1 Thessalonians 5:17 TPT

Make your life a prayer.

A habit is a settled practice that an individual cannot easily give up. It can also be referred to as your usual behaviour or second nature. So a prayer habit is a settled practice of prayer that cannot easily be given up.

God wants prayer to be your second nature. As a matter of fact, it must become your addiction. It means you will not be okay if you have not prayed.

For many Christians, prayer has become a laborious and burdensome task. But you can form a prayer habit such that if you don’t pray in a day, you wouldn’t feel like you are alright.

How can you do this? You begin by cultivating a prayer habit.

How to Cultivate a Prayer Habit.

1. Whip up your interest in prayer: Think good thoughts on prayer. Study and read the biography of great prayer warriors of God. Feed your interest on a prayer diet. Convince yourself that prayer will do you good, not harm. It might not be easy initially, but it will become a flow you cannot separate from once you keep at it. Whatever you have an interest in will get your attention, commitment, dedication, and time. So, let prayer be that to you.

2. Speak of it to yourself: Reassure yourself you will do it. Look at yourself in the mirror and tell yourself that you will pray. Put practical steps in place to make this a reality.

3. Discipline your flesh to start: Don’t procrastinate on whether to start. Begin to pray immediately. The Apostles said they would give themselves continually to prayer. That is a prayer habit.

2 Timothy 1:7 NLT

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

It takes some discipline to maintain a prayer habit, and you have that grace of self-discipline as a believer.

You must be ready to pray and get out of the flesh to connect with God in the spirit and get divine things. This is going to take some discipline, and that discipline is going to take some time.

Start something today that will launch you into the life of prayer without ceasing. Start practising the correct habits. Discipline yourself.

4. Create a special place, a special time, a particular duration and keep to it: This step is the most important.

Mark 1:35 KJV

And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.

The Lord Jesus woke up a great while before day and went to a solitary place to pray (Mar. 1:35). We need to learn a lesson here: you can’t pray still lying down where you slept the night before. Mark 1:35 says “…He went out and departed…” The Holy Spirit woke you up to pray, and you started but did not continue to pray because you stayed in that bed. Jesus rose, left the house, and went somewhere to pray. If you wake up in the bedroom, why don’t you get up and go to the kitchen, sitting room, or study so you can be awake and alert to pray?

PRAYER: I pray, Lord, that waiting on You will not burden me. Help me to apply the required discipline to pray. Amen!