October 9, 2020
(Quickly updated September 2024)
Wishing you could jump start your prayer life? You need a “war room” for solitude? Get your prayer plan and portable war room ideas here!
Well, I did it! Created my little prayer nest. Have you thought about this? Creating a little quiet place to pray? Hang around a minute and find two ways you can get a handle on your prayer life.
(This is #2 in a series about Prayer. Links to the rest are at the end
Colossians 4:2-6 says this:
Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it, with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison — That I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
Click this image for a printable version!
How To Jump Start Your Prayer Life
If you’ve found your prayer life getting squeezed into a smaller space because of a busy life, then get over here with me. It’s discouraging.
But if there’s one thing I kept seeing over and over this week it’s this: Just get back on track. Don’t let the fact that you’re slipping cause you to quit.
What if right here in this article I gave you a very simple daily plan with
- no big requirements,
- no big time investments,
- no big restitution.
That’s what I want to show you. That you don’t have to find an extra two hours tomorrow or make up for lost time in the past.
You can probably tell that I’m super excited.
- One week ago I felt the Lord calling me to prayer.
- Every leader in my life called me to prayer.
- And even my husband called me to prayer.
In pursuing our response, we have been showered with encouragement, messages, reassurance, and guidance. I have so much to share with you. But there’s no punishment. None. Just a whole lot of help and understanding.
LET ME ASK YOU SOMETHING:
Picture this: If you and I wanted to meet for coffee, but we were too busy, we’d miss our time together. We would yearn for it. We might go a long time waiting for a day when we could actually meet. If we finally found a way to squeeze in a visit, wouldn’t that be so happy?
Here’s the question:
Would you feel the need to drink 11 cups of coffee for the ones we missed?
Me neither.
Because it’s not about the coffee.
It’s not about making up.
It’s about being together.
And we can finally do it. We wouldn’t look back and calculate the visits we didn’t have. It just doesn’t work that way.
Our meeting is an embrace, a cup of coffee (okay, probably two), and a loving conversation about the things we share, the important things in our lives.
It’s so important, I’m going to say it again:
IT’S NOT ABOUT WHAT WE MISSED.
Please, right now, forget about the number of prayers, the number of days, or the number of anything.
Somebody wants to be with you, even if it’s just a few minutes. I want to help you say yes to him.
So whatever it is in our minds that “frames” prayer as a classroom requirement, let’s lay that down.
- Just put down the report card,
- Stop with the embarrassment of the absence.
- Refuse to calculate the time you’ve spent in prayer,
- Don’t count how many days you’ve been without.
Today I’m not letting you do that. Because it isn’t going to help you.
In fact, dwelling there keeps you from getting started.
And we are going to make getting started a time of great joy, that is completely possible right now.
GETTING STARTED
Suppose you were given a very simple plan for prayer, a guide for a whole week that would fit right on one page? Suppose you had a printed plan to jump start your prayer life?
Suppose your prayers for a whole week actually used less than five minutes of your time each day?
Could you do that?
Suppose you didn’t have to get up earlier at all?
You’re with me, right?
- simple
- one page
- under five minutes
- no getting up early.
Yes, please.
THE PLAN For How To Jump Start Your Prayer Life Right Now!
A printable sheet with seven days of prayer prompts. Print it, or save it. Cut it up into cards if you like. Whatever works.
Here’s what you need to know:
- Each day, look at the one thing, the prayer prompt, and say it to the Lord. Get still, and read it carefully. It’s one sentence. Pray those words. Then spend about 30 seconds quietly. No radio, nothing. Just silence. (Sometimes there’s really only one room where that can happen…) THEN, over the rest of the day, do these things:
- Pause for 10 seconds at each meal for a silent blessing. Lord bless this food, and bless my life.
- At least twice during this day, spend 10 seconds asking God to direct your thoughts and your words.
- If you encounter something troubling (to you or to someone else), pause for 20 seconds to ask God to intervene.
Now, that’s the plan. That’s it. If you’re not praying daily, this is all you have to ask of yourself. For seven days.
And if you get off track, or skip something, just get back on. No drinking 11 cups of coffee, and I mean it. 😏
(Next week, there will be a plan for week two, different, but just as easy.)
So today, two things. The Prayer Prompts and the Portable War Room. Click the image to get your printable plan for Week 1.
Then read on for an idea on a portable “war room” for praying in solitude.
Click the image to print
WHY CREATE A SPECIAL WAR ROOM?
