There could be many reasons why some believers do not have vibrant, consistent prayer lives. One may be that they do not have much notable experience with answered prayer. I use the word “notable” because it may be that their prayers are being answered, but that they are not noticing those answers. It may be that they are praying in such a way that the answers are easy to miss.
I’m convinced that was an issue in my own prayer life for many years until I made a few changes, most of which were prompted by things I saw in the Scriptures. After making these changes, I began to notice answers left and right. It doesn’t seem to be that all of a sudden God was inclined to hear and answer. Rather, I was just praying in such a way that I was more cognizant of God's answers.
I want to share a few suggestions with you that I hope will be a blessing to you as they were to me.
Concentrate on praying prayers that are…
Targeted. If there are specific things for which the Word encourages us to pray, it makes sense that these are the petitions the Lord is eager to answer. There are so many things for which we could pray, and certainly we have been encouraged to pray for all things, from the revering of God’s name to the meeting of our daily needs (see the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:5-14). Yet, if we look at the New Testament as a whole, we will notice a few prayer items presented repeatedly, and therefore seemingly emphasized:
- Prayer for evangelistic opportunities/boldness (2 Cor 1:8-11; Eph 6:19-20; Col 4:3; 2 Thess 3:1)
- Prayer for the spiritual growth and perseverance of self and others (John 17:17; Col 1:9-13; Eph 1:15-23; 6:18; Phil 1:9-11; 2 Thess 2:11-12; Jude 20-21)
- Prayer for the ability to overcome temptation (Matt 6:13; Mark 14:38; 2 Cor 13:7)
- Prayer for our persecutors/abusers (Matt 5:44; Luke 6:28; Phil 12:14; 1 Tim 2:1-6)
While praying broadly about all things, the above concerns should be emphasized. It makes sense that if we major on concerns prioritized in the Word, we can expect to see more affirmative answers.
Ambitious. Again, God calls us to pray all kinds of prayers, including that He would give us our daily bread (Matt 6:11), indicating that we should look to Him for all things. The Scriptures also encourage us to pray more “ambitious” prayers, the answers to which could not be explained without the action of an Almighty God.
James’ go-to example intended to encourage prayer was this: “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit” (Jas 5:17–18). Jesus also taught the incredible efficacy of prayer in Mark 9:14-29, when the disciples were unable to cast out a particularly powerful demon. Jesus was able to handle the task with ease, explaining, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer” (Mark 9:29).
There is spiritual benefit when we mindfully pause to thank God for our food before we eat. We are reminded that He is the source of all that we need. There is proportionally greater benefit when we also pray ambitious prayers such that when the prayer is answered there is no other explanation than that God did it. Because of the nature of the prayers, these answers are hard to miss, leading to increased faith and a growing desire to keep praying.
Specific. Do you pray broad, vague prayers, like “Lord, help me to grow spiritually”? There is nothing wrong with this other than it can be very difficult to know if and when such a prayer is answered. On the other hand, we could pray much more specifically, “Lord, I currently have an ungodly attitude toward my supervisor regarding [some specific situation]. Please, change my heart so that I will show love toward him/her by [some specific act/attitude].” The more specific the prayer the more obvious it will be when it is answered. The former prayer (“Lord, help me to grow spiritually”) may be answered all the time, but because it is so broad and vague, we don’t notice, we aren’t encouraged, and that answered prayer doesn’t fuel our desire to keep praying.
Examples of vague vs specific prayers:
Vague: “Please, help Jake to be more patient.”
Specific: “Please move Jake to remain in his difficult circumstance—rather than running— as a sign of growing endurance and deeper trust in you.”
Vague: “Please, give me opportunities to share the gospel.”
Specific: “When I’m at the gym today, please provide an obvious divine appointment for me to engage in conversation with someone at the basketball court.”
Vague: “Please, bless those who have been unkind to me.”
Specific: “Please, move Sarah to ask why I’ve shown her kindness in the aftermath of her gossip about me.”
The more specific the prayer the more difficult it is to miss the answer.
Tracked. Sometimes we pray for things once and forget to continue. Other times we pray for the same thing everyday. Prayers of the former kind may get answered just like the latter, but we may miss those answers because we’ve forgotten we prayed them. Therefore, it’s a great habit to track what we pray. That is, keep a list, noting (1) when you started praying a particular petition, (2) how often you are praying for it, and (3) when was it answered — whether the answer was “yes” or “no.”
I keep two lists: a list of current prayers and a list of answered prayers. When a prayer is answered, I move it from the first list to the second, noting how it was answered, yes or no.
Why would I keep track of the “no’ answers? I have found that when my prayers are primarily kingdom-minded as discussed above, the “yes” prayers far outnumber the “no” prayers. The lopsided ratio increases my faith and encourages me to pray all the more.
Additionally, having a record of all these answered prayers enables me to be very specific and accurate in heeding Scriptures like Psalm 9:1, “I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds” (cf Psalm 9:14; 75:1; 79:13).
Bonus - Echo Prayer App. Pastor Jason shared this helpful tool with me. It allows for keeping lists, tracking answers, setting reminders to pray, and even sharing prayer requests with other users.
Growing in our desire to pray may be helped by simply being more mindful of God’s answers. May the Lord help us to pray in such a way that we are poised to make note of His work in our lives, thank Him for it, and pray all the more!
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