How to Build a Life of Prayer

01 / Cornelius · Acts 10:1–8

Make Prayer Part of Your Regular Life

Cornelius was a Roman centurion. Acts 10 describes him and his family as devout and God-fearing. He gave generously to people in need, and he prayed to God regularly. Before we move past that, notice how prayer and generosity belong together in his life.

You can’t outgive God. Generosity is a heart position. It isn’t about how much money we have; it’s about whether we’re willing to live generously toward people in need. Cornelius’s life reflected that heart.

Then there’s that simple word: regularly. We check our phones regularly. We drink coffee, check email, scroll Instagram, and watch the news. Some of us worry regularly. Some of us complain regularly. What we do again and again begins to form us.

Our lives already have a liturgy. That word might sound old or religious, but we’re talking about the rhythms that shape our days. Cornelius had a life that made room for prayer.

Of course we pray when there’s a problem. When someone we love gets a difficult diagnosis, when we’re scared for our kids, or when our marriage is struggling, we turn to God. Cornelius’s example asks us to look at the rest of our days, too. Would the people closest to us say we pray regularly?

I’ve been working through this in my own home. Megan pointed out that our kids had learned an evening rhythm from me: What game is on? What are we going to watch? I like to turn on sports, and they were noticing.

I’m not saying it’s wrong to watch sports. I’m telling you what I’m wrestling with. My kids know I pray and read my Bible in the morning, but I want prayer to be a rhythm they see in our home in the evening, too. I want our life together to reflect what we believe about God.

Colossians 4:2 calls us to be devoted to prayer, watchful and thankful. Devotion means we keep showing up. We make room for prayer in the ordinary, day-in, day-out parts of life.

“When you pray regularly, irregular things happen.”

That’s what we see with Cornelius. One afternoon, an angel appears and tells him that his prayers and gifts to the poor have come before God. He’s told to send for Peter, who is staying in Joppa. God has noticed this man who has been praying.

02 / God Notices · Galatians 6:9

Keep Praying While You Wait

We don’t know exactly how long Cornelius had been praying. We read about the day the angel showed up, but there was a regular life of prayer before that day.

Maybe you’re thinking, I am devoted to prayer. I am showing up. Does God even care? That’s a real question when you haven’t seen the answer you hoped for.

“Not yet doesn’t mean not noticed.”

Galatians 6:9 encourages us to keep doing good and not give up. Following Jesus includes seasons when we haven’t seen the full fruit of what we’re doing. We keep going because we trust Him.

There isn’t a timeline we can put on this. Sometimes prayer feels like a wrestle. Sometimes we feel heard, and then we wait. And the waiting can feel too long. Stay in it. God is working a story that goes beyond what He’s doing in us.

03 / Peter · Acts 10:9–20

Be Ready to Respond When God Leads

While Cornelius’s messengers are on their way, Peter goes up on the roof to pray. Prayer is part of his regular rhythm, too. He becomes hungry, falls into a trance, and sees a vision of a sheet filled with animals. A voice tells him to get up, kill, and eat.

Peter objects. He has never eaten anything impure or unclean. But the voice tells him not to call impure what God has made clean. God is preparing Peter for something that will challenge the boundaries he has known.

Here are two stories running at the same time. Cornelius is praying, and Peter is praying. God is at work in both. When we’re asking why an answer hasn’t come yet, we can remember that we may not be seeing the whole story.

Then the Spirit tells Peter that three men are looking for him. He is to go downstairs and go with them without hesitation, because God has sent them. This is a lot for Peter to take in. The Lord is asking him to go with people he would have considered unclean.

What are you hesitating on? Maybe there’s a step you know God has put in your heart. It lines up with Scripture. You’ve sought wise counsel from a pastor or mentor. When that’s the case, don’t keep putting it off. Peter had enough faith to go.

“Prayer will lead you to people and places you couldn’t otherwise get to.”

God can open doors we can’t open ourselves. He can bring us to a person, a home, or an opportunity to share our faith that we couldn’t have arranged. We can live in dependence on Him as we pray and respond to His leading.

04 / The Gospel for Every Nation · Acts 10:28–48

Let Prayer Change How You See People

When Peter arrives, he explains what God has shown him: he should not call anyone impure or unclean. Then he says that he now recognizes how true it is that God shows no favoritism.

Don’t miss where this story is going. God is showing that the gospel is available to all people. Cornelius is a Gentile, and Peter is Jewish. God brings them together through prayer and opens a door that matters for those of us who aren’t Jewish, too.

Could we be a community that really believes God shows no favoritism? His desire is for people from every nation, every skin color, every ethnicity, and every economic situation to be saved. That should shape how we see the people around us.

Acts 10:44–48 tells us that while Peter is still speaking, the Holy Spirit comes on the people hearing the message. The Jewish believers with Peter are astonished that this gift has been poured out on Gentiles. They hear them speaking in tongues and praising God. Peter then calls for them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.

This is bigger than an answer to one person’s private need. God is bringing people into His family. When we pray, we’re asking Him to work in lives and generations beyond our own.

05 / Prayer in Community · James 5:16–18

Pray Together Beyond Your Own Needs

James 5 reminds us that the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being like us. He prayed that it wouldn’t rain, and it didn’t rain for three and a half years. He prayed again, and the rain came.

Do we really believe that about prayer? We believe it’s powerful when there’s a problem. But when we understand that prayer is a privilege, we begin to build a regular rhythm around it. We get to talk to God, and He wants to speak to us.

We pray by ourselves, and we pray together. We can seek God as a community even when there isn’t a personal emergency. We can ask for His kingdom to come and His will to be done in our cities. We can pray that people living in hopelessness would have hope.

That’s why I keep encouraging our church to get in the Prayer Room. We learn to sit before the Lord. We learn to pray for people and needs we might not have been thinking about. We make room for God to turn our attention toward something bigger than our own desires.

Prayer and sharing our faith belong together. Prayer gives us boldness. We seek God together, and we carry the good news of Jesus into the lives of people around us.

Your Response

What Will the Rhythm of Your Life Be?

Start with the rhythms you already have. Where can prayer become a regular part of your day? What would it look like for the people closest to you to see that rhythm in your home? And where can you make room to seek God with other believers?

If you’re waiting, keep bringing your life to Him. If He’s leading you into a step that agrees with Scripture and wise counsel, respond. As you pray, let your attention reach beyond your own needs to people who need to know Jesus.

We don’t have to earn the right to pray. Jesus’ death on the cross and His resurrection have opened the way for us to know Him and follow Him. He invites us into this relationship.

God, make us a people of prayer. In our homes, in our church, and in our cities, help us seek Your presence and believe You can move.