| If your prayer life feels dry right now, you’re not crazy—and you’re not alone! Can I be honest with you? I have struggled deeply to stay consistent in prayer for as long as I can remember. I often find myself on the Struggle Bus Express. There have been seasons when talking to God felt difficult, distracted, or strangely empty, and the guilt of “I should be better at this” only made it worse. But what I have had to come to discover over time is that a dry prayer life rarely means I’ve failed. Christ didn’t come to say guilt ON me but rather guilt OFF me! Maybe you need to hear that, too. Often, if I’m struggling with a dry prayer life, it simply means I need focus, gratitude, space, humility, and conversation again. So, if you’re struggling, too…before you quit praying—reset your approach! Here are five practices that help me keep going when prayer feels hard. I hope these encourage you and spur you on to pray more often and more deeply: 1. Change Your Posture Once a day, change your physical posture in prayer. Pray on your knees. Prostrate yourself before God. Lift your hands. Bow your head. God hears you regardless of posture, so don’t make this into a rigid, legalistic thing. But posture affects you! Kneeling reminds your heart that its position is dependence. It reminds you that He is God and you are not. That He is the King of kings with all power and resources in His hands. Sometimes your body needs to lead so your heart can follow. 2. Start With Gratitude, Not Need Never start your prayers with what you need! Start with what you’re grateful for. When we skip gratitude and only rehearse our deep, dark, painful needs, it can create emotional overload. But when you begin with gratitude—remembering how God has already been faithful, how He has blessed you, provided, protected, and shown mercy—your heart is reminded of His goodness. Gratitude rekindles hope and faith for the needs that still feel unresolved. This is also a powerful time to keep a simple prayer journal. Write one sentence for each request and the date you asked. When God answers, highlight it. Add the date and how He answered! Over time, those highlighted pages become visible evidence of His faithfulness. It strengthens belief for even bigger things. 3. Don’t Show Up With a Giant List This is going to feel counterintuitive, but don’t show up to prayer with your giant list of everything you need or want God to do. Why? Frankly, it can feel endlessly overwhelming! And when prayer consistently feels heavy, we begin to flee from it. Instead, narrow your focus. Choose only three topics per day. For example: Monday: your marriage, your parents’ health, strength to keep going in ministry. Tuesday: your nation’s leaders, friends with health issues, your children’s friends. This method of “praying triplets” combats overwhelm and keeps passion alive! Of course, you will likely still pray daily prayers—protection over your family, deeper relationships with Christ, thanksgiving. But for additional requests, stick to three. 4. Fast From Social Media I recognize the irony of saying this since I am active on social media for this ministry, but consider fasting from social media for a season. Quick reels and constant content train us for the immediate. We begin to expect instant answers everywhere—including from God. That expectation subtly shifts our posture. Instead of relating to Him as the personal, sovereign God He is, we can start treating Him like a genie. Eek. This is a fatal error because God does not bow to the command of man; man is designed to bow to the command of God! Whew! There is also the simple issue of time. Your weekly screen-time report tells the truth. Hours are being spent scrolling—hours that could be given to prayer. I know, I know. I’m all up in your business. But I get my own screen report that certainly humbles me, too. I challenge you: look at your screen report every day for a week. Add up the hours spent. And then ask yourself if you’re comfortable with your findings. Perhaps you will be. But if you’re not, try a four week social media fast. When you feel the urge to scroll, pray instead. It will be hard. But watch your intimacy deepen. Watch your hope, joy, and peace increase. 5. Stop Being So Regimented Finally, stop being so rigid about when and where prayer must happen! A life of prayer means prayer happens everywhere: In the carpool line While cooking dinner While eating breakfast Let prayer pour through you during daily activities. Talk to Him like you talk to a friend. Tell Him what your day is like. Tell Him what you love about Him. Tell Him about the mundane and the heavy. You don’t always need to be asking for something. Sometimes you just talk! This is where the social media fast “comes in clutch.” Instead of scrolling in the carpool line, pray. Instead of scrolling at meals, chat with Jesus. Make ongoing conversation with Him your norm. Sometimes I keep a piece of paper with prayer requests on it in my car so when I’m just sitting there waiting, I can pick it up and begin to pray. Just like an earthly father, He loves to hear from you. You’ve got this, friend! Til Next Time, Liz P.S. I am SO sorry. In my last newsletter, I apparently sent the wrong link to those who were hoping to go deeper in their faith walk. Forgive me! Carol was kind enough to let me know. THANK YOU, Carol! Here is the correct one. www.tinyurl.com/ShallowEndBook Prefer this content in video format? Go here and check all all 5 posts I made about prayer: https://www.instagram.com/p/DU4SnKejjuE/ Want to memorize Psalm 116:1-2 with me? (“I love the Lord for He heard my voice. And because He turned His ear to me, I will call on Him as long as I live.”) Go here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1pmT734g8MThRuOSiOtuCK Want me to speak for your group? Go here:https://www.lizhouse.net/speaking/ P.S.S. As a bit of a personal update, you may be wondering where we are with the agent situation/publishing situation. However, the reason I haven’t updated you in so long is because…drumroll please…there is no update. Womp, womp. Ha! In all seriousness, though, I deeply covet your prayers. I believe with every shred of my being that this current manuscript is going to transform how people see God, radically shift their intimacy with Him, and forever change their faith walk. I am praying–daily–that the Lord will open the doors to help my agent obtain a successful book contact for it. Will you pray with me? I’m specifically praying: -That the Lord would help us secure a book contract by June 2026. -That His name alone would be glorified. Thank you, friend. We are partners in the Gospel and I am so thankful for you. |
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