How to Become the Prayer Warrior You Want To Be

Many of us already know that prayer is important. It is our lifeline to the creator of the universe and is vital to growing in our faith. The Bible points to it often as the answer to many of our questions and problems, such as anxiety and worry.

Philippians 4:6 says,

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God”

The Bible is pretty clear about what we’re supposed to do with our worries and anxieties. But many of us struggle to make prayer a regular habit and make it meaningful. I think, for a lot of us, we just don’t know what we’re doing or why we’re really doing it.

I know that was the case for me when I really began living for the Lord. Even today I sometimes struggle to engage consistently in prayer. But each week, I’m making progress and I’m working to pray more. This habit didn’t just create itself. It took time, using resources, and joining up with other believers to keep me accountable. I can tell you I’ve seen the fruit of this labor in my own life.

I don’t say any of this to condemn you or raise myself up. You are not loved by God any less or worth any less because you don’t pray. Please, don’t hear that.

The reason this is so important is that not praying has damaging effects on our walk with Christ.

The enemy knows that keeping us from opening our mouths and talking to God is the first step in making us feel isolated and alone. If we aren’t talking to God, then we aren’t hearing from Him and we aren’t being fulfilled through Him.

This causes us to turn to people and we wind up disappointed because all of us are flawed. We know this, yet we do it anyway. We choose to seek direction, guidance and help from people instead of God because deep down, we know that prayer will change us.

And change (even good change) can be scary.

Why Don’t We Use Our Most Powerful Tool?

There are incredible stories of answered prayers, miraculous healing, and abounding provision in the Church. I think many of us know that prayer is our most valuable weapon, but we’re afraid to use it.

Why?

We think we’re too busy.
We don’t know what to pray for.
We don’t really understand prayer as a discipline.
We’re afraid our prayers won’t be answered.
We’re afraid our prayers will be answered.

Prayer is just like any other habit you want to implement in your life: it takes some research, dedication, time, and accountability.

While pray is and can be very simple, it is also a skill. To become skilled at anything requires that you first begin. Without taking the first step toward learning and cultivating prayer as a spiritual discipline, you will never progress.

Prayer is vital to your spiritual growth. Without a deep understanding of prayer, our growth in Christ will stagnate. Disciplines like stillness, prayer, and Biblical literacy are the water and sunlight to the seeds of our faith. Without them, we will wither away.

So, what exactly IS a prayer warrior?

Scripture tells us that there are spiritual battles that we are going to have to fight. This is true for all Christians. Once we choose to live for Jesus a target is put on our backs.

Spiritual warfare is real.

Ephesians 6:12 says,

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

A lack of a prayer life not only affects us spiritually, but it affects others. We need one another to pray. We need one another to join arms and help us fight our spiritual battles. We cannot engage in those battles if we have not equipped ourselves to do so.

A prayer warrior is someone who deeply understands that the battles we are facing in the spiritual realm are real. They are followers of Jesus who feel a burden to step into those battles and fight for themselves, their families, friends, and communities.

A prayer warrior is simply someone who prays fervently and consistently. That is achievable for every Spirit-filled Christian, despite the lies we believe about our time and abilities.

So, Where Do We Start?

Learning to become a prayer warrior is just like any other thing we want to learn how to do. We seek out people who are doing it well and learn from them. We surround ourselves with others who are learning along with us. We research, we read and we practice.

It’s okay to go slowly and start small. Here are some starting ideas:

Find a friend, someone in your church or small group or even reach out to someone you know of but don’t know fully yet. Ask them to coffee and just ask them about their journey with prayer and with faith.
Read what the Bible says about prayer. Start with Matthew 6: 9-13.
Practice praying out loud. It doesn’t have to be long and you don’t have to know “what to pray for.” Start simply by just thanking God out loud for 3 things in your life. Eventually, you’ll start adding to that naturally. If you really struggle with this, try journaling your prayers like a letter.
When opportunities arise for you to have others pray over you, take them. Listen to how they talk to God and let it strengthen your faith.

There are so many resources out there on prayer, including a FREE Lord’s Prayer Guide from me that you can download below!

Every good endeavor starts with small, intentional steps. If you want to be a prayer warrior, put your mind to it and start practicing today.

You don’t have to wait to begin interceding for your needs and the needs of those around you.

If you’re someone who likes to organize their thoughts and have a written guide for who and what to pray for, you’ll love the Prayer Journals from Valmarie Paper.