The Journal

"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions 

with all kinds of prayers and requests.

Ephesians 6:18a

Being in the Proverbs for 6 months now has caused me to see many areas in which I need to pray for my family and for myself.  What are a few of them, you ask?  

For my sons, that they will teach with wisdom (therefore be wise themselves)

for my daughters, that they will be wives of noble character and never contentious 

for my granddaughters, that they will grow up to be women of noble character

for my grandsons, that they will heed the words of wisdom and prudence and good judgment.  

Those are only a few.  The Proverbs are so full of potential prayer requests for the family that I am overwhelmed.

Thus, I am beginning another prayer journal for the umpteenth time.  I have used many over the years.  I've used journals that I bought at the Christian bookstore.  One was the 29:59 Plan. I used this plan for a number of years.  It is well organized, and the "plan" behind it is take 29 minutes and 59 seconds a day (30 minutes!) with God--no, that's not too long! It was wonderfully put together.  If you need something like this to help you organize your prayer life, I would definitely encourage you to purchase it.  (Click on it above.  I think it will take you to a purchase site.  It was more expensive on Amazon.com.)

I have also used blank journals, binders, notebooks, and pieces of paper to write out my prayer requests.  They work.  Somehow writing down my requests keeps me more focused and helps me to remember the things I need to pray about.  (Feeble minds must make lofty attempts to remember!:)

Of late, I have been trusting in my feeble mind to remember things.  Doesn't work so well!  My last notebook was a rather jumbled group of lists that I used for writing down requests at church, the things I consistently pray about, and it even had notes from sermons scattered through it.  I don't like disorganization, although I live with it much too often.

So!  What am I going to do?  I'm starting a new prayer journal.  One of the things I am doing is to use different pages for different facets of prayer.

• Praise and worship (I like to write out my verses)
• Individual family members
• Missionaries and ministry groups that I consistently pray for
• Sick and hurting
• Lost friends and loved ones
• My husband's business endeavors
• A section for Proverbs that stand out to me which I need to pray for my family

There will be others as God reveals to me areas that I need to focus on in prayer.

I encourage you to get a prayer journal, or gather together some notebook paper and put it in a 3 ring binder, or get a blank journal, or purchase the  29:59 Plan http://www.pray2959.com/order.aspx.

Most importantly, PRAY.  It will change your life--and  the lives of those whom you pray for.

Prayerfully,

Gloria