What's Your Dream Prayer Life?

Evaluating your prayer life and dreaming about where you want it to go.

If you want to get more from your prayer life, you’ve got to work on your prayer life. It’s that simple. There’s no magic pill. A way to work on your prayer life is by taking a coach approach to prayer. Taking a coach approach means you get curious about your prayer life.

Where am I now?

You begin by asking, “Where am I now?” This is the “present” question. It wonders about your current reality. What is the present state of your prayer life? How are you getting along? If you looked down from above and could observe yourself, what would you see?

This question is for evaluation, and it’s important because we seldom observe ourselves, let alone our practice of prayer. We are caught up in the hubbub of daily life. Or don’t consider our state of prayer to be a primary interest. Or don’t imagine ourselves brave enough to handle the data.

But as children of God, exploring our practice of prayer is necessary and good and even our responsibility.

As it goes in prayer, so it goes with the Father. Prayer is your means of relationship with God and enjoying Him is your chief end. But if you’re not enjoying God, if you’re not feeling the favor of your Father, then change the means—work on your prayer life. There’s no magic pill.

So slow down, brave up, and pay attention to what your prayer life is telling you. Let the Holy Spirit coach you to pray.

You may have noticed in the Bible that when Jesus was working with people, he often asked questions. Yes, Jesus did some teaching that involved telling, but most of the time, he dealt in questions. Let the Holy Spirit coach you to pray.

One day after Jesus finished praying, one of his disciples said to him, “LORD, teach us to pray.” (Luke 11:1). That disciple noticed something in Jesus that he did not have. Let the Holy Spirit coach you to pray.

Now it’s time to get practical.

When you’re not rushed or distracted, explore the following questions about your prayer life. Make an honest assessment of how things actually are—not how you’d like them to be someday or how you’d want to be viewed by others.

Explore these questions honestly. Write out your answers in a journal. As you do, let the Holy Spirit coach you to pray.

• How would you rate your prayer life between 1 and 10 with 10 being the highest score?

• What words come to your mind to describe your current prayer life?

• What outcomes or results is your prayer life currently producing?

• How do you feel about your prayer life as it is now?

• What effect does your prayer life have on your relationship with God?

• What would God say about your prayer life?

They’re some big questions, but exploring them is going to be worth it. Remember, if you want to get more from your prayer life, you’ve got to work on your prayer life. There's no magic pill.

The Key to Life

A few Christmases ago, I visited the hospital with chest pains. I was 36 with a wife and three children at home. The chest scans revealed I had a blood clot in my lung. The clot was on the edge of my lung, away from the nerves that would have earlier signaled its presence. Had it not been caught, I may have died.

The doctors admitted me to the hospital, where I stayed for a week. During that week, my right leg went numb, which led to a brain scan. The brain scan revealed an unexplained mass in my brain—a brain tumor? First the blood clot, now this. This was not the Christmas my family had envisioned.

But it was in my hospital room that the Father offered me an unexpected gift. After the visitors had left, I started thinking about death—the blood clot, the brain tumor, what the heck is happening—and it was then that the Father said the most remarkable thing.

It was not a loud, thunderous voice that shook the walls or even a voice that I heard with my ears. It was a silent whisper to my heart, not small or straw, but steady and strong, my Father’s voice.

And he said this: “Remain in me, I will remain in you.”

Eight simple words that hung in the air. Eight simple words that dropped heavy into my heart. Eight simple words that were exactly what I needed to hear.

“Remain in me, I will remain in you.”

Eight simple words that revealed the key to life while I was contemplating death.

In the book, Celebration of Discipline, Richard Foster wrote, “All who have walked with God have viewed prayer as the main business of their lives.”

In the movie, Shawshank Redemption, Andy said, “Get busy living or get busy dying.”

In the Bible, Jesus said, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you.” (John 15:4)

This, my friends, is the key to life.

If you can fasten yourself to this truth, build your life and your affections around it, then it will not matter what misfortunes happen to you. You may have nothing, you may lose everything this world says matters, but if you have Christ, you will have everything.

And that everything will get you through anything.

My friends, remain in Christ and he will remain in you. Make prayer the main business of your lives. Get busy living.

I’m so glad you’ve come along on this coaching journey. Next, we’ll consider how you want your prayer life to be.

By the way, there was no brain tumor, but if there was, I would have still had everything because I had Christ.

What’s Your Dream Prayer Life?

Psalm 84 says, “How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD Almighty.”

So you may have dreams for different parts of your life—your dream marriage, your dream children, your dream friends, your dream job, your dream house, your dream body, your dream bank account, your dream retirement. We could go on.

But let me ask you—have you thought about your "dream" prayer life?

Psalm 84 says, “My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD.”

We have many dreams for the different parts of our life, but we seldom have any dreams for our prayer life. This is ironic because prayer is the root of our relationship with God. Prayer is where God loves us. Prayer helps us become who we’re meant to be, so we can do what we’re meant to do. Prayer is how we remain in Him.

So why don’t we have more dreams for our prayer life? I'm so glad we're on this prayer coaching journey together.

Psalm 84 says, “My heart and flesh cry out for the living God.”

Now that you’ve taken account of your present prayer life, you can dream about the future. This is where you ask the “future” question for your prayer life. It explores your vision for what could be. In a perfect world, how would prayer work? How would it go for you? What are the possibilities?

Psalm 84 says, “Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere.”

With this question, you dream a better future than the one you observed in the present question. Without the present question, you wouldn't know where to start, but now you do. You begin where you are, then you dream outward and upward.

What would you like to see happen in prayer? If you woke up one day and your problems with prayer were solved, what would that mean for you?

Psalm 84 says, “I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.”

Exploring an alternative future raises you above your current conditions so you can see something different ahead. With the spirit of an explorer you ask, "Where do I want to go in prayer?"

This is where you dream about your prayer life. When you’re not rushed or distracted, explore the following questions about your prayer life. Write out your answers in a journal or on this worksheet.As you do, let the Holy Spirit coach you to pray.

• What words would describe your “dream” prayer life?

• How would you like to feel about your prayer life?

• What outcomes or results would your “dream” prayer life produce?

• If you woke up tomorrow and you had your “dream” prayer life, what difference would that make for you?

• How would your “dream” prayer life impact your walk with God?

• What dreams might God have for your prayer life?

Alright, that's enough with the questions. Nice job. Remember, we have many dreams for the different parts of our life, but we seldom have any dreams for our prayer life. Now you do. If you want to keep on dreaming, by all means, keep on dreaming.

Psalm 84 says, “Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you.”