Ten Creative Ways to Energize Your Prayer Life

By Maureen Pratt

As much as we love to pray, and as important as it is to keep our communication with God going, sometimes our minds wander or our prayer is unfocused. We might feel as if our prayer time isn't making a difference, or we might feel bored. Fatigue, stress, letdown from holiday festivities--these things and more can cause our prayer lives to suffer.

Here are some creative, caring suggestions on ways to bring energy and renewed spirit into a dulled prayer life.

Change Your Environment

If you pray in the light of morning, try praying in the dark of night. If you pray in your living room, try praying in your kitchen. If you pray indoors, try praying under the open sky or the graceful boughs of a tree. Changing your prayer environment can give you a new perspective on your life and spirit.



Change Your Routine

If your prayer time is sandwiched between dinner and bedtime or homework and hobbies, rearrange your schedule so that prayer is the priority. The more important prayer is to us, the more attention we give it, and the deeper we can go into our relationship with God.



Sing!

Instead of whispering, praying silently, or intoning your prayerful words, try singing loudly and joyfully or softly and plaintively. Music can be freeing for the spirit--and your prayers will take on a whole new sound.




Exercise!

Walk, run, stretch, or cycle while you pray, feeling the rhythm of your spirit with the movement of your body. Use exercise with prayer as a way to reflect upon the gift of your life and self, inside and out.




Refocus

If you have a long list of prayer requests, you might be too tired by the end of the list to devote much attention to your own inner spirit. Try to refocus your prayer time so that it is balanced between the needs of others and yourself. Taking time for you will build your own strength so you can be of help to others.


Listen

Sometimes we are too busy praying to hear what God has to say. If prayer becomes one-sided, boredom can easily follow. Set aside time each day to clear your mind of all distractions, sit in God's presence, and listen. God's voice is anything but dull!



Study

Faith is not just in the moment. There is a rich faith and prayer tradition that has gone before us. Reading and studying the great believers and writings of years, even centuries, gone by can have a profound effect upon prayer today and tomorrow.




Team Up

Are you bored going off by yourself to pray? Team up with a prayer partner. Whether in person, on the telephone, or online, the power of prayer can be multiplied when people come together.





Be a Child

Remember when you were a child? What questions did you ask of God, then? They were probably very different from the ones you ask now. Whether you came to believe as an adult or were brought up in faith, if your prayer life feels stuck now, approach it as a child - with wonder, simple questions, trust, and humor (yes, at times, God has a wonderful sense of humor!). Enjoy.

Visualize

Imagine that everything around you is infused with the presence of God - including yourself. God all around, up and down, inside and out. God is listening to you, every word you utter and every need you have. More than any other, God loves you. Unconditionally. Visualize that love and renew your energy with it.

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