We are busy, aren’t we? There are so many things to do in a day! Kingdom things like discipling people, practical things like going to work, necessary things like making dinner. When do we have time to pray?

“It’s not about spending more time praying, but becoming people of prayer and developing cultures of prayer wherever God plants us.” Paul shared this during this week’s webinar, as well as several other encouraging, challenging, and practical pieces of wisdom.

 

Prayer is a theme God gave me in the second half of last year. It also happens to be our theme for 2017 here at Contagious Disciple Making. God has been faithful to teach me so much and these are a few things He has been teaching me about becoming a person of prayer.

Realize it is worth it.
What would you give in exchange to see a disciple making movement happen? A couple cups of coffee? A couple episodes of Project Runway All Stars? Hours and hours of your life? Paul also shared in the webinar a story about ‘crazy prayer.’ The common theme among the movements they saw was devotion to prayer-lots of it. (For the whole story, and several great insights, check out the webinar here: https://www.contagiousdisciplemaking.com/collections/all-resources/products/praying-for-disciple-making-movements. I recommend it highly!)

I exchange my time for many things. At the end of my life, what do I want to show for it? A pile of TV shows? I’m not anti-TV. It is important to relax, and I love a good story. But I can definitely make a sacrifice for the sake of some people that could fall in love with Jesus. The sacrifice is worth it. And when I don’t feel like it is…

Ask and you shall receive.
Ask God to make you willing.
Ask him to show you what is on his heart. Ask him what he wants you to ask him for.

Create triggers for yourself.
Get creative. Set an alarm at that time of day where you usually have a few quiet minutes. Coffee break, rush hour traffic, or that time where you usually go to Facebook. Attach prayer topics to places or tasks. Put a picture of an unreached people group on your dash so you can pray on your way to work. Put a scripture on your mirror so you can pray while you brush your teeth. Pray for your cousin every time you use the microwave or the coffee pot. Contact us. I’m sure we can come up with something that fits your context!

Practice Praying now.
When you read that prayer request in your e-mail or Facebook group, stop scrolling and pray right away. Make a commitment to say yes & pray, even if it is only 30 seconds. You can build on that. You can’t build on, “I’ll do it later.” When you have a conversation with someone, and you hear yourself saying, “I’ll pray for you,” follow it up with, “Can we do that right now?” This one takes some getting used to. It is also one that I’m working on right now. I have prayed for a few more people this week. But mostly I’m noticing when I don’t. It is a start.

Remember to Celebrate.
Celebrate the little things. I prayed for 2 more people this week! Yes! Did you pray only 5 minutes today? Celebrate! That is 5 minutes of prayer that wouldn’t have happened otherwise. Getting down on yourself and that negativity is the quickest way to keep yourself from going at it again the next day!

Take one thing on this list and give it a try. Small incremental changes over time can lead to dramatic results!