7 Ways to Use Lent to Strengthen Your Prayer Life

1. Establish prayer habits that fit your real life.

Prayer is an opportunity, not an obligation. But it will feel like an obligation if you put pressure on yourself to pray in ways that don’t naturally fit into your life. Stop worrying about trying to pray for long stretches of time if short prayer times work best in your schedule. If you’re a morning person, plan prayer time in the morning – but if you’re a night person, don’t force yourself to have prayer time early in the day; plan to pray at bedtime, instead. While you’re going through each day, if something comes up that you’d like to talk to God about, go ahead and pray in the moment. What’s most important is just connecting with God through prayer regularly.

Jesus removes pressure from prayer when he says in Matthew 6:6: “When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.” Jesus doesn’t prescribe any particular way to pray. He just emphasizes connecting with God’s presence through prayer. You’re most likely to pray regularly if you enjoy prayer. So, build prayer habits you really enjoy. Lent is a valuable time to experiment with that. Try out fresh ways of praying during Lent, and notice what you enjoy the most. Then choose some simple practices to build new prayer habits.

Psalm 145:18 encourages you: “The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.” The more you pray in realistic and enjoyable ways, the more you’ll be motivated to pray, because you’ll look forward to communicating with God.

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2. Embrace the freedom God gives you in prayer.

You don’t need to try to force yourself to pray in any particular way. God doesn’t expect you to be perfectly focused when you’re praying, to include formal language in your prayer, or to follow any particular type of method or format. If you’ve been carrying around unrealistic expectations about how you should pray, let go of those expectations, and embrace the freedom God gives you to pray in whatever ways work best for you. The Bible shows people praying in all sorts of different ways, like through spoken words, written messages, singing, dancing, crying, and saying silent prayers.

Romans 8:26 assures you that God’s Holy Spirit will hear and understand your prayers even if you can’t articulate them, and is willing to intercede in prayer for you: “… the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.” During Lent, you can explore fresh ways of praying to see what works best for you. You may connect best with God through journaling your prayers, taking prayer walks, listening to worship music, using written prayers from your church’s tradition, or enjoying spontaneous conversations with God throughout your day. Just show up honestly and talk with God from your heart.

As you discover practices that resonate with you, you’ll see that God welcomes you however you choose to connect with him.

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3. Use Bible verses and passages in your prayers.

Many people struggle with prayer because they don’t know what to say. If you feel at a loss for words when you want to pray about something, try praying over a Bible verse or passage that relates to what you want to pray about. Hebrews 4:12 reminds you that “… the word of God is alive and active.” When you pray a message from God’s word back to him, you can experience the power of it coming alive and helping you with whatever you need.

During Lent, you can choose a small part of scripture each day and let it guide your prayer. Read slowly. Notice a word or phrase that stands out, and then ask the Holy Spirit to show you why it caught your attention. Then turn that insight into a prayer. The Psalms can be especially helpful to pray over, because they express the full range of human emotions. When you pray something from the Psalms, you can see that God welcomes honesty. You don’t need to try to clean up your feelings or hide your questions before you pray.

You can also pray through Gospel passages by imagining yourself in the scene, watching Jesus during his earthly life. As you do so, pay attention to how people respond to Jesus. Ask what that reveals about God’s character and your own heart. Then respond in prayer. Over time, praying biblical prayers will help you line up with your prayers with God’s good purposes for you.

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4. Practice silence and learn to listen.

In this world full of noise, silence can feel strange or uncomfortable. You might be used to filling every quiet moment with music, news, or distractions. But the Bible shows that God often meets you in stillness. In Psalm 46:10, God says: “Be still, and know that I am God.” This is an invitation for you to trust God by daring to be still so you can notice God’s presence with you and focus on connecting with God.

Use Lent as a quiet space to practice listening. After you talk to God, sit quietly for a few moments. Focus on your breathing. Resist the urge to check your phone or plan your day. If your mind wanders, gently bring your focus back to God’s presence. Listening doesn’t always mean getting a clear answer. Often, it just means becoming aware of the feelings or fears you’ve been hiding. As you get used to silence, you’ll learn to hear God’s messages to you more clearly. 

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5. Let wonder deepen your prayer life.

Your prayer life can lose its depth when you lose your sense of wonder. If you stop paying attention to the wonder of them, the Bible’s familiar stories and prayers can become boring routines. Lent calls you back to awe. Psalm 27:4 encourages you to: “… to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.” You need wonder to keep your prayers from feeling like chores and to remind you that God is amazing!

During Lent, look for moments that amaze you. Slow down your Bible reading. Reflect on just one verse instead of rushing through a whole chapter. Pay attention to nature, too, since creation teaches you about how wonderful God is as a Creator. The more you let wonder deepen your prayer life, the more your gratitude will grow, and you’ll find that wonder will inspire you to worship God. 

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6. Allow prayer to shape your daily decisions.

Prayer should shape how you live. As you pray more, you will grow in wisdom. Proverbs 3:5-6 encourages you: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” Prayer trains you to seek God and pay attention to God’s wisdom.

During Lent, practice bringing your daily decisions to God. Pray before you respond to a conflict. Ask for guidance on how to use your time and energy. Invite God into your stress and your conversations. Develop a habit of praying for God’s guidance and listening carefully to what he tells you. Over time, prayer will change not just what you believe, but how you act. Your choices will begin to reflect God’s leading.

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7. Persevere when prayer feels dry or difficult.

You will sometimes go through seasons when prayer feels dry or difficult. Lent teaches you how to stay faithful even when you struggle. Prayer isn’t always about a good feeling, but it always shapes who you are. Galatians 6:9 encourages you to keep going: “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

During Lent, commit to showing up to pray with persistence. Don’t judge your prayer by how it makes you feel. Trust that God is working in the situations you pray about, even if you can’t see it yet. Staying faithful during these dry or difficult times will help you build strong habits that last. 

In conclusion, Lent is a valuable opportunity to experience lasting positive change in your prayer life with God. When you use this season to develop strong prayer habits, you can develop strong prayer habits that will help you grow spiritually far beyond Easter. As you walk through Lent, trust that every step you take toward strengthening your prayer life matters, because God loves to communicate with you. May you enjoy communicating with God more, throughout Lent and every day after that!

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