I’ve been reluctant for the same reasons you are. Maybe short on space or time, or even money to make it cute. Or maybe just not seeing how it would help.
But this week, I was in our family room with this going on: A television show, two appliances beeping “finished”, Mario Kart music, and Jingle Bells being sung a lot of times on some type of device. In Dutch.
I definitely don’t object to those sounds; I’m grateful for them all. I’m not unhappy in our family room. I love knowing what every person likes to do when they relax. It’s beautiful to me.
Buuut… Somehow I became convinced that a quiet corner might actually enhance my prayer life.
And I can see why this happened in Mark 1:35… Early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up and slipped out to a solitary place to pray.
I think it’s possible every single word there has a lesson.
He prayed in the morning.
Would we typically define “early” as before 9:00?
The note of darkness assures us it is much earlier.
And he slipped out which indicates he didn’t announce or invite. And he had a purpose.
People, if Jesus had to get alone and pray, so do we.
MY PORTABLE WAR ROOM
It worked. My plan for using a display board. I almost felt guilty for the time I spent planning it, but I kept remembering War Room and the word strategy and took the time to actually think about what I was trying to set up, and how it would work. Those thoughts were so helpful, and I encourage you to invest in preparation — whether or not you do a ‘project.’ 🙂
I picked up a display board (okay, two of them) at Hobby Lobby and some glue dots. (Don’t I sound like a crafter?!) I ended up also using squirt Elmers glue from my own stash, as well as a bit of scrapbook paper and stickers from projects that I had in a bin. To be honest, I actually made two boards. I made one for GrandDaddy. (He was happy, so I didn’t tell him that his was the “practice” one. Well, I sure didn’t want to mess up mine!)
Here’s how the board helps.
I can clear an area of my desk and put this in front of me. All those unfinished tasks and stacks of projects are hidden. I can’t even look out the window. It is amazing what this small thing has done to calm my anxiousness and focus my attention. I have simply put things on the board that help me. Some of the Scripture Memory Tools, some prayer methods which I will share next week, and some bookmarks with scripture. I made a very rudimentary prayer journal from notebook paper and a folder. Which is working beautifully.
The board is a small thing, but it does effectively shut out the rest of the world for my prayer time.
Take A Look At The Project
I’ll show you the pictures. They won’t be impressive, but I promise you they have served well. Combined with the journal, which holds several printed resources I’ve collected, it’s working.
Pretty “bare bones” right? That’s okay. The hour or so I spent preparing them gave me a lot of time to think about my “strategy” and was definitely a part of the process.
I’m sure I’ll be pasting other stuff to it as time goes on.
The point of sharing?
To remind myself (and you) that we need to PLAN and PREPARE, which are elements I have often skipped. (Another lesson from War Room.)
And another point:
To be honest and say it doesn’t have to be perfect to serve. Just like us, right?
Last week was the introduction to this whole prayer project; the title I used was How To Pray When You Can’t Focus.
Surprise: I’m among many who have written about this. What I have found is that many people are struggling with this. 152 million, according to Google. If you find another article that speaks more directly to your situation, please let me know. For instance…
EVEN BETTER, ANOTHER RESOURCE
This article, by Gina Poirier, called “How To Pray When You Just Can’t Focus“.
What a great title! 😄 Friends, she has presented the article I wish I had written. A perfectly accurate description of my struggle, and 10 actionable steps that make it all okay. Please look. Especially if you’re a busy mom. She is spot on.
If you’re wanting more, hooray! Here’s more: An article from Desiring God called God Answers Better Than We Ask by David Mathis. A beautiful explanation of the way God’s answer to our prayer is always bigger, better, bolder. A good reminder that we don’t have to guess the outcome. We just have to ask. He will handle the method and the results.
Thanks for being here, and listening/reading.
I’m glad you’re here for the Prayer series.
Here are the posts:
- How To Pray When You Can’t Focus.
- (This post, How to Jump Start Your Prayer Life)
- How to Add Prayer To Your Busy Day .
- Six Prayer Methods to help structure your prayer time.
- How To Pray In Public without nervousness.
- There’s another post, with a printable list of prayers focusing on our Nation and the Church: How To Pray For The Election.
Be sure you heard the message:
- Get off the treadmill of ‘not doing it right’ and make a change.
- Discard any nagging false need to ‘make up the time’ and begin.
- Start small, grab whatever moments of silence you can, and experience the delight of time with our Savior.
See you next week, right? 😘
Thank you for visiting! At GFP company is always welcome!
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-Grammye
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