How to Organize Your Prayer Life--Part 6

Hi Everyone!

Welcome back to our series on organizing your prayer life using a Prayer Journal! :)  If this is your first time joining us, make sure you go back to the beginning to check out the starting instruction.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

If you have already been following along, you already know that we are using a Prayer Journal as a method of organizing our prayer life into different parts to pray for each day.  We have talked about starting our prayer time with turning our thoughts towards God, then moving onto prayers for the specific things in our own personal life, praying for our immediate family members, and finally a section where we can keep our Bible study notes, Bible questions, special quotes, etc.

Our Bible Study section of our Prayer Journal is sort of the dividing point in our journal.  I think of it as the "equator"--in the middle between our daily prayers sections, and what will be our weekly prayer sections.  Now--before you start telling me that we should pray for everyone every single day, I will just say right now that I agree with you!  And if you have a burden on your heart to pray for someone daily, please do!!!  But for me, I know I can easily become overwhelmed with feeling like I cannot leave anyone out, and before you know it I end up not praying for people at all because I can't pray the "right" way.  Well, remember--these Prayer Journals are supposed to be a way to help simplify our lives!  So I am sharing with you a way to divide the people who are special in your life into regular times to pray for.  And this way, you will be sure to be coming back to a person and praying for whatever they have going on in their lives that you know about or that you feel impressed to pray for.

O.K., so for our second half of our Prayer Journals we have come to the part where we will be praying for people and needs on a weekly basis, instead of on a daily basis like we were in the first half of our Prayer Journals.  If you sit down on a Monday morning, you are going to start your prayer time with your "God" section, then move to your "Me" section, and finally sections 3 and 4 where you have put in your immediate family members.  If you have anything you want to record or write down in your "Bible Study" section you will do that, but then you will move to the first of the weekly sections which is labeled very creatively as "Monday"!  :)  I think I have previously mentioned, I do not personally have weekly tabs for the weekends.  If you want to, go right ahead!  But for me, I am going to church early in the morning and doing other non-regular schedule types of activities on the weekends, so I simply have my weekly tabs go from Monday to Friday.

So in our sharing for today, I want you to make up your first three sections for your weekly half, which for me is Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  For the first half of my Prayer Journal I traced on scrapbook paper and then laminated some dividers.  For the second half, the weekly section tabs, I simply used the yellow dividers that are commonly available.  I already had some in my house, and I was using what I had.  So do whatever you would like to do--if you want to make all your tabs out of pretty paper, you can.  If you want to purchase two packets of the commercially made tabs, that is fine too.  The purpose is to use this to simplify and enhance your prayer time--not to get side tracked thinking that your Prayer Journal has to be perfect.  You can always change things later over time, after you have used this method for a while.

Your first three sections of your weekly tabs are used for other people who are not in your immediate family that you will pray for on a weekly basis, not daily like the previous sections.  List specific people by name and pray for specific needs in their lives.  Leave room to write in the answered prayer if you become aware of an answer.

Here are some suggestions for whom to pray for, but whatever is closest to your heart is what you should list.  Include the weekends if you are able to be consistent.

Monday--Extended Family Members

Tuesday--Christian Friends

Wednesday--non-Christian Friends or strangers that you have been asked to pray for by others

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As you already know, I like to collect Bible promises and verses that seem to me to apply to certain sections in my Prayer Journal, so I thought I would share with you the verses I have collected for these sections in my weekly prayers:

Job 19:14--My relatives have failed me, my close friends have forgotten me.  (This is a verse that reminds me NOT to forget my family and friends in prayer!)

Mark 5:19 ESV--And he did not permit him but said to him, "Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you."

John 15:12 ESV--This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

Psalm 25:14 ESV--The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant.

Don't you just love that last verse?  Have you ever thought about God being your friend?  And YOU being God's friend?

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In addition to Bible verses, I have also collected these quotes that talk about friends and friendship and praying for others:

"Not all are called to personal labor in foreign fields, but all can do something by their prayers and their gifts to aid the missionary work."
Testimonies vol. 6, p. 29 Ellen G. White

"Select another and still another soul, daily seeking guidance from God, laying everything before Him in earnest prayer, and working in divine wisdom.  As you do this, you will see that God will give the Holy Spirit to convict, and the power of truth to convert, the soul."
Medical Ministry, p. 245 Ellen G. White

"It is a part of God's plan to grant us, in answer to the prayer of faith, that which He would not bestow did we not thus ask."
The Great Controversy, p. 525 Ellen G. White

Wow.  Did you catch that last quote?  God is ready to give us even MORE blessings--but He wants us to come to Him and ASK.  Are we asking Him for help?  Am "I"?  Something to think about, for sure!

