6 Creative Ways to Incorporate Prayer Throughout Your Day

1. Pray at Red Lights

Most people don't drive around in silence; we're either listening to music, a podcast, or an audiobook. But what if we made a habit of silencing the noise while waiting at a red light and used that time for prayer?

You may live in an urban environment and walk, bike, or take public transportation. Regardless of your mode of transportation, you likely find yourself waiting in traffic, at a red light, or at a pedestrian crossing. This is a great time to pray for your community, local leaders, teachers, physicians, etc.

Take a moment to look at the person in the vehicle next to you or the person sitting in the next seat on the bus. Pray for them. You may see someone on the street corner with a sign asking for help. Pray for them. You may see someone walking who looks distressed. Pray for them.

If you're a parent with children in your vehicle, encourage them to pray at stoplights, too! Pray out loud or silently in your head. If you challenge yourself to do this for one week, you might find your prayers keep going long after the red light turns green.

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2. Pray through Your Least Favorite Task at Work

You likely have a least favorite task, even if you love your job. Whether that's making copies, restocking shelves, or walking from one meeting to another, if your job allows for it, use this time for prayer.

I would encourage you to use this time to talk to God about your work. Tell him what you love about it and thank him. Tell him what you wish was different and ask him for patience to endure the aspects you don't enjoy. Pray for your boss, your employees, or your customers.

If this isn't the job you see yourself in for the long haul, use this time to ask God for wisdom when looking to the future. Ask him to open doors of advancement. Ask him to show you how to be a blessing to your fellow coworkers, your boss, and the establishment as a whole.

Thank him for work, even if you don't love it. Ask him for strength, influence, and opportunities to share the gospel. Need a raise? Talk to God about it. Use this time to focus on where he has you in this season of life and how you can make the most of it for his glory.

3. Pray in the Shower

Many years ago, a pastor's wife told me that she designed her shower time to pray specifically for the church. She explained how her time in the shower was the only uninterrupted time in her day. She felt using the shower to lift up the church was the best use of her time.

Some of these shower prayers focused on her local church family and individuals who needed prayer support. Other times, she focused on the church leadership, praying for the pastors, elders, and deacons by name. Sometimes, she focused on the universal church or our persecuted brothers and sisters.

This is a great time to pray for the nursery workers, teachers, and youth group leaders. This is a wonderful time to pray for the volunteers in your church family who work behind the scenes, such as the treasurer, cleaning crew, worship team, and communion preppers. Pray for the volunteers that they will continue to serve with joy and contentment.

This pastor's wife who suggested praying in the shower told me that some days her showers were short, along with her prayers. But other days, the needs were great and the hot water would run out before she was done crying out to the Lord. What a precious sacrifice to give up what could be a relaxing few minutes of your day to instead lift up the church before the throne of God.

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4. Pray During Household Chores

Most people don't love household chores, but they have to be done. Try assigning a specific prayer topic to a particular task. For instance, while sweeping or mopping the floor you could pray for your parents, and while dusting you could pray for your in-laws.

If you're a parent, pray for each of your children as you remove their clothes from the dryer. As you unload the dishwasher, pray for your siblings. If your lifestyle includes chopping wood, caring for animals, or gardening, use that time to thank God for all the ways he provides. Ask him for opportunities to share the bounty he has given you with others.

Do you make your bed in the mornings? Use that time to talk to God about the future, ask for wisdom, clarity and discernment. Do you wash dishes by hand? Use that time to pray for your neighbors. Are you in a season of changing diapers? Use that time to pray over your child for their future, their growth, and their salvation.

Do you hate cleaning the toilets or the shower? Use that time to talk to the Lord about yourself. Ask him to show you areas of your life that need change. Ask for humility and for spiritual growth. Ask him to give you joy in keeping your home. Thank him for all the ways he's provided for you.

5. Pray When the Alarm Goes Off

I've had multiple people over the years tell me they set an alarm on their phone for every hour on the hour. When they swipe their phone to turn the alarm off, they notice who that prayer time was designated for and then they say a quick prayer accordingly.

If you're married, this is a great way to pray for your spouse throughout the day. Do they have something stressful going on? Pray about it. Is there conflict in your relationship? Pray about it. Does your spouse travel for work? Pray for them. Is there a health scare? Pray about it.

Married or not, we all have people in our lives for whom we can pray. And what a wonderful habit to get into to pray for someone every day at the same time. What a blessing for that person to know that every day, at a specific time, they are being lifted up before the throne of grace.

Not everyone's daily routine allows for this, but I would encourage you to give it a try. In a meeting? Pray silently in your head. At a play date? Pray silently in your head, or humbly explain this new habit you're trying to get into, and then take a moment to pray. Or, snooze the alarm and pray when it's less distracting.

6. Pick From a Prayer Jar

This option is particularly helpful if you are home during the day or have a desk job. Take small pieces of paper and write out names of people, or specific situations to pray for. Put these papers in a jar, or any container and place them on your desk or in an area of your home that you frequent.

Throughout the day, or by the reminder of an alarm, pick a prayer paper out of the jar and spend a minute or two in prayer. What you write on these papers could be anything from specific people in your life, like friends and family, to strangers, like government officials.

The paper could prompt you to pray for your local schools, for those working at and living in local nursing homes, the staff at local hospice centers or health clinics. Your prompts could remind you to pray for local firefighters and police officers. What about your mayor, governor, and state representatives? Pray for them.

This is a great way to get your family or coworkers involved. Invite anyone with access to your prayer jar to add their own prayer requests. This not only gives you specific reminders to pray for those around you, but what a joy to be able to tell someone you picked their prayer request that day and you lifted them up to the Lord.

When put into practice, praying can be the most important moments of your day. These moments often become full of awe and intimacy. You will not only learn more about God but also about yourself and who you are as his child. Prayer is the very breath of the Christian life and should not be neglected.

Just as our prayers are unique, so will how we incorporate them in our daily lives. I encourage you to explore your prayer life, expand your prayer life, and expect great things to come about from it.