HOW TO HAVE A
DYNAMIC PRAYER LIFE
INTRODUCTION:
1. How is your prayer life?
a. Does your prayer life seem at times dual, meaningless and
repetitive?
b. Do you ever find yourself in prayer just going through the
motions without any emotions or fervor toward God?
c. Have you ever started your prayer with “Dear God…” and
within five seconds, your mind would be in outer space?
2. If you answered yes to any of these questions, I want you to
know that you are not alone. Many Christians struggle with
their prayer life.
3. How would you like to improve your prayer life? How would
you like to develop a prayer life that is exciting, dynamic, and
meaningful?
THIS MORNING, I AM GOING TO OFFER
TWO POINTS ON HOW WE CAN
IMPROVE OUR DAILY PRAYER LIFE.
I.
FIRST, TO ENHANCE OUR PRAYER
LIFE, WE SHOULD SELECT AN
APPROPRIATE TIME AND A QUIET
PLACE TO BEGIN OUR PRAYERS.
1. Jesus, on many occasions, selected a solitary place to pray.
 “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the
house and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed” (Mk. 1:35).
2. What are some benefits in praying in solitary places?
a. It is quiet. You can concentrate better, and hear God better.
3. How many times should a Christian pray each day?
a. The Bible says that we are to “pray continually,” and “without
ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:16).
b. This means that we should pray off and on all day long.
There is no limit on how many times we can pray.
4. Some people, even Christians, only pray when they are in
need of something.
ILLUSTRATION:
A fisherman who was out of fellowship with the Lord was at sea
with his godless companions when a storm came up and
threatened to sink their ship. His friends begged him to pray;
but he demurred, saying, "It's been a long time since I've done
that or even entered a church." At their insistence, however, he
finally cried out, "O Lord, I haven't asked anything of you in 15
years, and if you help us now and bring us safely to land, I
promise I won't bother you again for another 15!"
Although this story at first evokes a smile, it is sobering to
realize that prayer is often an escape mechanism rather than a
way of life. This may be true even of believers who call on God
only when they've reached the end of their rope and there seems
to be no other way to solve their problems.
5. We must remember that our prayer life is a “lifestyle” and we
should engage in it as often as we can.
6. Once we have found a quiet place to pray, it is time to move
on to the prayer itself.
II. SECOND, WHAT SHOULD OUR
PRAYERS CONSIST OF?
1. Of course when we pray, there are at least two elements that
should be included in our prayer.
a. First, we should start out our prayer by addressing God the
Father (Mt. 6:9-14; Lk. 11:1-2) and lastly, we need to conclude
our prayer by offering it in the name of Jesus Christ.
 “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of
the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him” (Col.
3:17).
2. But what about the prayer itself? What should be included
besides those two elements?
3. For most people, this is where the frustration of prayer comes
in. They struggle with what to say to God?
4. Some people complain that their prayer life consists of the:
a. Same words day after day.
b. Same emotion day after day.
c. Their prayer life is more like a ritual than a life changing
experience with the Lord.
5. If you suffer from this type of prayer life, hold on to your hat,
because I am going to offer you some ideas that can help you
and I enhance our prayer lives
TO ENHANCE OUR PRAYER LIFE, WE
SHOULD HAVE BALANCE.
1. While we are engaged in prayer, we should spend some time
in different spiritual categories.
HERE ARE FOUR CATEGORIES THAT
SHOULD ACCOMPANY OUR PRAYERS.
A. FIRST, WE SHOULD OFFER GOD
ADORATION IN OUR PRAYERS.
1. Adoration means worshipping God. We should start our
prayers by worshipping God.
 “This, then, is how you should pray: ”‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed
be your name…” (Mt. 6:9) .
a. By using the word “hallowed”, Jesus is expressing the
“holiness of God." His prayer began with adoration and
worship.
2. How can we worship God in prayer?
a. Start off by telling Him how wonderful He is and how you
adore Him and how much you love Him.
b. Read a praise psalm (Psalm 104:1; 103:1-6; 100).
c. Sing God a song.
 “Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let
him sing songs of praise” (Jam. 5:13).
 Psalm 96:1-3
3. When we spend about 5 or 10 minutes in adoration to God,
our hearts begin to soften, and we experience peace. We can
begin to experience the presence of God in our lives.
B. SECOND, WE SHOULD OFFER
CONFESSION IN OUR PRAYERS.
1. We need to ask God to forgive us of our sins.
 “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not
in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us
our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn. 1:8, 9).
2. What happens when we ask God for forgiveness?
3. We experience the freedom of forgiveness. The guilt of our
sins are wiped away. Once our sins are forgiven, we know
that sin cannot hinder our prayers.
C. THIRD, WE SHOULD OFFER
THANKSGIVING IN OUR PRAYERS.
1. The Bible says in (1 Thess. 5:18) that we are to “give thanks in
all circumstances.”
a. Do you remember the ten lepers described in (Lk. 17)? They
begged Jesus to heal them, but when He did, only one of
them bothered to thank Jesus. Jesus asked, “Where are the
other nine?” I am confident that the other nine were thankful.
They had to be. But nine lepers didn’t take the time to tell
Jesus thanks. And that mattered to Jesus.
2. We have so many things to be thankful for as God’s children-our salvation, our families, our material and spiritual
blessings, our answered prayers, our health and our church
family.
3. We should spend time in our prayers just simply thanking
God for all that He has done for us.
D. FOURTH, WE SHOULD OFFER
SUPPLICATION IN OUR PRAYERS.
1. After adoring God, confessing our sins, and thanking Him for
His goodness, we are in the right frame of mind to ask God
for what we need.
 The Bible says “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything,
by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to
God” (Phil. 4:6).
2. Nothing is too big or too small for God to handle. When we
are in need of something, we should not hesitate to ask God
for it.
3. Should we bother God with the same request over and over?
 Read the parable of the persistent widow (Lk. 18:1f).
ILLUSTRATION:
C. H. Spurgeon once said, "Prayer pulls the rope down below
and the great bell rings above in the ears of God. Some scarcely
stir the bell, for they pray so casually; others give only an
occasional jerk at the rope. But he who communicates with
heaven is the man who grasps the rope boldly and pulls
continuously with all his might."
4. When praying for others, I break my prayers into three
categories.
a. Family…I pray for my immediate and church family.
b. Ministry…I pray for the church.
c. Personal…I pray for godly character—the fruits of the
Spirit…etc.
CONCLUSION:
1. Prayer is one of the greatest blessings that we have as
Christians. We do not want a prayer life that is dull and
meaningless. We want to put our hearts into every prayer.
2. If you need help in your prayer life, then I challenge you to
consider what I have said tonight.
a. Pick an appropriate time and quiet place to begin your prayer.
b. Have a balance of categories in your prayer:
Offer God:
(1) Adoration.
(2) Confession.
(3) Thanksgiving.
(4) Supplication.
3. When we offer God our best, we receive His best. May God
bless your prayer life each and every day.