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So here is your assignment for this next week!  Think about your extended family and friends and decide on how to best pray for each one.  Write their names down on a blank page in your journal, and then start listing needs that you know they have and that they need prayer for.  Then come back here to this blog and share what categories you came up with for your first three sections of this weekly half of the Prayer Journal.  Sharing your ideas will help others as they organize their prayer life!

We are almost finished with our series--just one more post to come on the weekly prayer sections, and then I will have some closing thoughts.  I pray this has been a blessing to you!

Have a beautiful week with Jesus--and don't forget to talk with Him each day!

~Susan

How to Organize Your Prayer Life--Part 5

Good Morning Everyone!

You just KNOW I am going to ask you--how is your Prayer Binder working out for you so far???  I hope it is becoming a dear "friend," as you spend time with it and use it to talk to our Dearest Friend!

Today I am going to share the next section with you--section five.  To review, remember that our first section is about our Father in Heaven, our second section is where we concentrate on our own needs, and then the third and fourth sections we are using to pray for our immediate family members.  Our section five is going to  be a little different than the previous sections, because this is where we are going to gather our Bible Study notes.  So my section five is labeled just that--Bible Study!

This is the dividing section, between the things you pray for on a daily basis, and those to come that will be once a week prayers.  I use this section in a variety of ways:

~Notes I take on sermons

~Bible passages I am working on memorizing

~Insights I have as I study the Bible are recorded here

~New Bible study methods that I want to try

~Bible studies that I want to mark in my Bible

~Topics that I want to do Bible research on

So you see, this section can be used to collect a variety of things.  It could even store little thoughts or quotes that you want to remember.  In our class at church, I shared the secret of being glad--this is something I have stored in my Section Five:

How to be Glad!

G---go to the Lord
L--leave your burdens with Him
A--adore Him
D--do these things daily

Isn't that a good reminder?  No, it isn't original with me, and I am afraid I cannot remember where I first read it, but it is something I want to remember, so I keep it tucked away in my section five of my Prayer Binder.

I also shared in our church class the S.O.A.P. method of Bible reading.  Again, this is not original with me, but I tried to share with our group things that other people might find helpful.  So if you want to give this Bible study method a try, here is how to do this method:

S.O.A.P. is a method of Bible reading and journaling.  It can be used with any daily Bible reading plan.

S is for Scripture
~Open your Bible to today's reading (according to whatever plan you are following).  Take time reading and allow God to speak to you.  When you are done, look for a verse that particularly spoke to you that day, and write it in your journal.

O is for Observation
~What struck you and caught your attention in what you read?  What do you think God is saying to you in this scripture?  Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you and reveal Jesus to you.  Paraphrase and write this scripture down in your own words.

A is for Application
~Personalize what you have read, by asking yourself how it applies to your life right now.  Perhaps it is instruction, encouragement, revelation of a new promise, or corrections for a particular area in your life.  Write how this scripture can apply to you today.

P is for Prayer
~This can be as simple as asking God to help you use this scripture, or it may be a greater insight on what he may be revealing to you.  Remember, prayer is a two way conversation, so be sure to listen to what God has to say!  Now, write it out.

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So that is the S.O.A.P. Bible study method.  I have done this quite extensively in times past--but am not currently using this method.  But I wanted to share a variety of things with you for each section, just to help give you ideas to get started in your own Prayer Binder.  For me personally, right now I am using my Section five primarily for a place to store my notes I take on our weekly sermons at church.  But mainly it is a section where I know I "can" tuck away little things or ideas that I want to remember for later.  So use this section in a way that will be useful for YOU in YOUR prayer life!

I am so happy that I have heard from some of you that this Prayer Binder method of organizing your Prayer life is already being a blessing to you! :)  That was my desire in sharing--as I stated in the first post of this series, these ideas are not original with me.  I have gathered them from quite a few places I have read, both in books as well as on-line, and what I am presenting  to you is simply what ended up fitting MY prayer life best.  Change things to fit YOU, and share with your friends as it may be a blessing to them as well.

Homework--so here is a little assignment for you:  leave a comment here on this post of one thing you think you will use your Section Five for.  Are you going to take notes on weekly sermons?  Use the S.O.A.P. method?  Something completely different?  Let's share and bless each other with ideas!

Have a beautiful week with Jesus.  He will never leave you nor forsake you!

