5 Christian Prayer Strategies to Overcome Spiritual Dryness
I. The Early Years: Prayer as Superficial Discipline
For three decades, prayer has served as both a spiritual anchor and a recurring challenge in my Christian walk. During my formative years as a believer, I approached prayer with the mechanical precision of a novice musician practicing scales—repetitive motions devoid of emotional depth. My petitions often resembled carefully curated bullet points presented to a divine CEO rather than vulnerable conversations with a loving Father. I compartmentalized my struggles, presenting sanitized versions of myself to God while hiding my anger, doubts, and secret sins behind spiritual platitudes. This transactional approach stemmed from an unconscious fear that authentic transparency might provoke divine disapproval.
Theologically, I functionally embraced a distorted view of God as a celestial scorekeeper—a perception exacerbated by my immersion in performance-driven church cultures. I subconsciously adopted the ancient heresy of semi-Pelagianism, believing my prayers needed to meet certain qualitative standards to earn God’s attention. Like Martha bustling in the kitchen (Luke 10:38-42), I prioritized productivity over presence, treating prayer as another religious checkbox rather than relational communion.
