A welcome aid to help us develop a sustained and vital habit of prayer in the digital age.

We all need help in learning to pray. And for learning to be consistent in prayer.

When I first became a Christian nearly 40 years ago, Bible Reading Notes with a little prayer at the end was one of the main answers provided. They were great in getting us to read the Bible but didn’t take us very deep in an experience of prayer. And I often felt like they were doing the job of seeking God and searching the Scriptures for me, rather than helping me to do this for myself.

For those of us involved in the charismatic movement, spontaneous and conversational prayer certainly helped. It felt vital and very real at times. But for me anyway, it didn’t necessarily encourage a sustained prayer life. In fact, it contributed to prayer being often only impulsive and emotion driven. We needed something that didn’t just express how we felt in the moment but something that helped to train and form our feelings and our heart over time.

Over the ages and in certain traditions, many have used prayer books, like the Book of Common Prayer, for example. Thankfully, many more of us have been willing to recapture some of these ancient traditions in recent years and have found help using such prayer books. But I am sure I am not alone in having a mixed response to them. Often, they felt too wordy and predictable. And I would often just rush through them, without really engaging. It was the combination of the sustained and the spontaneous I was looking for. Something that both helped me in a sustained prayer habit but also encouraged a personal and vital engagement in prayer.  

In the digital age, prayer apps are becoming an answer to this. And I have found Lectio 365 especially helpful. It has the benefits of routine and repetition that we get from prayer books. But also helps to sustain a freshness and vitality. There is the recognizable P.R.A.Y pattern (Pause – Rejoice and Reflect – Ask – Yield) and the opening and closing prayers. This familiarity encourages a rhythm to prayer which helps build the habit. But then there is the different theme or focus each week or period of weeks, and an encouragement to apply what we read or listen to our own lives and communities. It is good in encouraging us to not just pray for ourselves but for those around us and for our world. The different contributors also lends a freshness to it.

You can either read or listen to, whichever you find most helpful to focus. I found combing both helps me. Although I use only the morning prayer mostly, there is an evening prayer that is very good for reflecting on the day and helps to prayerfully prepare to rest.

If you do choose to listen to the app, the voices from different nationalities adds a really encouraging dimension. As Christians in the West are becoming more consciously a global church, this a very welcome feature.

Behind this prayer app is the 24-7 Prayer movement that God is using in our time to put prayer back at the centre and heart of churches. I cannot recommend this resource – Lectio 365 – highly enough.

If you already use Lectio 365, why not leave a comment to let other know what you like about it.

See Pete Greig’s book How To Pray and the Prayer Course from 24-7 Prayer.

If you are new to the Christian life, see also my resources for new Christians on Beginning To Pray.