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"We exist to train God-hungry people in the disciplines of prayer."
by Dick LaFountain

3-Minute
Prayers

"Could you not watch (stay alert)
with me even one hour?"

The 3-Minute Prayer Transformation
Give me three minutes and I will change your world. Three minutes can make the difference between success and failure, discipline and chaos, fun and folly. Three minutes is not much time out of a 24 hour day. Each day contains 1440 minutes, or 480 Three-minute segments. Most of us are awake for at least 16 hours ever day. That accounts for 960 minutes, or 320 three-minute periods. That is a lot of time to waste.

Consider what you do in a three minute period. It takes three minutes to ...

  • wait at a traffic light,
  • pump a small tank of gas
  • smoke a cigarette, (please don't)
  • change a diaper,
  • get and drink a cup of coffee,
  • microwave a bag of popcorn,
  • run to the bathroom and back,
  • a round of boxing is exactly three minutes,
  • check your e-mail,
  • play a song on the radio or mp3 player
  • answer one phone call
  • suck on a lollipop
  • order a cheeseburger and fries
Americans spend a lot of time in front the TV. The average television break is three minutes. The standard half-hour of television contains 22 minutes of program and 8 minutes of commercials - 6 minutes for national advertising and 2 minutes for local. Clock it. Each commercial segment is about 3 minutes long.

3-Minutes to Change
Three minutes is not a long time, but it you were to bow your head to pray a focused prayer on one topic only for three minutes it will seem like an interminable amount of time. Try this: Use a 3-minute egg timer and try to be still for three minutes. That means for three minutes you don't speak any words mentally or verbally. You just imagine yourself at God's throne on your face, presenting yourself to the Lord for three minutes.

Here are a few suggestions for utilizing those often wasted 3-minute periods:

  1. At the top of every hour during the day take a 3-minute break for prayer
  2. When watching TV turn on the "mute" and pray through the commercials
  3. At a traffic light, instead of complaining, pray
  4. When other employees take a smoke break, you take a 3-minute prayer break
  5. Utilize you bathroom breaks for 3 minutes of prayer
When you are doing this discipline it is wise to have a plan, whether doing a "top of the hour," or "bathroom break" or sitting in traffic, it would be helpful to follow a topical progression in your prayers.

Utilizing all 12-Steps of our Guide to Intimacy and Intercession can give sharp focus to your prayers through the day.

Our Guide to Intimacy with God is an excellent help in planning what to pray for.

Focus on God
  • Be Still
  • Be Thankful
  • Be Worshipful

    Focus on Self
  • Confess Sin
  • Clothe Self
  • Cast Care

    • Our Guide to Intercession also can be a tremendous help in keeping focused and on topic with God

    Focus on People
  • Pray for Sick
  • Pray for Souls
  • Pray for Saints

    Focus on the World
  • Pray for Missionaries
  • Pray for Ministers
  • Pray for Magistrates

    • RESOURCES
    The Discipline of Stillness
    Questions and Answers on Being Still
    Lesson on Stillness
    Hymns To Quiet the Soul