this habit will change your life
Nearly five years ago, I passed my drivers test and got my driver’s license. I was finally feeling I was growing up and becoming independent.
Shortly after getting my license, I realized that I had a lot of time in the car. Every time I hopped into the car, I’d plug my phone in and let a random playlist shuffle. After awhile I thought… “I need to concentrate on driving, but I feel like I could use this time in the car better.”
That’s when I decided to start praying while I drive. Now, don't worry — this isn’t distracted driving. But now, every time I hop into the car, I know that it’s time to pray. Sometimes it’s for five minutes and sometimes it’s for thirty minutes. But no matter how long it may be, it’s helped praying become a habit — a life changing habit that I cherish, protect, prioritize and remember.
WHY IS IT SO HARD TO PRAY?
Let’s be honest — most of us want to pray, right? Most of the time, we want to pray and we mean to pray. We mean well, but often times, there isn’t much follow through. I’m guilty of this too, friend… believe me. So why doesn’t prayer happen even though we want it to?
When we don’t pray… it’s because something else has our attention.
Work… husbands… boyfriends… friendships… social media…
Now, all of these things are good but when they consume our every minute and every thought — it doesn’t leave much room for prayer. Life becomes “too busy” for a conversation with God to have a moment of our time. Although car time is my prayer time, I’m not perfect at following through 100% of the time. When I’m going about my day, social media, friendships, school work and sleep steal my attention, I end up filling the majority of my day with temporary thrills. Slowly, praying gets put in the backseat and spending time with God becomes an afterthought.
It’s easy to forget that praying is just doing life with God.
It’s easy to treat prayer like a “to-do” list, something that we have to do to be a good Christian. It’s easy to feel forced to do it without any excitement or love for our Father. But when Jesus was on earth, He literally prayed while He was crying, in pain and more. He was in constant communication with His Father. He knew that He needed to talk to His Father to thrive and survive. Shouldn’t we want that too?!
REDEFINING PRAYER
Raise your hand if you’ve ever thought of praying as a RIGID — INTENSE — STRICT thing? Raise your hand if you’ve ever thought that praying was a formula and if you didn’t do it “perfectly”, God wouldn’t hear you or wouldn’t be pleased with you.
It’s time to debunk those thoughts! No formula or script is necessary to pray to the Lord. When Jesus was praying before His death, He was in pain, crying and sweating! Job, at one point in his life, was sitting in garbage as he cried out to God! When we realize that prayer is merely a conversation with our Heavenly Father, the atmosphere changes.
The only thing that God asks of us when we pray is to keep our priorities straight. Matthew 6:9-15 tells us that the most important thing to acknowledge when we talk to God is His power & authority. When we come to Him with a humble heart, recognizing His wisdom & power, everything is put in perspective. Our personal requests and desires are free to follow after starting with love & respect for Him.
IT’S JUST A HEART-TO-HEART
Once we realize that prayer is simply a conversation with our Father, everything changes. No matter what we’re going through, no matter what we’re struggling with or what we need — God wants to talk to us. He’s just aching for us to come to Him and pour out our hearts about everything (Philippians 4:6).
Think about it this way: How do you deepen your relationship with a friend? You keep in regular communication with them and be willing to share your heart. The same applies here! Deep intimacy in prayer only comes when there’s action. Prayer is one of the most valuable habits to cultivate because it gets you closer to God and His will for your life.
When we stop thinking about prayer as a “to-do” or a “chore”… we are free to see it as a gift to talk to the Creator of the Universe! When we reframe our thinking and see it as an opportunity to go deeper with our Father, we can come just as we are and pour out our hearts.
Over the years, God has helped me see prayer as a gift and it has been life changing. He’s helped me find opportunities to talk to Him throughout my day. Yeah, my prayers may be messy, jumbled or even emotional at times but that doesn’t matter. God wants our hearts and our attention — however He can get it.
When I pray, I just talk let my heart RUN. I praise Him for who He is and how He’s shown up in my life. I talk about things I’m thankful for, events I’m excited/nervous about and more. Sometimes the prayers are all smiles and joy but some are filled with tears and sorrow. When I pray for the hard things in my life & others lives, I feel almost desperate. But that’s the beauty.
“Prayer is praise, but prayer is also desperation — recognizing that we can’t do it on our own, but we can call on Someone who can.”
Prayer is just as much about listening as it is talking. When you’re praying, be very open and mindful to how God may speak to YOU. Keep your spiritual ears open and ready for how He may move in you.
FORMING THE HABIT
Although I said that my car time is my prayer time, I’ve been working on praying EVERYWHERE. Some days there’s a really good playlist on Spotify and I don’t pray in the car. Thankfully… prayer can be done anytime and anywhere!
Conversations with Jesus aren’t limited to our cars, cubicles or gyms. Let prayer flow over into your everyday life — grocery shopping, chores and makeup time. I like to call this “living in prayer mode.”
When God does something amazing in your life, stop what you’re doing (or multitask) and send up a quick “thank you note” up to God!
When you’re struggling with something during your day, let yourself get emotional at His feet and let Him reassure you of His love and provision.
When anxiety hits in the middle of school, close your eyes or remove yourself from the classroom for a moment and meet with God.
When you can’t speak out loud but you want to pray, write it down in your phone notes or on a spare piece of paper. God can meet you in those moments too!
The list goes on. If you’re desperate to cultivate this habit and get closer to God, just pray and ask God to help you pray. That seems a little redundant, but nothing makes our Father happier than knowing that His children want to be with Him. Keep the communication open with God 24/7. Don’t complicate it. Just talk from your heart and send it to His.
