Recently I saw this statistic:
The average Christian spends about a minute in prayer per day. THE BARNA GROUP
At its most basic, prayer is communication with God. According to research from the Barna Group, “Prayer is … the most common faith practice among American adults,”
We can merely spend time, or you and I can invest it. As Christians begin the Lenten Season on Ash Wednesday, a minute per day is an amazing place to start a daily prayer investment!
Scripture-Based Prayers
If that’s you, whenever you pray, in order to keep your prayers grounded in Scripture, you may choose to pray the verse of the day from any number of places like YouVersion.
Other sites offering a “verse of the day” include:
Praying the scriptures provides access to “convers[e] with the LORD in His very own words which express His heart and purposes. This deeply meaningful practice purifies our motives and shapes our desires” according to Paula Walberer in The Jewish Voice.
Sometimes, when life is overwhelming, one of the first things lost is language.
Especially at those times, when words hide, the scriptures provide a prayer language. For example, based on Psalm 46, one might pray,
“God you are my refuge and strength. You are my Help. You are present in this trouble. Because You are my help and strength, I will trust and not fear.”
I.O.U.S. Method of Praying the Scriptures
The I.O.U.S. method is about a minute of scripture-based prayer. I first heard it mentioned by Dr. John Piper in an interview.
The scriptures utilized are easily memorized making them a resource for other times in your life.
You pray these scriptures:
I- Incline my heart to Your testimonies, and not to covetousness (Psalm 119:36).
O- Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law (Psalm 119:18) .
U- Unite my heart to fear Your name (Psalm 86:11) .
S- Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy, That we may rejoice and be glad all our days (Psalm 90:14).
I utilize what I now call “the IOUs” within other prayers. However, whether as a stand alone or folded into other types of prayer, wholeheartedly, I recommend this method of praying.
Prayer Journals Have Potential
You might also consider keeping a prayer journal or using a prayer devotional.
I keep a prayer journal. Journaling reminds me of the things the Holy Spirit has spoken to me in prayer. The practice generates gratitude as I thank God for all the answered prayers. In addition journaling assists my accountability by recording the promises I made to Him.
In addition, my friend, dynamic preacher, worship leader and teacher, Minister Esther Chouloute, has written a prayer devotional titled, I Can Pray Too.
I Can Pray Too invites you into a space that draws out creative ways to express God’s presence as you pray. I believe that I Can Pray Too, or, simply keeping your own prayer journal, will be useful in helping you enjoy a vibrant prayer life.
Prayer Group Participation
In their research-based article, Silent and Solo, the Barna Group cites that most Americans pray silently and “solo.”
In other words, most of us pray alone and not out loud.
Praying alone is good but it can be a great way to miss your scheduled prayer times and to have little accountability for doing so.
During the Covid Pandemic, my church, like many others, had a nightly prayer call.
I was in charge of making sure that, 6 nights a week, a prayer facilitator was ready to go at 7pm.
While I still pray regularly, I confess that I am not now as diligent about what I still call the “hour of prayer” as I was back then.
How about you?
These days, I am a part of a prayer group with my cousins. (LOVE praying with them!!)
Knowing that we gather virtually at 8pm on Sunday night, I try to gather my life so that I can join promptly. Not wanting to let the group down helps me to stay prayer-focused and on task.
How do we now live?
You and I live in challenging times filled with both wonder and warfare of various sorts.
Will we dismiss the pain around us?
Will we distract ourselves from suffering?
Will we drink deeply from wells of soul-engulfing anger and rage?
Will we mock the sacred?
Or, will we give the Father a 60 second start-up investment of dedicated time to pray.
In so doing we also make more room for the holy, we make room for majesty, we make room for the very presence of God.
Prayerfully,
Kimberly
Help! Love, MOM 
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