5 Ways to Make 2025 a Year of Purposeful Prayer

Do you ever find it difficult to focus during prayer? Most of us have good intentions of forming consistent prayer habits. Yet, when it comes down to the practice of it, it can be an area where we fall short.

Personally, I’ll throw out some one-liners throughout the day, and am consistent with habitual prayers, such as at dinner time, after Bible reading with the kids, and at bedtime… but praying for any extended length of time is hard for me. I think it comes down to a focus issue. My brain loves to wander, and usually nowhere fun.

I’ll start prayers in my head intending to pray for my spouse, my kids, through a list of family members or friends, or for others who are facing tough circumstances. Yet, I can usually only make it through a couple sentences before my mind drifts to other things.

If you struggle with staying focused like me or are simply looking for ways to prioritize prayer in your life this year. Here are some ideas to help us both establish more of a consistent prayer routine! 

1. Pray Aloud

Okay, I’ll be the first to admit, I’ve never been comfortable praying out loud – at least not in front of other people. You would think my time on staff at a church where we did that on a regular basis, would help it to feel more natural, but nope.

It’s not as though I’m trying to impress anyone or have the “prefect” words… I fully believe prayer, in it’s simplest form, is communication between you and God, and He’s much more concerned with your heart than your words. I’m just very introverted and doing almost anything in front of other people, makes me uncomfortable.

That to say, your prayer doesn’t have to be in front of others!* When I say, “aloud”, it can be whispering the words in the quietness of the morning when others in your house are still asleep, or saying your prayers out loud when you’re in the car by yourself (if you ever get time in the car by yourself!)

Sometimes speaking the words verbally, no matter the volume, can help us stay on track and not get distracted.

*Praying with others is important as well (with your spouse, kids, community group, etc.) I’m not negating that, but this article is referring specifically to creating a personal habit of prayer between you and God.

2. Write out Your Prayers

This is my personal favorite (surprise, surprise!)

Written communication comes a lot easier to me than verbal communication. Getting a notebook and writing out my prayers is a format I enjoy to help me stay focused.

You can just let your thoughts flow in journal form, make a bullet list of things you want to pray for and go through it, or even make it more organized by praying in steps (For example:  1) Thanking God, 2) Praying for Requests, 3) Praying through the Specifics of Your Day).

3. Incorporate Prayer into Your Daily Activities

Sometimes it can help our minds work better to keep our bodies active. You could pray while folding laundry, doing the dishes, running on the treadmill, crocheting, etc.

Incorporating prayer time into something we’re doing already during the day helps us to establish dedicated time during the day to pray. This gives us the ability to focus on what we are saying while being distracted from whatever mundane task is at hand. 

Pray Through a Time of Worship

If you ever get stuck with prayer because you don’t know what to say, (Biblical) worship songs can be helpful. Turn on some worship music, spend time in the presence of God, letting the words of the songs flow from your heart as you express praise to God.

Practice Prayer through Silence

Silence is not something we experience very often in today’s world. Our society is loud and constantly on the move. There’s something about quiet moments, that allow us to connect with, and hear from, the Lord.

Take a moment to step away from everything else going on in your world. Quiet your heart and mind, and just sit in God’s presence. One of my favorite ways to do this is out in nature. If you have the opportunity, go for a walk on a trail by a river, listen to the water flow and soak in the beauty of God’s creation.

Prayer is so important to our lives! Even Jesus, being God in the flesh, dedicated time on earth to prayer. If he, being perfect, needed time with his Heavenly Father, how much more do we?

We all know what happens to relationships when people fail to communicate with each other. Our relationship with God is the most important one we have; we need to treat it as such.

No more making excuses for our prayer lives!

Let me know some ways you find helpful to incorporate prayer into your daily life.