Variety Is the Spice of Prayer Life

In Ephesians 6, Paul directs Christians to suit up with the Armor of God and concludes with the call to:

“pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” (Ephesians 6:18 NIV, emphasis added)

In this one verse, a form of the word “all” is used 4 times.

That can be an overwhelming thought upon initial reading. How can I possibly cover it ALL?!

Digging deeper, I’ve discovered the “alls” are not meant to burden us, but to empower us. This is not a command to sit at home all day, every day and do nothing else but pray. Rather, it’s an invitation to communicate with God in whatever setting and circumstance we find ourselves with various types of prayers.

Limiting prayer to a specific posture at a specific time with the same old words can lull us into a dull and formulaic rut and the enemy would like nothing more than for us to get bored using this powerful spiritual weapon.

So, what guards against boredom? Variety.

In fact, Pastor Mike Fabarez, from the Focal Point Radio Broadcast, asserts that the emphasis of Ephesians 6:18 is on incorporating variety in our prayer lives to remain alert. ¹

So, let’s break this down.

All Occasions

Intentional times of prayer are foundational. Some of you may have a literal prayer closet or specific place where you talk with God. Of course, don’t forsake that.

But our prayer lives can’t stop there. Intermixing spontaneous prayers as we tend to our daily business keeps our hearts inclined towards prayer on all occasions.

As people come to mind, pray for them. When you walk into a stressful meeting, ask God for wisdom and peace. Upon arriving safely home after a crazy commute, thank God for his protection. As you walk by flowers showing off their colorful wardrobe, praise God for beauty.

Silent little “popcorn” prayers throughout the day are great ways to engage with the Lord continually.

Morning, noon, or evening. At home, in the car, at work. We don’t have to limit conversations with God to a specific time and place.

All Kinds of Prayers and Requests

Pastor Mike opened my eyes to many different postures of prayer demonstrated in Scripture. ¹

David “sat before the Lord” in 1 Chronicles 17:16. Jesus said “whenever you stand praying” in Mark 11:25. Daniel knelt in Daniel 6:10. Jesus looked up to the sky in John 11:41. Lamentations 3:41 speaks of confession with lifted hands and in Luke 24:15 two people walked and talked with Jesus on the road to Emmaus.

The point is, according to the Bible itself, there is no set physical posture for prayer. It’s constantly varied. So, try switching up your posture. If you always sit when you pray, try standing or taking a prayer walk. Incorporate days of kneeling. Perhaps go outside and look up to the stars in the heavens.

Whatever physical posture you choose, remember that prayer is ultimately about the posture of our hearts and far more than just asking God for things. While supplication is welcome, adoration, gratitude, and confession all have an important place in the conversation.

Additionally, the way in which we pray is ripe for variety and Biblically supported. Jesus went away for solitary times of prayer (Matthew 14:23) and commanded praying in private (Matthew 6:6). Other times, many gathered and prayed together (Acts 12:12). Paul included written prayers in his letters (Ephesians 3:14-19) and Paul and Silas prayed with singing (Acts 16:25).

So, if you always pray alone, take a step out of your comfort zone and pray with others. Try writing your prayers and don’t forget that worship and singing can also be modes of prayer.

And on those days when all you can do is sit down, void of words and weary from life, know that God has mercy and grace for that too. He honors your intention to be still with him and the Holy Spirit intercedes for you. (Romans 8:26-27)

Always Pray for All the Lord’s People

Ok, how exactly are we supposed to pray for ALL the Lord’s people? That’s a lot of people. And I certainly don’t know all the Lord’s people.

Pastor Mike answers this way: “I don’t know everyone, and I don’t experience everything, but I do have in my little world a list of things and a list of people. I have my everything and everyone” and he recommends “getting things in front of you to keep your everything and everyone coming up.”

He has some great ideas like keeping the Christmas pictures you receive and using them throughout the year as prayer prompts, keeping a prayer list, or using 3×5 cards.

One thing I’ve found helpful is writing names and categories on little cards and placing them face down in a basket. Throughout the week, I turn over a card and intentionally pray for that person or category. That’s not the exclusive topic of prayer for my day but it has been a great way to stay focused on continually praying for others. After I pray for that card, I move it to the back and turn over the next card…so on and so forth until I make it through the stack, at which point I shuffle them and begin again.

Laying down the expectation that I am supposed to pray for every person in one sitting has freed me to pray for specific people in all sittings.

As you consider your prayer life, I hope you find inspiration from some of these suggestions, and it gets you thinking about ways to add variety into your prayer life to build up your prayer arsenal.

Are there other ways you incorporate variety? I’d love to hear about them.

¹Fabarez, Mike, host. “Praying with Your Eyes Open-Part B.” Focal Point Radio Broadcasts, Spotify app, 3 Mar. 2022.

Link to Sermon: focalpointministries.org/broadcast/praying-with-your-eyes-open-part-b-2