Today, with so many tasks and distractions, it can be hard to pray effectively. How can you ensure you are getting the most out of your prayer time and drawing closer to God? Here are 10 prayer tips and Bible verses from author and clergyman Norman Vincent Peale.
1. Affirm Your Prayers
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)
Believe that God is good and wants to help you, affirm that you are now in the process of receiving His goodness. The flow of blessing is constant and is happening to you now. Affirmation is a powerful factor in praying effectively.
2. Listen While You Pray
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. (Colossians 4:2)
Arrange for selected moments when you can become quiet mentally, relaxed physically, and receptive spiritually. Practice deep listening, reaching for contact with God. This form of prayer requires no words; simply listen until you hear inwardly.
3. Use Fractional Prayers
And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. (1 John 5:15)
When you pray in little snatches, you are praying fractional prayers. In the form of brief prayer while waiting for a bus, or for the outcome of a conversation about to take place, fractional prayers add up to an enhanced prayer attitude.
4. Use Natural Language
I cried out to him with my mouth; his praise was on my tongue. (Psalm 66:17)
Talk to the Lord using everyday language. The simpler your words, the easier it will be for you to express your thoughts and pray effectively. Talk to God sincerely in your own natural language. He understands.
5. Surround Your Loved Ones with Prayer
I’m praying for them. I’m not praying for the world but for those you gave me, because they are yours. (John 17:9)
Deeply believe that you can send out a spiritual force that will surround your loved ones with protective and positive influences. Prayer is the transmitting carrier of affirmative faith.
6. Overcome Blockades
But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. (Luke 6:27-28)
The number one blockade of spiritual power is resentment. To overcome it, pray for people you do not like or have mistreated you. Love always dissolves resentment.
7. Make a Prayer List
Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. (3 John 1:2)
Pray more effectively by praying for others. Have a definite number of people for whom you pray daily. Pray by name for everyone on your prayer list. You will help them by your prayers, and the by-product will be additional blessings for you.
8. Surrender to God
But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. (James 1:6)
Practice surrendering everything into God’s hands, believing that He will help and guide you. Prayerfully try to do your best about things and then, confidently, leave the results to God.
9. Make a Relationship with God
The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. (Psalm 145:18)
Conceive of prayer as a personal relationship with the Father. Not asking for anything, but simply wanting to be with Him in a loving relationship, is perhaps the ultimate value in effective prayer. It is the establishment of an in-depth relationship between the individual and God.
10. Use Your Mind to Pray
Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know. (Jeremiah 33:3)
Prayer may be defined as a methodology by which we may contact the Divine mind. Then the knowledge and wisdom of God can flow unhindered into our human mind. Thus, we are on an operational level with the power, wisdom, and goodness of the Heavenly Father.
No matter when you pray, how you pray, or how long you pray, these tips from Norman Vincent Peale can help your prayer time be more meaningful and effective. Choose the ones that have been missing from your prayer practice. Write them on a note tucked in your Bible or somewhere in your prayer spot so you remember every time you go to pray.
