Imagine prayer; what do you think of? Someone on their knees at the end of their bed? Grace said before a meal? Prayers said by people in the bible like Jesus or King Solomon?
Prayer is all of these things and more. But one thing it is, is essential.
It’s important to keep prayer at the centre of our lives, it’s the way we communicate with our loving father.
Imagine a friendship or relationship with a family member, what would that be like if you didn’t talk or listen to them? How do we share our funny moments, the day’s events & receive guidance or comfort? By communicating!
It’s the same with God, our form of communication to Him is prayer. Without it, our relationship with Him will suffer. Prayer is how we tell Him about our fears, hopes & thoughts and we get to hear Him speak into our lives.
One of the great things I’ve discovered about prayer is that prayer can look different to each of us; some people may go for a walk in the park to chat to God, whilst another person may write prayers to Him through poetry.
If you think about it, we have many ways today that we can communicate; text, letter, Twitter, Skype, meet up for coffee, the list goes on. And it’s the same with prayer; there are different ways you can connect with God. We are all unique, we have our God-given gifts, likes, and strengths that can help us to make prayer personal & meaningful.
Here are some ideas on how you can make prayer personal to you:
Knowing you, knowing your prayer life
To make prayer personal, you have to know, well, the person that is you! Think about your the things you love and what you are good at. What do you enjoy doing in your spare time? How can that be included in to prayer? Ask God for insight in to who you are & what makes you tick, He knows everything there is to know about you! It could be anything from going for a run, art, listening to music, to just having a coffee with God in Starbucks.
Get inspiration
There is tons of inspiration & resources to help you pray; a quick search online shows: prayer colouring books, journals, books on creative prayer (I have read Becca Dean’s Be Live Pray & it was great), podcasts, guided prayer walks, gratitude lists & creative prayer stations. I also always recommend searching on Pinterest for more ideas. And ask your heavenly Father! He will have some suggestions – just look at the way He asked Joshua & the people to take Jericho in Joshua 6.
Make it a habit, give it time
Some things take time to become habit, so keep on at your personal prayer time. Set alarms on your phone, write post it notes on your mirror/wall/fridge, get a friend to text you or pick a time of the day that you will remember (my time at the moment is in the evening before I go to bed. I usually make a cup of tea, read the bible & chat to God about my day or journal it). And the beauty of personal prayer is you can change it up & create new activities. Keep praying and keep personalising it. You will feel its effects as you connect more with God!
I hope these ideas inspire you to give personal prayer a go; share your ideas & stories on social media!
