By: Bradyn Ouellette

In 2023, my goal for the whole year was to develop a consistent time of prayer. This has always been an area of my personal devotion time that I struggled with, so I wanted to take intentional steps to spend time communicating with the Lord, even if it was for 10 minutes. For 2024, my goal has remained the same, but I’ve slightly readjusted my focus. This year I want to mature in my prayer life! Below are three practical tips that I’ve implemented in my prayer time that I have found to be very effective.

Pray the Clock Guide

This guide from The Sanctuary Church in Indiana is a great tool to help lengthen your prayer time. Each phase of the clock gives a different prayer focus. The Sanctuary describes each section like this:

Praise: Start your prayer hour by praising the Lord. Praise Him for things that are on your mind right now, or one special thing He has done in your life the past week.
Waiting: Spend time waiting on the Lord. Be silent and invite Him to join you in your time of prayer.
Confession: Ask the Holy Spirit to show you anything in your life that might me displeasing to Him. Confess your sins so that you may be cleansed.
Read the Word: Spend a moment reading a short passage or a Psalm.
Meditate: Reflect on the words or ideas from the passage. Ask the Lord to speak to you.
Pray the Word: Take the same words or passage and turn it into a personal prayer.
Singing: Sing a song of praise or worship to the Lord.
Petition: Make requests on behalf of yourself.
Intercession: Make requests on behalf of others.
Thanksgiving: Give thanks to God for the things in your life.
Listen: Spend time merging the things you have read, prayed, and sung to see how the Lord brings them together to speak to you.
Praise: End with praising the Lord for the time you spent with Him and the impressions he gave you.

2. Pray Scripture Aloud

If you struggle with thinking of things to say during your prayer time, a great tool to use in your Bible! Scripture is powerful especially when we make it personal to our life and pray aloud. The Psalms are great for any topic you may need in your prayer time. I have attached three scripture guides I made for my prayer binder.

Here’s another FREE download to use during your prayer time!

Download Free Resource

3. Make a prayer guide for the week

Something else I have made for my prayer binder is a prayer guide for each day of the week. This helps me stay focused during my prayer time and gives me a topic each day that I can devote significant of my prayer time to. Download the template to make your own prayer guide for the week! (Included in the download above)