I want my prayer life to grow and be more and more significant. Here are a few steps and thoughts I’m pursuing to deepen my pursuit of the Lord in prayer.

Commitment.

I’m assuming a time set aside for significant prayer. Some don’t go along with this. However, I think there is enough example from the life of Jesus (who withdrew often for concentrated times of prayer), or Paul who called us to devote ourselves to prayer (Ephesians 6; Colossians 4:3). The psalmists and their very intricate prayers suggest that they lingered long and often in significant times of supplication. Thus there should be a heart-driven commitment to regular times of personal concentrated prayer.

So how can we learn to develop a more significant time of concentrated prayer.

Disable Distractions.

The internet. Umm, if you’re reading this, you’re using it. I find that this has become one of the single greatest distractions to good use of time in general and significant prayer specifically. I can literally Twitter my time away in the morning and lose time for significant prayer. I love to read the news and my iPhone makes it and e-mail continually accessible. Going off-line – putting my very portable laptop and handheld out of reach keeps the internet from being a prayer killer.

Other reading material. The place where I pray is also the place where I do most of my significant reading. I am attracted to good books and I can quickly spend an hour reading through one of the myriads of books stacked around me and my place of prayer. It is a discipline to keep only what I need for prayer immediately around me.

Time of day. What time of the day would yield the least amount of distraction? We have two young children in our home who are early risers and both Kelly and I don’t do well staying up late. With all of my pastoral and family responsibilities, concentrated prayer is not going to happen during the day or in the early evening. That leaves the early morning as the only possible time if significant prayer is going to happen for me. I don’t wake up easily – it is a daily battle. Multiple early mornings and a few evenings going to bed later than I would like, make it difficult to meet this early morning appointment for prayer. However, it is essential for me – it is virtually the only time when the phone won’t ring, people don’t tend to drop by, and the kids are still sleeping. And my heart needs concentrated time before the Lord.

People. I’m in the business of working with people. But people with legitimate needs can be a potential distraction to purposeful prayer. Time of day may be the best way to avoid allowing important and necessary people issues from distracting you from prayer. However, I have also found it helpful to let some of the people around me know when I will be in prayer. If they think I am merely reading cursory material or doing something unimportant (like blogging), they may feel free (or obligated) to invade what was set as an intentional time of prayer. Simply communicating your plans can go a long way in avoiding distraction.

Be intentional.

Have a time to pray. This should go without saying, but I’ve met too many frustrated saints who want more significant time for prayer but do not have anything in the schedule as to when it will happen. They plan when they will eat, when they will go to work, a tee time, meetings with others – but not for intentional time with God. I’m all for continual prayer: praying for everything at all times. Yet, I still think it is necessary to plan a time to pray if concentrated prayer is what you want.

Have your stuff ready to go. I have a few tools I use during my prayer time. The Bible I read from, my prayer notebook, my journal, my pen, a devotional book I’m reading, and the all important pot of coffee. Time is simply wasted when these things aren’t ready to go in the morning. Perhaps I simply avoid spontaneity. But I haven’t found that a lack of preparation lends itself well for free and fresh times of lingering long in prayer.

Have a plan for what you will pray about. So what exactly will I pray about and how will I pray once I am at my place and at the right time? Again, I don’t find it free and fresh to sit down and just wait for something to pop into my mind for prayer. It helps me to have some direction here – I’ll say more about this later.

Posture.

I’m not one to suggest that a particular position in prayer (kneeling, prostrate) is essential for effective prayer, but I do find that it helps my heart at times to be on my knees in submission or my face in dependence. Often posture is reflective of my heart. While I normally sit in a chair for my regular time of prayer, it is worth thinking about how you will physically approach the Lord.

I’ll get into specific issues regarding content on Thursday.

What have you found helpful for having significant times of concentrated prayer?