The issue of praying for long hours has always been a trending topic among Christians. Prayer is often likened unto exercise.

There are times all one needs is light warmups, pushups and a few jogs; but there are times a standard athlete must spend quality time training himself and exercising his muscles in the gym.

This is also applicable for prayer.

There are times when all one needs is a light thirty minutes prayer; whereas there are situations that a quality Christian must spend time praying and declaring the Word of The Lord.

Thus, the importance that believers are taught not only how to pray, but also how to persevere in the place of prayer.

The athlete is trained on how to jog round a standard football pitch for more than thirty minutes nonstop; the Saint must also be trained on how to exercise his spirit for hours nonstop!

THE POWER IS IN QUALITY NOT QUANTITY

The essence of this lesson is not to spur you to begin to long duration the purpose and target of your prayer.

That’s the greatest mistake many-a-praying saint makes;it’s also the first step towards losing prayer stamina.

For effective prayer, you must have faith, knowledge of God’s Word as well as a heart aligned with the will of God.

Yet, this post is to train you on how you can engage God with both quality of heart and quantity of time.

1. THE WORSHIPPER

Prayer is a form of worship, thus, in order to pray well and pray long, one must be in the posture of worship before God’s presence.

The essence of spending time singing songs of worship to God cannot be argued.

Many a times, when a Saint desires to pray and goes on his knees, the burdens, pressures and concerns of the day will seem to be laid on his head.

Sometimes, it is like the consequence of the vigorous body exertions surface in the body all of a sudden; other times it could be sleepiness. When this happens, do not try to coerce yourself to pray.

Instead, lift your hands to God and sing songs of worship from your heart.

The Psalmist referred to worship as ‘Magnifying the Lord’, when the Lord is magnified and revealed in the room where your worship is being released, prayer becomes easy.

The more you worship God, the more you become aware of his presence. I once heard someone say, ‘I don’t worship much before praying, because I came to pray not to worship’.

This is the mindset of some saints, and its very wrong. Sometimes, all we actually need to do in God’s presence is not even to pray in loud tongues, but to worship and adore His majesty.

Worship awakens even our spirit and enable it to be able to receive from God. Before you present your requests to God, make sure you attend to His own request – that you worship Him in spirit and in truth.

2. YOU AIN’T GOING ANYWHERE

You must be aware that you’re praying for long. Cast away all thoughts that will make you be in a haste, and be conscious of the fact that you’re going to spend time in God’s presence.

3. PRAY WITH DIRECTION

Do not pray randomly for the sake of covering time. Let your mind be focused on a particular goal.

1 Corinthians 9:26 “I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:”

The Saint must be careful not to be like a boxer that only punches the air – exerting energy but making no impact.

His mind and spirit must be on the wall which he intends to crush, the barrier to break and the mountain to move.

4. GO BEYOND YOUR STRENGTH!

When the sprinters in a marathon become tired, they do not stop running entirely – because they know they have a destination that they must reach. Instead, they reduce their speed.

Having set a time target for yourself, you should keep praying until you’re able to reach it. If you do not have a time target, you should keep praying until you’re internally satisfied that you’ve done enough.

When you do this, you’re stretching yourself like the elastic runner, to go beyond your normal size. When you seem to be physically tired, you can rest, and if it’s not convenient for your health, stop the prayers and continue next time; otherwise, keep going.

Reduce the loudness of your voice; reduce your physical exertion, but ensure you’re praying.

5. PRAY-READ THE SCRIPTURES

There’s no greater source of strength than God’s Word.

Daniel 9:2 “During the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, was studying the writings of the prophets. I learned from the word of the Lord, as recorded by Jeremiah the prophet, that Jerusalem must lie desolate for seventy years.”

Daniel 9:3 “So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and fasting.”

Daniel’s discovery of God’s prophecy about the nation of Israel spurred him to pray. A Saint who gains ground in long term prayer is a Saint who prays with his Bible open.

He constantly checks here and there, to see what God’s Word says about his business, family, kids etc, and the more he discovers it, the more he prays with it.

If you do not know what to pray, pray with God’s Word. Turn Bible verses into prayer points.

Finally;

CONSISTENCY IS KEY! An understanding of this will prevent you from setting unrealistic goals for yourself in prayer. Don’t expect to pray for five straight hours on your first attempt. Begin from an hour and keep advancing at weekly intervals.