Preparing for Lent, pt. 1 - Prayers

When you join the United Methodist Church, you take a membership vow to support the church with your prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness.  For Lent, I'll be preaching a series on our United Methodist membership vows.
Let's reflect on prayer for a minute.

If I were to ask about our prayer lives candidly and we were all to answer honestly, I wonder what our answers might sound like. Maybe something like these?  Feel free to respond in the comments below.

• "I hardly pray at all.  I know I should, but I forget.  And I feel guilty about it."  
• "I pray some, but mostly when I'm worried or after I've done something I know is wrong." 
• "I pray some every day, but I sometimes wonder if anyone hears it or if it really matters."
• "I pray some every day, but it feels more like an obligation than a devotion. I pray because I should, not because I really want to." 
• "I have a hard time praying.  When I pray, I come face to face with my sins and flaws, and it scares/hurts me."
• "I have a hard time praying because if God really knew me, God would be angry with me and might not love me anymore." 
• "My prayer life is good but not great, and I'd like to improve it." 
• "I'm completely happy with my prayer life."
• "For me, a day without praying is like a day without breathing.  I need it like I need food, water, and shelter."  
• "I'm so in love with Jesus that I can't NOT pray." 
• My answer to this question changes depending on what day it is.  

Let's take a good look at our prayer lives this Lent and see if we can fortify our prayer lives to build up our relationships with God, the church, the world and ourselves.