“Are you prayed up?” This question caught me off guard when I found myself complaining to my high school teacher. When I was younger, I began a Bible study with the goal of reaching my entire school for Christ. As you can imagine, progress was slow. There were times when huge crowds gathered to study and other times when there were just a handful of students. 

During a busy season, I found myself sitting alone with Mrs. Francisco waiting for someone, anyone, to show up for the lesson. When I began complaining, she cut me off and asked, “Are you prayed up?” Honestly, I wasn’t, and I found my motivations getting out of line. That evening I began talking with God about my discouragement, purpose, and motivations in leading the study. 

Throughout the years, I’ve seen God move in big ways to answer prayers from His followers. Here are a few challenges to get you prayed up in these 4 big areas of your life.

Are you prayed up for your personal walk with God? Although this should be our top priority we often neglect our own walk with the Lord. When was the last time you cared for your own soul? When have you taken the time to build strong foundations in your relationship with Jesus? To become prayed up, you must be honest with God, sharing with Him your innermost thoughts. Thank Him for showing you true and perfect love. Ask Him to drawn near to you as you draw near to Him.

Are you prayed up for your family? Colossians 3:13 challenges us to “make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.” Often times those who are closest to us, are those who hurt us the most. To be prayed up for our family, we must forgive any hurt and see our family as God sees them. Pray for the children in your family to learn that in obeying their parents, they obey God. Ask God to give your family patience and to show kindness to one another. Take a few minutes to pray 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 over your family.

Are you prayed up for your church? The mission of the church is to make disciples who make disciples and thus impact God’s kingdom forever! Pray bold prayers for God to use you and those in the church to make disciples. 1 John 5:14 says, “And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him.” Pray for the leaders in your church and ask God to continually help each member in the church take their next step in obedience. 

Are you prayed up for your work? In Colossians 3:17, Paul says, “And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.” Whether you are a teacher in front of a group of students, or an accountant in front of a computer screen, your job can be worship towards God each and every day. In verse 23, Paul goes on to say, “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.” To get prayed up, ask God to give you a heart of worship in your work. Repent for the times you have failed, and go into your job with a new heart. 

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 4:6-7