Cultivating a Life of Enjoyable Prayer {Teen Edition}

As a teenager, I can imagine that you juggle various activities such as school, work, family, relationships, and church.

So how do you remain consistent in your daily devotions with God and cultivate a life of enjoyable prayer when your life is so busy?

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances;
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ESV

The first thing to consider is that prayer is not some mystical language that you speak to an unknown god way up in the sky. Prayer is communication between you and the Living God.  He desires you!  As you give your heart to Him in prayer, He in turn gives you His heart. Prayer should be enjoyable, not burdensome.

5 Simple Steps to Help You Enjoy Praying

Below are five steps you can take to begin to cultivate a life of enjoyable prayer, even amidst your busy schedule:

1.  Pray continuously.

This does not mean that you spend hours a day on your knees before God.  What this does mean is that you posture your heart before God in such a way that you remain in an attitude of prayer at all times.  When we continually set our gaze on Jesus, it takes off the pressure of “doing prayer” as you find yourself “being with the Lord in prayer.”

2.  Pray from a place of thanksgiving.

I realize not every day will be a good day. You may be faced with some pretty tough circumstances, and you may not always feel thankful.  But when we learn to pray from the place of thanksgiving, God becomes bigger, our problems become smaller and our attention is focused once again on Jesus, rather than on our circumstances.

3.  Talk to the Lord like you would a friend.

You do not have to use big words in order to reach God’s heart.  He created you, and He loves your voice, so use our own words when you communicate with Him.  Instead of “O Most Holy God in heaven, please grant to me your wisdom and revelation and open my understanding to this situation,”  try this, “God, I really need your help with this situation.  Will you help me to see clearly what I need to see so that I can understand your heart?” And when all else fails, try this, “Jesus, help me!”  Short, sweet, and to the point.  No extra fluff necessary.

4.  Journal.

I cannot stress enough the importance of writing down not only what you feel the Lord speaking to you as you pray, but also writing down your prayers. Sometimes it’s easier to pour out our hearts more openly as we write.  God understands how we are wired.  If you need to write your prayers and then pray them back to God, by all means do so. Your journal will be something that you revisit often as you go back to reflect on all that God has done in your life and how He has answered your prayers!

5.  Be consistent, be flexible!

Cultivating a consistent and enjoyable prayer life takes time.  Try setting aside the first 15 minutes of your day to be with the Lord in prayer. Once you’ve accomplished that, add another 15 minutes, and so on.  While being consistent in prayer is important, at the same time it’s okay to be flexible.  Prayer should never be religion based — something we do because we have to.  Prayer must always be relationship based — something we do simply out of the overflow of our love relationship with Jesus.

We get to commune with the God of the universe in prayer!  How cool is that?  If something comes up during your scheduled prayer time, move it.  And remember, you can always fall back on step number one: pray continuously.

Be encouraged!  You can have a consistent and enjoyable prayer life, even with a busy schedule.

So what step will you try first?

Be sure to download our FREE resource on prayer for even more encouragement on cultivating a prayer life.

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