Are you ever confronted with difficulty determining when and where to pray? Let's face it. Most Americans find themselves busy from sun up to sun down and many, myself included, find it hard to fit this necessary discipline (and privilege!) in each day. For those of you who don't struggle in making prayer a priority -- we applaud you! Your witness is essential to those within and outside the Kingdom of God! I encourage you to use your experiences and stories of partaking in a full prayer life with those around you. You are blessed to a blessing. We are all blessed to be a blessing. So, if you struggle or are new to practicing prayer as a regular part of your life, persevere! Your witness is just as important! 

New to practicing prayer? Below are a few tips to help get you started in your connection time with the Lord.

1) Start your day with your Savior. Even if all you can offer is 30 minutes, 15 minutes, 5 minutes even, take a moment to greet your Creator first thing in the morning. Praise him for waking you up. Give thanks to him for your family and for your job. Ask Jesus to send his Spirit before you to your workplace, to your children's school. Ask him to help you be a witness to others throughout the idea. Allow him those first few moments when you wake to really soak in the Spirit and allow him to be near you.

2) Keep in constant contact. Don't give in to the false idea that you have to only set aside certain times during the idea to offer up praise or whispered prayers to your King. As you progress through the idea, from the moment you rise to the moment you lay your head on your pillow again -- your day is chock full of opportunities to engage in snippets of conversation with the Lord. As you walk home from waving good bye to your kids at the bus stop, say a prayer of protection for them. As you take your 15 minute break at work, spend a few moments in prayer for the difficult meeting you have in the afternoon. As you are in the grocery store, if a dear friend comes to mind, lift them up to the Lord in prayer! Our days are overflowing with opportunities to stay in contact with our King. And he desires to do the same with us!

3) Find a quiet place. While seeking out opportunities to keep in touch with Jesus throughout your day is a discipline in and of itself, so is finding those quiet times and quiet places. It's a different kind of discipline. When we take the time to really get to know a new friend, we make the choice to invest time in their lives. We meet for coffee and sit and chat for, sometimes, hours on end. It takes time to grown intimate, to recognize each other's voice, to know what makes each other "tick," and to find each other trustworthy. Seek out a quiet place. So people have forgone the much needed storage place in their home and turned small closets into a special and sacred prayer space. It's biblical. It works. It's a quiet place. Try it. Do you enjoy the outdoors? Take a walk to a quiet area near your home, maybe a park, or a near a creek nestled in a scenic and serene wooded area. Meet with Jesus 'mid his creation! Moms, ask a neighbor, church member, friend, or your spouse to take your kids and give you an hour of quiet time in the comfort of your own home so you can spend time with your heavenly father. It's really no wonder we so struggle hearing the voice of God. The demands on our time and our attention are vast. Make finding a quiet place, even if just a few times a week, a priority. God will honor you! 

The NPR would like to open it up to you, our faithful readers and prayer warriors, to share with us. Leave a comment in the form of a few sentences following this post offering your tips, wisdom, and insight to the daily practice of prayer.

Blessings!