Prayer is the bedrock of every believer's life. It is one of the elements that will ensure that you experience a victorious life. I love to say that Prayer is an art - it can be learnt and can be practised unto perfection with the help of the Holy Spirit. Every assurance you ever need for your life here on earth is gotten from a rich prayer life.
Prayer is a powerful way to connect with God, but let’s be honest,
staying awake during prayer, especially at night or during long
sessions, can be a challenge. It is unfortunate thhat many believers sometimes get tired in the course of this activity called Prayer. Many people experience burnout and end up sleeping off while engaging in this spiritual activity. If you ask the average Christian today, you would discover that they are in search for solutions to avoid burnout and constant sleep offs during prayer. Indeed, this is proof that the spirit is willing, but the flesh is
weak (Matthew 26:41). But then, if you often find yourself dozing off while
praying, don’t be discouraged. You're reading just the right article!
This has birthed the need for this article to teach you how to stay awake when you pray. Here are five practical tips to help you stay alert and focused during prayer.
1. Be Fully Awake
You see, you can be awake, but not be "awake". The
most challenging time to pray for most believers is at night. First and
foremost, stand up from the bed. You can go to the bathroom and wash
your face with water, brush your teeth and even take cold water. As you
engage in these activities, you are trying to get sleep off of you.
2. Change Your Position
After
you have tried to be awake, then it is time to take a position. Don't
go back to bed and draw your duvet over you. Lying down or sitting too
comfortably can make you sleepy. Try standing, walking, or even pacing
while praying. Many people find that walking while praying keeps them
physically engaged and spiritually focused. If Jesus could kneel and
stand while praying (Luke 22:41), you can also adopt different postures
to stay alert.
3. Avoid Praying in a Sleep-Inducing Environment
If
you often pray in bed or a dimly lit, quiet place, your body may
associate it with sleep. Instead, choose a well-lit area; I mean, turn
on the lights. There is a way lighted areas can keep you awake. You can
also sit in an upright chair or move to a different location where you
are less likely to fall asleep.
4. Engage with Scripture or Worship
Sometimes,
starting with a short Bible reading or worship song can awaken your
spirit. Have a playlist of songs that you can play before you pray and
those that you play as you pray. Also, praying and reading aloud from
the Psalms or listening to uplifting worship music before or during
prayer can keep your mind active and connected to God. Pray aloud, it
has a way of keeping one awake. During the day, you can pray silently
and mutter words of prayers because you are at work
5. Pray with Passion and Purpose
If
your prayers feel repetitive or monotonous, you may become mentally
disengaged. Approach prayer with a sense of urgency and expectation.
Keep a prayer list to stay focused on specific needs, or use the ACTS
method (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) to structure
your prayer. When you pray with intention, your mind is less likely to
wander into sleep.
1. Pray in the Spirit
Romans 8:26-27 shows us how “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”
You won't ever go wrong praying in tongues. This doesn't include the type of prayer where you lay on your bed and whisper the tongues while battling sleep. When you're about to make use of your tongues to keep you awake, you have to keep it hard and fast - One that touches your spirit, soul and body. Let such tongues be one that can keep your mental faculty alert at that instant.
From experience, pacing while engaging in this type of tonguing activity helps to restore your alertness. If you're the agile type, you can make use of your various acrobatic styles - However, remember, in all you do, safety first.
In your bid to be active while praying in the spirit, in no situation should you engage your social media apps as it has been noted among believers in this generation. Refuse to be tempted to place your tongues on “auto cruise” as you contribute your daily 3km quota to Instagram or any other app.
2. Pray with Short Sermons and Messages from anointed men of God
Sometimes, we’re not really sleepy. Our spirit only needs something to help rev us up and messages from anointed ministers have been proven to help with that.
In this case, your prayer becomes spontaneous and you'll be surprised that you have successfully prayed the whole length of the message you are listening to. Praying while listening to God's word and messages from His anointed also opens up your spirit to receive better - that is, words of prophecies that you might have otherwise killed in the realm of common sense make sense to you as you receive them while praying.
3. Pray with Anointed Gospel Songs
Ephesians 5:19 says, “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord”.
This means that using psalms, hymns and spiritual songs from different ministers of the gospel to help in your supplication to God is not wrong. However, it is subject to the peculiarities of each person.
You, as the believer, should be sensitive enough in the spirit to know what to use and what not to use as a song to aid your prayers.
If you believe that listening to slow music or instrumentals will make you sleep off, please avoid such and instead replace them with chants or songs filled with more vocals. However, if you end up getting distracted by the cymbals or singing of a song, kindly stick with slow, simple but spiritual songs and instrumentals.
Going forward, however, this particular point will hinge on our first point - that you pray in the spirit a lot as just music can either bore you to sleep or distract you.
Therefore, have a goal as to why that particular song must be played which in this case, is to remove the stillness and sleepiness that the devil uses against you while praying.
4. Have Expectations
This has never failed me as having expectations burning red hot in my heart is enough to keep you active and your eyes shining no matter how long prayer takes.
To avoid sleeping off while praying, build expectations in your heart either for yourself, or for your loved ones. If you had a loved one who was sick with an incurable disease like Cancer, you would most likely not need any prompts to stay awake while praying as all of their hope is hinged on supernatural healing. On a more serious thought, you should begin to think that you sleep off because you think you have another option to fall back on even “if God does not answer you” so you can afford to be slack about praying. The rule is this, if you have something you're expecting from someone and you're told to wait (tarry) for 30 minutes, will you sleep off? No. Instead, you will stay alert, and expectant. That's exactly how it works with building expectations. Remember that there is no time wasted when you pray, so, each time, go to the place of prayers with expectations - if not for yourself, have it for your loved one or your country.
5. Get a Prayer Partner
The Bible says in Proverbs 27:17, “Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.”. This means that spiritual relationships and families are some of the best accountability systems you could ever ask for. Having friends who will be ready to give you that little push each time you doze off while praying is what your life needs to experience a turnaround so, don't get offended the next time it happens - they do it because they love you and want to see you get better.
The presence of this second person when you pray can help you stay alert and watch out for one another. So, in all you do, don't despise supernatural friendships. Get yourself an accountability partner or a friend who prays with you (prayer partner)
Conclusion
Staying awake while praying is a challenge many believers face, but
with intentional effort, you can overcome it. Prayer is a sacred time
with God, and He understands our human weaknesses. Ask the Holy Spirit
to help you stay alert and committed in your prayer life. We hope that after taking note of all these tips, your prayer life will stop halting and you will be able to go on that prayer chain you've always looked forward to without bothering about sleeping off.
What strategies have helped you stay awake during prayer? Share your thoughts in the comments
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