Organized Prayer Life
Do you feel scattered in your prayer life? You have the best intentions to pray for those who are going through difficult times, but unfortunately, the names get lost in an ongoing list of past, present, answered and outdated requests. Or, stacks of past prayer service handouts get stashed in your Bible with the good intention to pray over them – but ultimately they end up being yet another stack of papers to deal with. Or even worse – you wrote down several requests on a loose sheet of paper and can’t seem to find it. Anywhere. Ugh! I was at this place a few years ago and found the answer in a prayer journal.
How to start a prayer journal
I recently shared my prayer journal with a few girlfriends and it seemed to be an answer to their prayer struggles too. The initial idea came from a youtube video I saw from Gina Garland. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XPqnhlAX35M When I set up my first prayer journal I used her video as the “bones” to get started and it just grew from there.
Items you will need
- A small three ring notebook or a A5 planner such as the one pictured below.
- 10-12 dividers with tabs
- the best way to finish a quilt
- Notebook paper to fit your choice of notebook and pens you enjoy
- Any additional craft supplies (washi tape, stickers, etc) that you would like to make it pretty.
Sections of the prayer journal:
- Praise
- Myself
- Husband
- Children
- Special Request/Parents
If you are familiar with the ACTS {A-adoration, C-confession, T-thanksgiving, S-Supplication} prayer format, the daily section of my prayer journal it set up to pray in a similar way. I will share a few things about each section but the beauty of this type of prayer journal is that you make it your own.
Praise – I begin my prayer time with a time of praise and adoration. Under this tab I include attributes of God, names of God and songs of praise.
Myself – Starting with a time of confession and then addressing specific areas in my walk with God. I have a list of scriptures and songs of promises and gratitude.
Husband/Children – Here my prayers turn toward thanksgiving and supplication. I have a list of specific things I am praying for each member of my family. Along with praying over character traits or protection over sins. These handy printouts I found from www.inspiredtoaction.com make it easy to focus on one area daily for each day of the month.
You can find the one for husbands here: http://www.inspiredtoaction.com/wp/content/uploads/kat/InspiredToAction_Praying_For%20Your%20Husband.pdf
And the one for children here: http://www.inspiredtoaction.com/wp-content/uploads/kat/I2A_Prayer_Calendar.pdf
Special Request/Parents – the last tab in my daily section is for urgent request or special burdens on my heart along with prayers for my parents. Anything that I desire to pray over daily goes here.
But, there are other, important request and people that I desire to pray for on a regular basis even if not daily. These go in my weekly section.
My weekly section includes:
- Monday – Family: Parents, Siblings, Extended Family, Future Spouse for My Children
- Tuesday – Friends/Neighbors
- Wednesday – Pastors, Church, Ministries, Missionaries
- Thursday – Unsaved, Sick, Shut-ins,
- Friday – My Finances, My Home, My Priorities/Goals
- Saturday – My Country, Our Military
The reason this method has been so helpful for me is because it has consolidated my scattered thoughts and overwhelming lists into an organized, systematic way to pray. My prayer time is meaningful, intentional and productive. I can spend extended time praying for those in my daily life, knowing that I have dedicated time weekly to delve into prayer for all the other people and areas that matter the most me.
Finally, the most amazing part of using this layout, it that it is totally customizable. Anyone can start with these tips then build their very own personalized prayer journal!
Do you utilize a prayer journal? I’d love to hear your tips and suggestions for making your prayer life more intentional and purposeful.
