How to Cultivate a Consistent Prayer Life: 17 Tips
The roadsides are blanketed with wildflowers, and we often spend evenings playing kickball in the backyard now. It’s not officially summer yet, but it feels like summer has already settled upon us. As our rhythms change, I long to learn how to cultivate a more consistent prayer life, especially in this busy season.
As I reflect on this desire, I’m reminded that God doesn’t want to be an add-on to my busy summer; he wants to do life with me.
Perhaps you need this reminder as well.
Today, we’ll discuss practical ways to cultivate a consistent prayer life. Be sure to read to the end of today’s post for a free resource to help you.
How to Cultivate a Consistent Prayer Life
Let’s explore this idea together.
The following insights are gleaned from God’s Word as well as personal experience.
How to Cultivate a Consistent Prayer Life
1. Add prayer to your daily morning rhythms.
Most of us don’t pray because we have not added it to our daily rhythms.
A good way to be more consistent in prayer is to consider what daily morning routine you could pair with prayer. What do you do every day that you could do while praying?
Here are some morning activities that go well with prayer: Eating breakfast, drinking coffee, showering, brushing our teeth, driving to work.
We don’t have to pray through all these activities, but it can be helpful to choose one or two, write a note and post it where we will see it, and pray while we undertake the activity.
2. Pause for prayer in the middle of the day.
In the same way we can pair prayer with a morning activity, find a way to remind yourself to pause and look to the Lord in the middle of the day.
For years, I set a timer on my watch or phone that went off at noon. It was my lunch break at work, and I used the time to pause and talk to God for even a moment.
3. Wear something that will remind you to pray.
When I realize I’m not following the call to “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17), I wear something different on my wrist or hand to remind me to pray.
I might switch my watch to my right wrist, wear a different ring, wear a bracelet, or wear a rubber band on my wrist. Every time I see it, I pause to talk to God.
4. Add prayer to your evening routine.
There is no better way to end the day than talking to God, falling asleep in his arms.
Make it a habit to end every day talking with God. If you’re too tired to talk, lie in bed and imagine him holding you. Silence can be the most powerful kind of prayer.
5. Add silence and solitude to your days.
In addition to praying as we go about our days, we can add even a few minutes of silent, focused prayer to our days.
I do this in the morning while gazing out the window and drinking coffee. It’s only a few minutes, but I use the time to talk to God and rest with him. These short moments change the trajectory of the day.
6. Be sure to actually talk to God.
This might seem obvious enough, but many of us say we’re going to pray but never get around to actually talking to God.
Several months ago, I experienced a deep longing for God to break down walls in a relationship that was important to me. I’d been experiencing this longing for many months, but I was chalking it up to my human desire, not a Holy Spirit inspired desire. I hadn’t even directly prayed for God to break down the walls.
One morning, I decided to start directly praying that God would tear down the barriers in the relationship.
I prayed he would heal, strengthen, and establish it. I prayed for emotional intimacy and connection.
James 4:2-3 addresses our primary stumbling block in prayer: “You do not have because you do not ask.”
We must actually directly seek God in prayer if we want to improve our prayer lives.
7. Speak God’s Word back to him.
As I prayed for the relationship I cared about, I spoke God’s Word back to him.
From Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, I prayed, “God, you know that two are better than one because when we fall, we can help each other up. Please unite our hearts. Be the third strand in the braided cord of our relationship, making us strong in you and strong together.”
From James 5:16, I prayed, “Father, unite us so that we might confess our sins to one another and be healed by walking together.”
I prayed from Galatians 6:2: “Lord, please help us carry one another’s burdens as we fulfill your purpose.”
I thanked God that he calls us to live in close relationships with others.
Our prayer lives will improve when we pray God’s Word. This is because God’s Word always aligns with his heart and his desires. Speaking God’s Word is a sure way to align your heart with God’s heart. This leads to our next point.
8. As you pray, ask God to align your heart with his heart.
As I prayed for the relationship, I also asked God to align my heart with his heart. If he had placed protective boundaries around the relationship, protecting us from codependency or an unhealthy pattern, I didn’t want to push through those boundaries.
