How Do I Begin?
It may well be that when your mind wanders, it is wandering to what your heart most needs to speak to God about. A friend once told me it may be far better to think of these wandering thoughts as stepping stones to prayer rather than as barriers.
From the Life You’ve Always Wanted: spiritual disciplines for ordinary people by John Ortberg
So there you sit, having committed to your prayer time, now what?
How do you get started? How do you stop your mind from going to all the things you need to get done?
In this post, I will provide resources to move you along the path. We are all unique, so find what works for you.
Prayer Prep
Like any other demanding activity, prayer requires a certain level of preparation. John Ortberg
First of all, think about logistics.
- If you are a morning prayer person, do not even pick up your phone before you have prayer time. (Do not even have your phone next to your bed – it’s not good for your physical health!) I find so much freedom in the morning mini fast from my phone.
- If you pray at night, put it away before you begin praying. Go to bed without picking it up again. (Also good for your health and sleep-no blue light before bed!)
- Have a notepad of a “to do list” right next to you. Yes, I did say that! It may seem counterintuitive. I have found that when I am distracted and a task that needs to be done enters my thoughts, writing it down helps me move on.
- Have a prayer journal. We will talk in a separate blog on journaling, but when a concern enters your mind, write it down offering it up to God.
- Refer back to the last blog for more on setting up your physical environment.
Aligning Prayer - Set the Stage
When I sit down with my morning cup of coffee, I often experience a range of emotions. Some mornings I am longing to spend time with Jesus.
Some mornings, I feel tension and anger!
If I do not deal with that first, my morning prayer time is ineffective.
Start with a Daily Prayer
Author John Eldredge in his book, Moving Mountains: Praying with Passion, Confidence, and Authority, recommends beginning with a daily prayer. He writes …
What we need first is aligning prayer-bringing ourselves fully back into alignment with Jesus, taking our place in him and his kingdom, drawing upon his life and the power of his work for us.
Eldredge offers copies of his comprehensive daily prayers here. I find some are a little long for week day mornings, but I like the option that they can be listened to in audio.
Recently, I have been using my own version based on the scripture 2 Timothy 3:16-17. I find my morning prayer time is so interwoven with Bible reading and journaling, so the prayer is along those lines. Click here for a free printable.
Pray a Psalms
Starting your prayer time by reading or praying a Psalm is also centering. You may just want to read your way through the Psalms as an opening to your prayer time.
Try reading out loud. I find there is more power in hearing the spoken word as well as reading it.
Begin with Worship
Thinking about who God is draws us into His presence. The Navigators have a resource that takes you through “Praying the Names and Attributes of God” for 30 days.
I also pulled from the Moms in Prayer format and the Spiritual Disciplines Handbook to create a free printable of who God is. Click here.
Prayer Formats
After reading Fern Nichols book, Every Child Needs a Praying Mom, many years ago, for many years I used her prayer format, Praise, Confess, Thanksgiving, Intercede. Here is the link and although it is for a group, it will take you through the steps. I have also gone through the four steps with my daughter using their curriculum for girls.
A similar method is the ACTS prayer model. This site has free printables.
Begin Bonding
Bonding with God is not an all-or-nothing endeavor. Some of us feel that if we can’t give God a good uninterrupted half hour, we aren’t given him anything. Intentional time set aside for bonding is one of the best gifts we give anyone. But even small moments spent with God matter and eventually add up. If you spend fifteen minutes with God every day for a year, at the end of the year you would have logged over eleven eight-hour days. If you spent a half hour with God everyday for a year, at the end of the year you would have logged over a month of eight-hour days.
Which step will you take today? No need to be overwhelmed, begin with one baby step and come back here when you need more resources.
Today I am referring you to real-simple-good‘s website for their 20 minute (Super Easy) Korean Beef Bowl. To Keep it Paleo, eat it with cauliflower rice. Lately because it takes so long to grate cauliflower, I have been buying it frozen.
Equipped to Lead for the Single Parent
