Luke 18:1

'And He spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;

I remember while growing up , it is common to hear people singing this song in church,

Prayer is the key, prayer is the key, prayer is the master key, Jesus started with prayer and ended with prayer, prayer is the master key.

This song talks about how important praying is, but as I began to grow up, I realized that although prayer is so important, but there are times when I find myself not praying for a long time despite knowing how important it is to pray.

There are times when amidst the hustle bustle of life and living, you suddenly wake up to realize that the last time you prayed alone was three months ago.

Prayerlessness  might be due to a lot of things like a change in environment, a new assignment, a new schedule or even a change in status (from a single to a married individual), but no excuse is ever worth giving. Like every worthwhile project, prayer needs a measure of discipline.

There are times when things we never planned for might just begin to crop into our daily schedules and before we realize it, it has been days, weeks or months since we really pray. While some of us might still be able to whisper some words of prayer as we take our bath, or a plus Jesus minus Satan kind of prayer as we are locking the door of our apartment on our way out. 

It is usually to the devil’s delight when we don’t spend time in prayer, as he knows what we stand to gain by talking to God and what we loose out of when we get too busy to pray. Prayerlessness makes you become more cranky, easily annoyed, more prone to anger and other vices, this is possible because when you don't pray your flesh becomes stronger and your spirit becomes weaker, but to make sure that the devil isn’t wining this battle against your soul, then we must be very disciplined in this regard.

I know how easy it is to pray, it is more easy to listen to songs, listen to messages, and some other times even read the bible than it is to pray.

While some of us enjoy studying the bible to praying, but they must both go hand-in-hand if we will ever be able to fully live the God-kind-of-life here on earth.

So to jump back to praying after a long break;

 

1.     Admit That You Haven’t Been Faithful

To thy own self be true.

If you haven’t been praying as much as you should, then admit it to yourself that you need to wake up from your slumber.

If you still keep pacifying yourself, saying statements like "I pray for two to three minutes before I sleep every day" that will only keep you under the blanket of prayerlessness but as you admit it, you will feel a certain surge of energy to get of its grip of and begin to talk more with the Father.

2.     Don’t Make Prayer Time An All-me Affair

One of the reasons why people suddenly loose interest in praying is because they see prayer as just something that totally revolves around their lives and families. 

If you keep praying everyday just about you, your parents and siblings, it is only a matter of time before you begin to run out of prayer points. If you come from a small nuclear family like mine which is only four (father and mother inclusive), then you’ll know that just praying just for your family every day of the week is definitely going to be wearying.

But, you can take out time to pray for other people;

Friends

Colleagues at work

Course mates

People trying to conceive (both those you know personally and those you don’t)

People going through one hard time or the other

People on the verge of committing suicide

People whose home are on the verge pf breaking

People whose life aren’t going the way they want

People who are confused and who want clarity

People who are looking to God for spouse

People with stubborn children

Men and women of faith (those men and women whose messages are on your phone and laptops  needs prayer too).

Prayer of intercession is great.

With this type of prayer, you can never run out of people to pray for, and you’ll realize that by praying for these different categories, you will be able to tarry in the place of prayer as against if your prayer was just centered on yourself and everything that revolves around you.

 

3.     Pray In The Spirit

If you have been baptized in the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues, please as much as often, pray in the spirit. There is an extra energy this gives you.

4.     Know What Works For You

Till tomorrow, I for one will continually envy those who can pray on their knees for hours, one of the best ways to catch me sleeping in the place of prayer is for me to be on my knees. And there are others who can pray for hours without end on their knees. Just know what works for you.

I pray more when I am pacing around or having a prayer walk, the time just goes by. 

If you discover that you feel more tired when you are kneeling to pray, then stand up to pray, pace around, there isn’t any rule that says you must pray on your knees. While kneeling connotes a submission stance, but since you won’t actively be able to talk to God that way, then stand, he is the one heart whom you are praying to and he sees you. The most important thing to do is to pray.

5.     Get Resources To Help

One of the good things God has given us via social media is the ability to be able to access sounds and tunes by gospel minstrels just by the click of a button. 

There are different ministries that have recorded sounds that you can listen to and be energized to pray.

Get books on the subject of prayer too.

6.     Rely On The Help Of The Spirit

There will be times when you will want to pray and your body/flesh has other plans, after you have done all you should, allow yourself to be carried on the wings of the spirit, you’ll find yourself praying more on those days than you normally would have done.

Remember, we do not know how to pray, but it is the Spirit who intercedes for us with groaning that cannot be uttered.