As I prayed for alignment, while also still praying for the dividing walls to come down, a shift took place in the relationship. The walls dividing us began to crumble. God healed the brokenness in the relationship and drew us together in love.
I was shocked.
I’d been ruminating over the division in the relationship for months. If only I’d turned to God in earnest prayer earlier, the walls might have come down earlier.
9. Pray with expectation.
The experience reminded me that God hears the prayers of children. Too often, we do not have because we do not ask. What if we sought God in prayer and expected him to respond?
This leads me to ask myself: Am I fervently praying for the deepest desires of my heart, the ones I believe to be from God as well as the ones that might just be my own desires but are still good and godly?
Am I praying with expectation?
10. Pray with gratitude.
We can also improve our prayer lives by praying with gratitude.
We can thank God for hearing our prayers and for his promise to use all things for the good of those who love him.
The Bible repeatedly calls us to pray with gratitude.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 reminds us to be joyful always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in all circumstances.
Philippians 4:6-7 reminds us to lift our requests to God with thanksgiving, and the peace of God will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
11. Pursue intimacy with God above answers.
In the ninth chapter of Mark’s Gospel, the disciples attempted to cast out a demon but were unsuccessful. Jesus responded that the demon could only be cast out through prayer. Some translations add fasting to prayer (see Mark 9:29).
Jesus wasn’t offering a formula for effective prayer; he was saying that intimacy is the key to power.
The more time we spend with God in prayer, in his Word, and pursuing other spiritual disciplines, the more our hearts will come into alignment with his heart. We will see answers to our prayers because we will pray according to his will, in his power.
12. Ask specifically and directly.
When I began praying for walls to come down in the relationship, my prayer was specific.
I had been praying for God to bless and restore the relationship for months, but I had not directly pray for barriers to be broken down.
Praying specifically sets us up for specific and direct answers.
13. Don’t leave God in the prayer closet.
God wants us to meet with him in quiet places. But he also wants us to keep our minds, hearts, and eyes fixed on him when we return to our everyday moments.
God wants you to encounter him as you play catch with your kids in the backyard or take the dog for a walk.
He wants you to experience him as you paint the picnic table and mulch the flowerbeds.
He wants you to come to know him more as your newborn screams from the backseat the whole way to the vacation house.
A praying life is more than a life of disciplined time set aside for seeking God’s face. You will cultivate a more consistent prayer life when you simply keep your eyes open and watch for God as you go about your days.
14. Cultivate a more consistent prayer life by aiming to live on two levels.
God is calling us to live on two levels.
Thomas Kelly describes these levels: “On one level we may be thinking, discussing, seeing, calculating, meeting all the demands of external affairs. But deep within, behind the scenes, at a profounder level, we may also be in prayer and adoration, song and worship and a gentle receptiveness to divine breathings. The secular world of today values and cultivates only the first level believing this is where the real business of mankind is done . . . But we know that the deep level of prayer is the most important thing in the world. It is at this deep level that the real business of life is determined.”
If we want to cultivate praying lives, we will learn to live on two levels.
15. Aim to be fully present within each moment.
May is my favorite month. I love watching the world change color. The month begins mostly beige and barren. In four short weeks, everything changes. Leaves explode into a vibrant canopy, and the understory of the forest is nearly impenetrable. The world is suddenly lush and alive.
I recently stood along the creek on a May evening and breathed in the world around me. The air smelled like honeysuckle and creek-bottom. Birdsong lifted to the treetops and got lost in the outstretched branches. I was fully present. I felt vibrantly alive and deeply connected with the Creator’s heart.
Do you want to cultivate a more consistent prayer life?
Ask God to help you be fully present in your moments.
Play along sandy beaches.
Laugh over dripping ice cream cones.
Slip out of your shoes just to feel the damp grass beneath your feet.
Breathe deeply. Laugh deeply. Love deeply. (For more on how to breathe, laugh, and love, join me right here.)
Ask God to help you be fully present in your moments. Play along sandy beaches. Slip out of your shoes just to feel the damp grass beneath your feet. #satisfied Share on X16. Return to God again and again.
