Routine

This week I have been noticing how routine my life is.  I wake up every morning at 7:05, still half asleep grab my towel and walk to the bathroom.  I take a quick shower.  I am back in my room every day at 7:16. I get dressed and do my hair.  I am in the kitchen every day by 7:34.  I make breakfast and lunch for myself.  I am in my car by 7:45.  3 out of 5 mornings the same green Toyota Corolla lets me out of the neighborhood onto the stopped Pleasant Plains Road traffic.  Every morning I see the same cars on Pineville-Matthews Road.  Most afternoons, I am behind a beige Yukon with two stickers on the left side of the back window on Pineville-Matthews Road in Pineville. 

Where am I going with this?

Can you think of a place in your life where your life revolves around routine?  Beside my commute, the other area that stands out to me is my prayer life.  I am just being honest.  Can you be honest with yourself? Is your prayer life too routine?  Does it sound sound something like?

Dear Lord,
Thank you for today.  Thank you for blessing me with another day, another chance.  Thank you for a job.  Thank you for an amazing family.  Please be with me today. Give me strength to show grace through my actions and my words. 
In Jesus' name, Amen

With a bit added in there about a new job/strength to stay where I am at, praying for some team and group members that is almost exactly what my prayer life has turned into.  I did not realize this until I was realizing how much my life revolved around routine.

So, how do you get out of this routine?  Here are a few tips that I am using to change my prayer life. 

- Write my prayers.  This helps me stay focused, and remember where I am going. 
- Keep my prayers focused on God.  Instead of focusing on 'saying the right thing', I just focus everything around Him.  I thank Him for what He has brought me and where He is taking me.
- Get on my knees and pray.  This is something different, and takes prayer to a whole different level.  I was just spending part of my commute praying. 
- Pray continually.  1 Thess. 5:17 is very straight and to the point.  Pray continually, it says.  Instead of setting one time a day aside for prayer, I just pray all day long.  I thank Him when something goes right, I ask for strength when something is going wrong, etc. 
- Turn everything off.  I was getting distracted by my phone.  I turn my phone off, turn of my computer, turn off the radio, shut the door.  I do not let anything get away from my time of prayer.
- Pray His word.  Pray bible verses.  Currently, I am praying Jeremiah 29:11 during my personal prayer time.  I know He has a plan for me and He will not harm me. 

I hope that this helped.  My prayer life has gone to a whole new level. 



Resources: The Blessings and the Curses of Routine, Prayer Bible Verses