Praying to a higher power is one of the most intimate and effective ways of connecting with your deepest desires. The biggest challenge in developing a prayer practice is the trouble of doing it consistently. The best way to develop a daily prayer practice is to treat it like a habit and build it like you’d build any other habit.
You might feel that if you do it sporadically, you skip out on your daily prayers. But if you discipline yourself and build cues in your life that help you stick to your prayer practice, you can become more consistent and stay true to your goals. This post discusses practical tips on how you can build a daily prayer practice and stick to it.
1. Structure your prayer
It might become easier to pray if there’s a structure to your prayers. This can follow a pattern of being aware of your body and surroundings, saying a silent thank you for everything good in your life, understanding all that needs to be changed, and finally making a wish.
Structuring your prayer is a very personal process and it will differ for every person. Only you can structure your prayers in a way that works for you. Once you find comfort in structure, you’ll find it easier to go back to them and repeat the process day after day.
2. Build a routine
You can build a weekly routine for your prayers. For example, on Mondays, you can pray for yourself. On Tuesdays, you can offer prayers for your family. Wednesdays can be for prayers the plight of the world. Thursday prayers can be for your nation, state, or community. Fridays can be for your job, your education, and your material needs. Saturdays and Sundays can be for the hopeless, the lost, and those who have no one to pray for.
When you have a weekly routine of praying for different aspects of your life, it will be easier to stick to it and build a daily prayer practice. Having a specific place in your house where you do nothing but pray can also act as a trigger to remind you of what needs to be done.
3. Keep the desire burning
When you feel a deep connection to the almighty, the desire to pray will burn bright in your heart. Fan the flames and keep this fire burning. When you know why you want to pray, you will be less likely to skip even for a day.
4. Get a habit tracker
Using a habit tracker to mark the days you stuck to your goal of daily prayer can be an excellent way to make sure you don’t fall off the wagon. Seeing a streak of several days would be an excellent motivation to keep pushing yourself. It can also serve as a reminder of what you are capable of and how much remains to be done before you can reach where you’re supposed to.
5. Get an accountability partner
Having someone else pray daily with you can make building any new habit easier. You can join a community of people who visit your preferred place of worship every day.
If you can’t find a friend who’s also learning to pray every day at the same time as you are, you can hire an accountability coach to help keep you on track. These are trained individuals who will hold you accountable and help you get back on track if you ever fall off the wagon.