Wondering what to say when you pray? Here are some of my best tips and a big list of things to pray for in any season, even when you’re a bit distracted or overwhelmed…
Be sure to also check out these printable prayer prompts to keep your prayer life on track!
Do you ever feel like you’re missing something when it comes to prayer? I don’t know about you, but it seems like everybody seems to do it a lot more naturally than I do.
You probably relate if you sit down to pray and about five seconds later your mind wanders because:
1. Life is distracting.
You get up early, enjoying the peace of the morning. You intend to get out of bed and spend those precious quiet moments in prayer.
You start saying, “God…thank you for today.”
And then you start actually thinking about today. Your mind starts racing as you’re walking through the morning mentally.
You feel guilty: ”Sorry, God, uhhhh…”
But before you know it, the kids are up, and you’re on the move. God will have to wait…maybe until tomorrow.
Related: How to Pray When You Just Can’t Focus
2. You’re overwhelmed.
Your heart is heavy; you know you want to reach out to God. Maybe you have a quiet moment; maybe there is chaos surrounding you. Either way, you don’t even know what to say or how to start. Then distractions set in…you never really get back around to addressing that weight on your heart.
Related: How to Have Daily Bible Devotions When Life Is Chaotic
3. You don’t know what to say.
You’re in a prayer or Bible study group. You listen nervously as others offer up their prayers, but you’re not really paying that close of attention because you’re trying to figure out what in the world to say when it’s your turn. When it’s time to open your mouth, you freeze, or you say something that sounds sort of religious so you can pass the baton on to the next person.
Friend, you’re not alone. I’ve had so many women talk to me about how this is their story.
And to make matters worse, it’s really easy to feel guilty about it.
But here’s the truth: we all start somewhere, and we all have something to learn. We are spiritual beings so prayer is natural; yet it is not necessarily something we just know how to do.
If prayer is your struggle, don’t feel bad about it! I found it helpful to study some of Jesus’ fundamental teachings on the subject (he had quite a lot to say!), which I put together into seven days of prayer prompts.
Beyond that, I’ve put together a list of things to pray for when your mind is simply drawing a blank. They’re divided into categories based on different types of prayer. I’ve included some scriptures for reference.
Related: What Are Spiritual Disciplines? Plus 10 Ideas to Get Started
40 Things To Pray for (Even When You’re Distracted, Overwhelmed and Don’t Know What To Say)
Reflective Prayers
In English, when we think of the word “prayer,” we often associate it with presenting requests to God and asking him for help. While that’s not wrong (as we’ll explore below), it’s not the whole story. In Hebrew, the word for prayer, hitpallel, comes from a verb that means “to judge oneself.” Keep that in mind when you read through the Psalms! Prayer can be a time to reflect on your heart and talk about it with God.
1. Confession of your sins (1 John 1:9)
2. Asking for forgiveness (Matthew 6:12)
3. Asking for a pure heart (Psalm 51:10)
4. Your honest feelings about your circumstances (including anger, despair, hopelessness and more). For a helpful study, read Lamentations. You don’t have to be happy-go-lucky all the time to be close to God.
Prayers of Praise
Sometimes it does the heart good to simply praise God. You could spend the rest of your life just praying many of the Psalms (try it!). Whether you’re praying the Psalms or just coming up with your own praise, you can think about:
5. His love for you (Psalm 52:8)
6. His goodness (Psalm 145:7)
7. His holiness (Psalm 29:2)
8. What he’s done in your life and others’ (Psalm 9:1)
9. His Word (Psalm 119)
10. His creation (Psalm 19)
Prayers of Thanksgiving
Gratitude is scientifically proven to have multiple psychological benefits. No wonder the Bible tells us to “give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5:16–18). You can be thankful about virtually anything, but here are some ideas:
11. Your family relationships
12. Your friendships
13. The community you live in
14. Your work (Colossians 3:23)
15. Your freedom
16. Things that make you smile or laugh (Psalm 68:3)
17. Forgiveness (Romans 7:25)
18. Your trials (yes really—because they’re strengthening and refining you James 1:2–4)
Requests
I don’t know about you, but I’ve made some pretty silly prayer requests. But Jesus does say, “Just ask!” (see Matthew 7:7–12). It usually isn’t hard to come up with requests, but just in case you need some prompting:
19. Things you’re worried or anxious about (Matthew 6:25–34, Philippians 4:6)
20. Your basic needs (Matthew 6:11)
21. Your craziest dreams (Mark 11:23)
22. To increase your faith (Luke 17:5)
23. Wisdom (James 1:5)
24. Spiritual strength (Ephesians 6:10–17)
Prayers About the Kingdom of God
The Lord’s Prayer says “Your kingdom come, your will be done.” There are a lot of ways to pray about that! Consider praying about:
25. Your government and leaders (Romans 13:1–6)
26. Church leaders (Hebrews 13:7)
27. Worldwide and local missions (Ephesians 6:18–20)
28. Social injustice (racism, poverty, etc)
29. The impoverished and suffering
30. The persecuted
31. The church (global and local) and/or ministries you are a part of
Prayers for People in Your Life
This might be the easiest thing to pray for, but sometimes it’s also easy to forget! I recommend making your own list, but here are some ideas to get your started:
32. Your spouse and your marriage relationship
33. Your kids (their faith, their trials, their education, their relationships…)
34. Your parents
35. Friends who are believers, near and far
36. Friends who are not believers
37. Coworkers
38. Neighbors
39. Siblings
40. Your local community
I feel like I need to get busy!
Related: How to Read the Bible When You Feel Stuck
If you found these tips helpful, you might also like my printable prayer journal, Teach Me to Pray, which walks you through four weeks of biblical prayer prompts.
Do you struggle to find things to pray for? What changes can you make to your daily routine to have a more powerful prayer life?
it is really helpful.
Awesome