10 Ways My Prayer Life Changed for the Better

As life becomes busier, I often find myself feeling emptier–and then I realize that this can all change when I take the time to talk to God.

Prayer has changed my life, but it isn’t always easy to do. Over the years, I’ve found that there are many different ways to pray. Today, I want to share some of them with you.

1. Keeping it raw

I wanted to start with this point because it’s often misunderstood, but it will make your intimacy with God that much deeper.

See, we often think that we need to cover up our scars before we come to God. We need to make every word sound just right for Him, or He might not accept it.

But the truth is, prayers aren’t meant to be perfect and polished. No, they’re often messy. Try reading through some of David’s psalms or Job’s prayers, and you’ll see that even the strongest believers have to wrestle with their faith during prayer.

If I’m being honest, I’ve had moments when I used prayer to blame God for my problems–problems that were my own fault–and yet He never turned His back on me. He still listened to me, even when I came screaming or crying or reluctant or impatient or distracted.

Prayer isn’t meant to be perfect, because we’re not perfect. God already sees the mess in our hearts, so we might as well bring it to Him.

Sometimes my prayers even get downright sarcastic. More than once, perfectly-timed–and painful–coincidences have happened. I remember looking up at the sky and whispering, “Do you think this is funny, God?”

Quite the question, I know.

But our questions aren’t too much for God to handle. And neither are our fears or wounds or emotions or sarcasms.

Nothing is too much for God.

He can see the raw stuff, He can He hold the raw stuff–

And He can heal the raw stuff, too.

2. Writing it out

As a writer, I’ve found that it can be easier to pour my prayers out onto the page.

Sometimes it feels like writing a letter to my Creator. Once I had a kindergartener at my church ask me, “If I make God a card, will He read it?” and I loved being able to tell her the answer.

God sees everything we write, and we can see our words too. I’ve filled prayer journals and prayer boxes for the sentimentality of being able to look back at them.

You can look back at them, and see just how perfectly they were answered, even when the answer was “no.”

3. Speaking aloud

When you speak your prayers aloud, you get to hear just how powerful your words sound.

I know, if your heart’s in the wrong place, it can feel like you’re talking to empty air. Yet the more you continue to talk, the more prayer feels like a real conversation. A real conversation with a very real God on the other end.

And He’ll stay there, listening.

4. Stop saying ‘amen’

This one is unconventional, so let me take a moment to explain it.

A summer camp speaker said that saying “amen” once felt to him like hanging up the phone. During his teen years, he stopped saying “amen” so it would feel like God was still on the line. He would be able to come to God over and over throughout the day, knowing that God was still listening.

Now, God is always there, whether you “hang up the phone” on Him or not. And “amen” is still a beautiful word that means “so be it.”

But I’ve tried this strategy out, and it makes it easier to engage in a constant conversation with God. I used to always feel the need to start every little prayer with “Dear God” and then tie it with a bow, like a letter waiting to be sent.

And then I would remember something I forgot to say, and I would feel the need to start with “Dear God” and end with “amen” again.

And still I would remember another part I forgot.

I suppose I could’ve added P.S. and P.P.S.

But if prayer is a constant phone call, we’re free to talk.

Sometimes leaving off the “amen” is just the reminder that we need.

5. Sitting in silence

1 Thessalonians 5:17 reminds us to “pray without ceasing,” but we can’t spend all day talking to God, right?

A pastor once told me that we can live out this verse if we equate prayer to being aware of God’s presence.

Prayer isn’t always talking. Sometimes it’s listening.

Communication goes both ways.

When we take time to quiet the noise and simply sit in silence, we can hear His voice.

And when we don’t know what to pray, when we can’t form our thoughts into words, we can still pray by sitting in the silence–but sitting in the silence with God.

It’s when we don’t know how to pray that the Spirit will help us in our weakness, interceding for us with groanings too deep for words (Romans 8:26).

We don’t always need to bring our words. We only need to bring our hearts.

6. Soaking up nature

If you want to spend time with your Creator, go spend time in His creation.

Watching the sun set into the sparkling waves, or gazing at the sparkling stars of a full night sky, will make your heart want to worship in a way that nothing else can.

After all, the sun and the stars were made to worship (Psalm 148:3).

So were you.

7. Praying yourself to sleep

I’ve always been told to start my day with prayer, and it’s definitely wise to make God your first thought of the day.

But I’ve also experienced the peace that comes with praying yourself to sleep, especially when anxiety tries to keep you up all night.

During those moments when the night slips in, you can bring your whole day to God. Let Him give you the peace that comes with knowing He’ll make the sun rise again for you.

And let Him be the last thought of the day as well as the first.

8. Praying with other people

Matthew 18:20 says it all: “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

There’s nothing like praying with a group of friends. It brings all of you closer to God and to each other, as a beautiful reflection of His church.

9. Praying for other people

God will change your heart when you take your mind off yourself and instead think about those around you. When you bring other people up to Him in prayer, you never know what seeds you’re helping plant.

The people for whom you’re praying will never know, either.

Until the seeds grow.

Do you ever wonder about the prayers you never knew were prayed for you?

10. ACTS prayer

An Awana leader recently told me about this acronym. It stands for “Adoration, Confession, Thankfulness, and Supplication.”

These past few weeks, I’ve been using the ACTS prayer to guide the way I talk to God. It reminds me to bring my gratitude instead of only my requests. Since “Supplication” comes last in the order, my heart is first transformed by thankfulness.

Extra ideas for track runners ✨

My time on the track has changed my prayer life for the better.

With track season coming up, I wanted to share a short list of how you can try out the ideas I just shared (Special thanks to the teammates and friends who inspired these).

You can pray…

• throughout your long runs
• before your races
• during your races (When it gets painful, “pray your way to the finish line”)
• with your teammates
• and even with your rivals

I hope these ideas inspire you! Before you go, I’d love to see your answers to these questions in the comments…

Which of my 10 points is your favorite?

What’s your favorite way to pray?

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