The benefits of praying consistently

The following content was taken from our Pre-Prayer Webinar! We thought it was too perfect for the new year not to share in a blog post also. To watch the full webinar, click here.

So many of you have told us that “prayer” is either your word of the year or one of your biggest goals. If you’ve chosen to dive deeper into prayer this year, you’re making one of the most impactful decisions of your life and we’re cheering you on! But we also want to be straight with you, it’s not gonna be easy. There’s an invisible enemy that would like nothing more than to stand in your way. I want to help you to keep choosing this essential habit each day by sharing 8 of the biggest benefits of a consistent prayer life.

1. More focused prayer time

The more we discipline our minds to pray, the more we will experience a focus and depth to our prayers. But this will not magically happen, we have to practice it. Just like any discipline, it’s going to happen little by little and not in one huge jump.

2. A bigger passion for prayer

We’ve had a lot of questions about how to gain this passion. And here’s the deal, if we haven’t been praying consistently, that passion is not gonna be there. If you want a passion for prayer, pray. I know for me, when there are days that I don’t pray a lot and then I have this 10 min praying out loud session in the car, I sit there stunned and overwhelmed with his goodness. Another thing to keep in mind is that just as there are external distractions keeping us from prayer, there are also internal barriers to a passionate prayer life. This is one of the main things we explore in our prayer course, Developing a Fluency of Prayer. When we break down these barriers and start remembering what Christ has done for us, the gift that prayer truly is, the character of God, there’s no doubt that we’ll develop this passion.

3. Less anxiety and more faith

I had a panic attack several years ago and my anxiety was insane for a couple of weeks. I had to keep renewing my mind in prayer. Not just in a pray-in-the-morning kinda way, but really taking every thought captive. We’ve had so many friends respond to our “Renew” challenge with changed hearts because of being immersed in prayer and Scripture for 14 days. If we are incorporating more prayer into our lives, it’s going to show up in those times when we have anxiety to create more faith and peace.

4. A deeper joy

This kinda goes along with #3, but I thought it deserved its own category. I can think of several moments specifically where life wasn’t great or the day wasn’t it’s best, but I had a greater joy and contentment because I was staying connected to him.

5. Being able to look back and see how God has answered prayers

When we’re praying consistently, we will see God answer prayers. And hopefully, we’re writing these down because looking back on these (even when God answers in ways we didn’t expect) inspires us to keep praying. And the really neat thing is that it doesn’t just inspire you, but those around you. Imagine being able to impact the faith of your family with stories of all the ways God has been faithful to you.

6. Living at the center of God’s will

Through praying consistently, we’re going to hear more from God and be better able to align our actions with what we hear. And when we’re praying over a particular situation like a job or move and receive direction from him, we will have a heart that is (a sub-benefit of praying consistently) willing to obey.

7. Deeper friendships with others

We’ve had a lot of people say that something they’ve seen after using the journals is that their friendships have deepened because they are praying together and talking about their requests and the big heart issues in each other’s lives.

8. Knowing God

The most important benefit! We know there are thousands of things we won’t know this side of heaven, but there’s a lot we can know about God and experience with Him through a deeper prayer life.

If those are things you’re not experiencing we want to help you to experience them. If you have a heart for prayer, but need a place to collect your thoughts and keep track of what the Lord is doing in your life, we recommend our Yearly Prayer Journal. But if there’s something deeper keeping you from prayer, maybe a lack of understanding or desire, we highly suggest our online prayer course, which is available for $50 off through January 9. It’s arrived just in time for you to dive deep into prayer in the new year!

If you’ve used the journal we’d love for you to leave a comment and share some of how you’ve grown in your prayer life as you’ve been able to get consistent and less distracted over time.