Unlike a lot of religious types, I don’t believe that God intercedes on my behalf. If I am in need of money, I don’t think a well worded prayer will instantly alleviate my money woes. 

Instead, for me, prayer is the perfect way to get my mind in the right place for becoming a better person. It is a ritual that ensures I start my day on the right foot. 

I don’t believe in intercession, but that doesn’t mean that God doesn’t give me the strength that allows me to make positive changes. Saying my daily prayers allows me to re-affirm my goals, while also reminding me that God will be with me every step of the way. I’m not in this alone. 

Identify Goals: The first thing you should do if you’re going to incorporate prayer into your own personal development, is to identify your goals. I try not to have more than two major goals at any one time. Focusing on too many things is a sure fire way to not improve upon any of them. 

Write a Prayer With These Goals in Mind: Next, I write a short prayer asking god to give me strength to improve the areas of my life that I've identified as needing to be improved. If I want to lose weight and be more frugal, my prayer will focus on these changes. 

Memorize the Prayer: Its important to me that I memorize a written prayer, as opposed to winging it off the cuff each day. Remember, this is about staying focused. Different concerns will sneak into your mind as time passes. If you stay focused on your two goals in your prayer, you’re more likely to take action on them. 

Say Your Prayer Each Morning: Praying each morning will put your mind in the right place for your day. Some people prefer to pray at night, but from a personal development stand point it doesn’t make any sense. 

 Keep Copies of Your Prayer in Problem Locations: Write a few copies of your prayer and keep them in places where you need to be reminded of your goals. If you’re trying to lose weight, post a copy on your fridge, or on a copy of your grocery list to help dissuade impulse buys. After a week or so of saying the same prayer it will become ingrained in your psyche, but having a physical reminder near problem areas will give you some added protection. I have used this technique with a high success rate for individual goals. 

What if you’re not religious? 

 In my opinion, you can still use this technique even if you’re not a religious person. Just don’t call it a prayer, and don’t say it to God. Otherwise, do everything else the same. Personally, I find strength knowing that God is on my side. But like i said before, I don’t believe in intercession, so when I pray I’m not asking God to do something for me, I’m praying for the strength to make my own positive changes.