Making prayer a priority in your life is definitely seen as way more complicated than it needs to be. Prayer is often seen as an intimidating ritual that you need to recite over and over again or that you have to spend multiple hours on your knees using fancy words. While it can be those, if you just really want it to be, that’s not required and definitely not necessary. Prayer is simply a time you can talk to God and receive words from him. 

so what exactly is prayer?

Praying is the way you can individually connect with God so it’s important to make our prayer time a priority and make time out of the day to strengthen our relationship with him. Like I said this sounds way more complicated than it needs to be so I’ve compiled a list of 4 ways ,I believe, are the best and most effective ways to pray. 

my 4 ways:

1. Make it a habit. I recently read a book called “I heard God laugh” by Matthew Kelly, and it gave me the motivation to start a real relationship with God through prayer. It was super simple and all I had to do was give God 10 minutes of my day everyday for 21 days. Basically every night before bed I would talk to God about my day and how I could do better the next day. After only a few days I definitely noticed myself becoming more aware of Him working in the little things and caught myself praying throughout the day. After the 21 days were up I couldn’t help but realize how much I had changed already and how much power prayer holds when we stick to it.
2. Read scripture and pause between verses and let God speak to you. This is like a prayer and a bible study in one. I love using this method because sometimes when we pray we aren’t speaking truth over ourselves and our lives and we need something to hold us accountable. When we read scripture along with our prayer we can see what God says about us and give him the opportunity to speak to us. You also get to understand scripture on deeper levels and apply them to your life. Personally I like this method when I’m having a harder time concentrating or when I want to get a real raw connection with him that sometimes is a little difficult to do without the help of scripture 
3. Get on your knees (because focusing while staring at your ceiling doesn’t always work). I know you’ve started a prayer and fallen asleep mid sentence, we all have. So, when I’m feeling extra sleepy, I get on my knees so that I can finish that prayer. I’ve found praying on your knees gives you so much extra focus and gives you a greater realization that you are talking to the God that rules over your life and not just yourself. I think sometimes we forget when we’re praying we are actually talking to God who can help you with anything and everything and knows all of your inner workings. Praying on your knees makes it that much more real. 
4. Talk to God all day every day. I know this sounds super simple and easy and that’s because it is! Whether you’re walking around mindlessly or if you’re focusing on a super hard task, prayer can be a part of that. It’s important that we thank God for all of the simple things in life that we take for granted and also invite him into our struggles. Your prayers don’t have to be crazy elaborate either. Just think of it as a conversation with a friend who literally knows everything. I like to pray when I see an ambulance or when I see something pretty or even when I need a little guidance in making decisions. By praying at all hours of the day you are creating a real and strong relationship with God that can’t be broken.

All God wants is a relationship with you so invite him in! Prayer doesn’t have to be complicated or difficult, it just has to be a conversation. So whether you’re using one of the 4 ways I showed above or something entirely different there’s no wrong way to pray unless you just don’t pray at all.