Christian Growth toward the Great Commission: Prayer
One of the spiritual disciples that I think is the hardest to do is Prayer. It takes discipline, effort and how do you ever know if you’re doing it ‘right?’ I believe though that if we’re going to know what God wants us to do and understand His will for our lives, we have to become good at prayer. Just think about it. God sent Jesus to earth to die for our sins, so that we could have a direct line of communication with God! If He’s going to go to that much effort to be able to talk to us, and us to Him, I think He’d want us to take advantage of it. To have this very intimate and personal form of communication is so precious, and it allows us to ‘sync’ up with God and to know His will for our lives. Here are some quick tips to give your prayer life a jump start:
1. Have a person or two in your life hold you accountable
We all regret that this is true, but when you know that you have someone who is holding you accountable for your prayer life, it’s most likely that you’re going to remember and pray. In the Men’s accountability questions that I’ve often used, the question is posed like this:
Have you spent personal time daily in prayer and Bible reading?
When this question is asked of you weekly, it really does help you make it a regular part of your schedule.
2. Do you prayer and Bible reading at the same time and in the same location every day
We are all creatures of habit, and if you are having your ‘Quiet Time’ at the same time every day and in the same location, it helps us to find that time in our daily routine.
I’m a good example of how this works: During the school year, I’m the one who takes our kids to school. and when I get home, I have my Quiet Time in our big, brown recliner. Every time I walk by that recliner, I think ‘That’s where I have my QT every day.’ And that helps me. Consistency in location and time of day will aid you a lot!
3. Use the ACTS method of prayer
This answers for many people the ‘how’ of prayer. I learn this method a long time ago, and I can’t tell you how much it helps.
ACTS is an acronym of Adoration (worshipping and acknowledging the majesty of God), Confession (seeing our sins and confessing them to God, and allowing God to forgive us, 1John 1:9), Thanksgiving (Thanking God for His goodness and work in 
our lives), and Supplication (Presenting prayer requests and asking God to be involved in certain things in your life). If you’ll memorize this acronym and learn this method of prayer, it would help you a lot.
As you integrate prayer into your daily life, you’ll be blessed. Certainly, in terms of knowing God’s will and how He wants you to be involved in Great Commission work, this is how it’s done. Blessings to you as you begin a lifestyle that includes daily prayer!