Lenten Practice #1: Daily Prayer with Pray As You Go

One of my favorite quotes on prayer comes from a short blog post by Brian Zahnd, a pastor from St. Joseph, MO. He says,

The primary purpose of prayer is not to get God to do what you want [God] to do — but to be properly formed.

I find this quote especially meaningful during Lent, because Lent is a season of formation. During Lent, we are preparing ourselves to celebrate Easter. As such, many people make daily prayer part of their Lenten practice. But if you’re not used to praying regularly, building a prayer practice can feel like a real challenge, especially right now during COVID when motivation can be hard to find. Sometimes it helps to have some extra guidance and structure for prayer. That’s why I love Pray As You Go!

From the Pray As You Go webpage: “Pray As You Go is a daily prayer session, designed to go with you wherever you go, to help you pray whenever you find time. (I like to listen while I’m making breakfast in the morning!)

A new prayer session is produced for every weekday and one session for the weekend. It is not a ‘Thought for the Day,’ a sermon or a Bible-study, but rather a framework for your own prayer.

Lasting between ten and thirteen minutes, it combines music, scripture, and some questions for reflection. Although the content is different every day, it keeps to the same basic format. (Plus, the app can send you a push notification every day as a reminder!)”

You can access Pray As You Go online here, or download the app; just search for “Pray As You Go” in your app store.