power and don’t overestimate God’s way of speaking to you. Prayer is there for us to have a better relationship with God. I hope sharing what I’ve learned helps fuel your prayer life in some way or another. You can do it! (P.S. shameless plug- Wesley. Tate Grand Hall. Wednesdays. 8pm. See you there. Happy praying!)