I tend to pray big prayers at the start of my days and then forget all about God when I feel overwhelmed. I’m learning to be gentle with my failures. Every moment of distraction is an invitation to return to God all over again.
I invite you to keep coming back to God.
Try to live prayerfully. When you forget, use it as an opportunity to return all over again. Mess up a thousand times, and you create a thousand opportunities to turn to God all over again.
17. Cultivate a more consistent prayer life by finding your rest in Jesus.
When Christ becomes our primary source of peace and rest, we learn to turn to him for comfort throughout our days.
I’ve learned to turn to Jesus first thing every morning as I gather strength for the day. I then continue to look toward him throughout my days as I seek his peace. Jesus wants to be your source of rest and peace, too.
Remind yourself to look toward him throughout your days by writing yourself notes, setting a timer on your phone to remind you to turn to him, or even wearing a piece of jewelry that will remind you to turn to him.
He is waiting.
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If these insights on how to cultivate a more consistent prayer life blessed you, I invite you to explore our family devotional books and library of free eBooks below. Be blessed as you seek the Lord!
Calling All Parents and Grandparents!
As the parent of two sons and a daughter, I have a heart for helping parents develop deeper relationships with their children and with God. Our kids, ages 6, 11, and 15, share this vision. They have helped me write three family devotionals for parents or older relatives to read with the children and teens they love. You can find all three books here or read more below.
Attention All Boy Moms (and Dads)!
God’s Warrior: Devotions for Boys Who Want to Grow in Courage and Strength helps young boys, ages 5-13, learn what it means to trust God and become strong warriors for his kingdom. Now, more than ever, our world needs men who are willing to boldly carry God’s love into the world. I wrote this boys’ devotional book with our two young sons, Aiden and Caleb, ages six and eleven! You’ll enjoy their honesty as we teach boys how to be strong warriors for the Lord. Find this life-changing devotional book here.
Mother-Daughter Devotionals by a Mom and Daughter
Girl to Girl: 60 Mother-Daughter Devotions for a Closer Relationship and Deeper Faith is written for girls ages 7-12. It includes 60 devotions with Scripture, conversation starters, and a shared journaling section for moms and daughters after each devotion. I wrote this book with the help of our daughter, Bekah, when she was eleven. Find this one-of-a-kind shared devotional here.
Heart to Heart: A Mother-Daughter Devotional With 50 Devotions for Teen Girls is for teenage girls ages 13-20. It includes 50 devotions, each with a shared journaling section to help moms and daughters connect through writing. This is a great book for moms who want to communicate about awkward topics—like dating, sexuality, peer pressure, and more—but don’t know where to start. Bekah and I will help you right here.
Find Our Family Devotionals Here
Find all three books right here. They are also free on the Kindle Unlimited plan, which you can enjoy with a free three-month trial! These books make great gifts, and you don’t need to be the parent of young children to read them. Share them with your grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or the young ones you love.
Learn Why Willpower Doesn’t Work and Experience God’s Deliverance and Healing
God wants to work in your life to accomplish what you’ve been unable to do through willpower alone. Lean Into Grace: Let God’s Grace Heal Your Heart, Refresh Your Soul, and Set You Free shares practical ways to experience God’s freedom, healing, power, and presence in your life. Find this life-changing book as a free eBook on Kindle Unlimited or for 12.99 in print right here. (If you do not have Kindle Unlimited, you can try it out with a free three-month trial!) This book will transform your life and revitalize your relationship with the Lord!
A Free Devotional to Help You Connect With God
God is a good Father, and he wants us to experience his healing, deliverance, and replenishment. Most of us have learned that we cannot heal, deliver, or refresh ourselves; we need God to do this work within us. I invite you to create space for God to transform your life by downloading a free copy of my devotional eBook, The Lean Into Grace Devotional: An 8-Day Devotional for Healing, Deliverance, and Replenishment. Find it for free here. I also offer a library of free online devotional eBooks for free. I invite you to explore the collection right here! 
Quote from: Kelly, Thomas R., A Testament of Devotion. New York: HarperCollins, 1992.
