How To Start Praying 5 Times A Day

Prayer is an essential spiritual discipline that every Christian should practice. While prayer is a form of worship toward God, it benefits us more than it benefits Him—so when we neglect prayer, it is we who miss out. When we pray, we are continually transformed and shaped into the image of Christ. Along with scripture reading and being a part of the church community, prayer is a major way in which we receive grace from God. It is also how we grow more intimate with God and spend solitude with Him. There is no such thing as praying too much, for God delights in prayer.

Father in heaven, may I always see and ponder the value and importance of prayer and be faithful to it. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen.

The Driving Factor

Desiring to pray five times a day is a good thing and a wonderful goal to have. It’s similar to craving more of God’s Word, reading more chapters of the Bible than usual, and savoring every piece of it. As you pursue the ability to pray five times a day, it is essential to first get to the heart of why we’d want to pray five times a day (or even more): It is something we should do out of love and delight in the Lord.

No matter how virtuous a certain practice is, if it does not come from a good and right heart, then it will be in vain. For example, in Matthew 6:7, Jesus teaches us not to use empty or repetitive phrases in prayers, thinking that repeating the same prayers or saying more words will increase our chances of being heard by God. In this verse, Jesus teaches us about the heart; He wants us to think about our reasons for praying repetitively. For instance, if a person is sick and keeps praying for healing day after day, it does not necessarily mean he is heaping up empty phrases—instead, it shows his persistence and faith in God’s ability to restore health. However, suppose another person prays repetitively for a promotion at work because he believes more prayers mean a greater chance of being heard. In that case, no matter how good the practice of persistent prayer is, he is only piling up empty words.

The main point here is the reason behind our desire to pray five times daily. It is written that the Lord weighs the heart (Proverbs 21:2 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: But the LORD pondereth the hearts.). As we desire to pray five times a day, may our heart’s motivation be our delight in God. Like Daniel, we want to be faithful to God and be a man of prayer who always desires to revere Him, thank Him, and honor Him (Daniel 6:10). Also, we will continue to pray without ceasing, for it is God’s will for us (1 Thessalonians 5:16–18).

Ultimately, our motivation to take this step in our prayer lives should be our love and delight for the Lord. When that is our driving factor and we do it with a pure heart, praying five times a day will be a joy.

Practical Steps To Start

Depending on your prayer habits, jumping right into praying five times a day might be difficult. If we are not faithful in praying at least once a day, beginning with five times a day may be too big of a challenge. The goal is to start slowly and be faithful to the small things. Consistency is the key here—once you’ve mastered praying once a day, move on to twice, then thrice, and so on until you can consistently pray five times daily.

Another practical tip that you may want to incorporate is setting an alarm and committing to praying when it goes off. The objective here is to develop the habit of praying. Allow yourself some flexibility—praying five times a day does not mean you have to complete your scheduled devotion while in the middle of a café. Your schedule can have some variation from day to day. A typical daily schedule could look like this: Pray once right after you wake up in the morning. Then, during your work or errands, take a break and pray. You can also pray during lunchtime, before dinner, and as you lie down to sleep at night. The point is that though there can be variations in the settings and even the time of your prayers, the key is to be consistent and commit to your schedule.

Holy Spirit, give me the grace and strength to be committed to prayer. Help me to be diligent in it, to make time for it, and to commit to praying in the times that I have allotted. Give me the grace to be consistent. In the end, the heart behind my desire to pray is delight and love for You. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen.As you develop the habit of praying five times a day, remember that you are not doing it by your own strength. You do it through Christ, who strengthens you (Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.). Developing good habits is not easy, but we have God’s grace to depend on.