5 Ways to Spruce Up Your Prayer Life
"5 Ways to Spruce Up your Prayer Life" By: Jason Rhymer October
2005
Ok, a quick show of hands of "good Christian folk" who have
nodded off while praying. Come on get those hands up! Well, I'm
guilty too and as a youth volunteer, this can be your demise
unless you can make some aspects of being a Christian exciting.
Here are 5 techniques that I've used to get youth focused and
excited about talking to God.
1. Prayer is an ACTION! - This is a good way to give some
structure to a prayer if someone feels intimidated or unsure of
what to say to God. "A" stands for adoration. Think about when
you were a teen and you needed money from your parents. You
didn't just go up to them and say, "Hey, can I have some money?"
NO! You "butter them up" a little first and brag on what a great
parent they are. God wants that same kind of attention. I like
opening prayers by establishing our relationship. God is first
and great and mighty, so spend the first few moments lifting Him
up. "C" is for confession. Let's go back to the money analogy
from above. After you praise your parents, then you would often
interject something like this, "I know I didn't keep my room
very clean this week, but I promise I will do better." God wants
to hear what you have been doing wrong and what you will do
about it. Sure he already knows what you are doing, but it's all
about your recognition and what you are going to do about it.
"T" stands for thanksgiving. Offer some thanks for your health,
friends, family, freedoms, mentors, luxuries, etc. "I" is for
invitation. Invite God into your life. This is the time to ask
God to help you with that "big thing" that might have been the
whole reason you decided to pray in the first place. But take it
one step further. Invite Him to not only help you with whatever
you are praying about, but to be your friend, guide, and savior.
"O" represents other's needs. Now it's time to think of all
those special people in your life and offer up some good
thoughts about them. I think "other's" could also mean places,
events, or other things. "N" is for next step. This is the most
forgotten part of any prayer. We ask God to do this and that,
but we never wait to just listen for a response. We need to give
God a chance to respond back, and it may not happen immediately.
However, finishing a prayer with some quiet, thoughtless
meditation gives God the chance to tug on your heart and tell
you what to do next.
2. The CSI Prayer - Have you ever seen one of the 14 versions of
CSI (Crime Scene Investigation) on CBS? Well, I admit I don't
watch it regularly, but I do like this one type of scene that
shows up in every show. Here's what happens: two investigators
walk into a room where a murder was just committed and one says
to the other, "Hmm, looks like a murder. I wonder who did it."
At that time the camera zooms down to the floor to show a hair
follicle left by the killer. The camera focuses you on the one
piece of evidence they will need to solve the crime. Focus is
the key to the CSI prayer. Too often our prayers are too big
and global. We want to always pray for world peace and the
millions who are poverty stricken. Those prayers are great, but
sometimes it is good to focus on the smallest detail of what's
really troubling you. I used my father's forearm as an example
with our youth group. My dad is a skin cancer survivor, but he
has had multiple surgeries on his left forearm. He lives about 3
hours away, so for my CSI prayer, my mind zoomed across the
miles and I could picture him sitting at the kitchen table and I
was only focusing on his left forearm. Don't be afraid to be too
specific with your prayers.
3. Popcorn Prayer - Here's a fun way to add some randomness to
your prayer life. You may have several thoughts or concerns that
you want to pray about, but you're just not sure how to put them
in order. Let chance be your friend. Write down on slips of
paper 5 people you really care about (a different slip for each
person), a couple of your favorite verses, maybe a favorite
quote or saying, 2 or 3 big issues in your life, and any thing
else you want to pray about. Now take all of those slips and
toss them into a hat or cup. Start your prayer and every few
seconds pull out a slip. This is also a good technique to add to
the "O" (other's needs) part of tip #1 from above.
4. Make it funny - Whoever said that prayer always has to be
serious has never worked with youth. It only takes one "gas
release" or gurgly stomach to make the most serious moment a
real laugher. Understand that you can be funny without being
disrespectful. After all, God gave us humor and if you ask most
people, it is the number one thing they look for in potential
friends. Humor also gives us an easy way to be true with
ourselves. Have you ever noticed how crying and laughing are
closely related to each other and they can often occur in the
same setting? Often our short comings and problems that cause us
sadness can be better coped with if we can laugh about them. The
other day, I was driving down the road and praying (my most
frequent praying time) and I just blurted out to God, "Wow, God,
sometimes I really stink at my job!" I immediately laughed at my
honesty with myself and it was a great stress reliever from my
hard day. My wife was raised Catholic and when we first started
dating, she was amazed at how I made-up prayers. We laugh about
it now, but there is a certain 'improvisation" to praying that
can be intimidating. Relax! It is ok to laugh when you pray.
5. Change your location - This is a no-brainer! If you always
pray in the same place at the same time with the same words,
then an easy way to spruce up your prayer life is to change your
environment. Some of my most memorable prayer times have been
outside taking in all of God's great creation. In fact, maybe my
most memorable was by a river in Tennessee. Mountain TOP
(Tennessee Outreach Project) is a special mission trip that our
church does every year. One year, I had an opportunity to lead a
prayer for about 30 youth and adults down by the river at one of
our evening worship services. I told everyone that they would
pray many times in their life with their eyes closed and heads
bowed, but tonight was going to be different. I said to look at
the stars above, and look out over the river, and look into the
eyes of your neighbor while I prayed, because we wouldn't be in
this place together again. I received a letter a few weeks later
from one of the youth talking about that prayer and I will
cherish it forever. Eye contact can have a huge impact on your
prayer. Dr. Julian Aldridge was the minister at Myers Park
United Methodist Church when we joined. He would occasionally
give the benediction while he was walking down the aisle to the
back of the church. He would make eye contact with a few
congregants along the way and it always gave me chills. What a
cool way to end a service!
And I hope this is a cool way to end my article! I hope you
have enjoyed it and that these tips can have an impact on your
relationship with God. Shoot me an email to
rhymerfitness@carolina.rr.com if you found it helpful. Take care
and God bless!