We have plenty to pray for! When the Bible says, “Pray continually,” we might initially push back against the idea. “How can I pray all the time?” you may ask. I would answer, “Look around you.” There are unlimited prayer needs.

We live in a world full of injustice, sin, cruelty, and idolatry, maybe more so than ever before. I think there is so much of it that we face every day that we become overwhelmed. We get numb. We shut down and focus on our own little sphere, and we pray for the ones we know and see every day. We pray for ourselves and our tribe.

But isolated in our bubble is not who God calls his people to be. He names us a “kingdom of priests.” We are priests to the world, meaning we are an example of how God wants people to live on earth, but we are also representatives of the people to God. We have a whole world to pray for.

But even if you are praying only for your little spot on the globe, there is no end of things to pray for. We are powerless little things in a big world. When we pray in a way that reflects that, we tap into God’s power. Like C. S. Lewis said, “I pray because I can’t help myself. I pray because I’m helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping. It doesn’t change God. It changes me.”

Pray in a way that changes you. Pray in a way that changes your family. Pray and intercede for a world that is sorely in need of a savior. You will never run out of things to pray for. But we have to cultivate that constant readiness to pray. Like an Old West gunfighter with his Colt on his hip, be ready to draw on prayer at a moment’s notice. Keep your eyes open and your heart seeking what God wants.

I know people who set alarms on their phones to remind them to stop and pray. I know others who write prayers on their bathroom mirrors to start their mornings or tape them to their dashboard so they remember to pray in traffic. For most of us, taking time away from the radio and the drivers around us and taking time to pray instead might be the best idea.

Take time now to pray for your prayer life. Ask God to bring prayer to mind as you go through your day. Ask God to make your heart more prayer-focused and less complaint-focused as you turn over to him the things beyond your control, acknowledging his power in this world.