~Susan

Virtual Field Trip--Chickamauga Battlefield

Today Austin--my son--is guest posting over at a homeschooling site! 😊 If you are at all interested in American History, then you are going to love reading his post!
Virtual Field trip--Chickamauga Battlefield

Enjoy the History lesson!

~Susan

How to Organize Your Prayer Life--Part 4

Welcome back Everyone!

I am so glad you are joining us in this series on organizing your prayer life!  If you haven't been reading along from the start, make sure to go back and read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 to catch up!

We have already been working on Section 1 of our Prayer Journal, which is about "Almighty God," and Section 2 of our Journal which is about "Myself."  Today we are going to move to the next two sections--Sections 3 and Sections 4, and these two sections are going to be divided up and used to pray for your immediate family.  Now, each person's immediate family is going to be a little different, so you are going to personalize these two sections to fit YOU and YOUR family.  And don't forget that you can group family members together in one binder section.

In my Prayer binder, my spouse is Section 3 and both of my children share space in Section 4.  If you are not married, you may have Section 3 be praying for your parents, or even a sibling, and Section 4 may be praying for your Grandchildren--really, just think about YOUR life and whomever you could consider YOUR immediate family.  Sometimes "family" may not even be your blood relation, but a close friend who is dear.  

My hubby's name is "Mitch," so I just labeled his name right onto the tab of his section in my Prayer Journal.  On the back side of my divider I chose a Bible verse that is my "theme" verse for this section.

This is a lofty goal, perhaps, but this verse is what I WANT to live up to in my life with my husband!

Then comes my divider section for my kids.  Since I cannot fit both their names onto one tab, I simply decided to label it "Children."  It works!  Inside, I have a full page with my son's name on it, and my pages with prayers for him are right behind this page.  Then there is a page with my daughter's name on it, and following it are the pages with my prayers for her.  You "could" have a separate divider for each child, but I will say that too many dividers can start getting your Prayer Journal a little complicated.  But do whatever fits YOU and YOUR life.

And if you want to, choose a theme verse for that section as well. :)

If you are married, pray for your spouse.

~Praise God for the gift of your spouse and list all of their qualities that you are thankful for

~Pray for their love and devotion to God

~If they are not a believer, pray for their salvation

~Pray that they will spend quality time with God each day, allowing God to shape them into the godly person God has called them to be

~Pray that God will give them wisdom and discernment in every decision they make throughout the day

~Pray for specific needs and struggles in their life

~Pray for their health

~Pray for your marriage

 If you have children (or grandchildren!) pray for them.

~Praise God for the gift of your children

~Pray that your children will come to know Jesus

~Pray for angels of protection all around them

~Pray for hunger and love for God’s Word

~Pray for friendships with siblings

~Pray for them to be a godly leader one day

~Pray for protection from evil traps in this world

~Pray for the ability to make and the discernment to choose good friends

~Pray for specific needs and struggles for your children

If you have parents that are still living, pray for them.

~Thank God for parents that taught you about Him

~Pray for special needs they may be facing as they age

~Pray for them to trust God to meet their needs

~Pray for their health

~Pray for their social needs, especially if they have lost their spouse

~Pray for wisdom in how to help provide care for them

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Just as we did in our Sections 1 and 2, feel free to write down any Bible verses you find that you feel are applicable and you want to remember, or that will be an encouragement as you pray for that person  You can also include other quotes you have found that you want to remember.  I share below three quotes from one of my favorite Christian authors that speak of intercessory prayer.  I forget sometimes, about how important it IS for us to pray for one another, so these quotes help me to remember this!  You are welcome to copy down these quotes as well if they are an encouragement to you--or write down other quotes from reading you do. 

“In private prayer all have the privilege of praying as long as they desire and of being as explicit as they please.  They can pray for all their relatives and friends.  The closet is the place to tell all their private difficulties, and trials, and temptations.  A common meeting to worship God is not the place to open the privacies of the heart.”

Ellen G. White

Testimonies for the Church, vol. 2, 578

“We should pray to God much more than we do.  There is great strength and blessing in praying together in our families, with and for our children.”

Ellen G. White

Child Guidance, 525

“Nothing will give such clear views of self as secret prayer.  He who seeth in secret and knoweth all things, will enlighten your understanding and answer your petitions.  Plain, simple duties that must not be neglected will open before you.”

Ellen G. White

Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, 163

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In our class at our church, I shared the following prayer story with our class.  It is a story that touches me, so I thought I would share it here with all of you as well.  It is hard sometimes to not let ourselves get discouraged when we do not see quick and even immediate answers to our prayers.  But it is important that we continue to trust the results of our prayers with God.  Our "job," so to speak, is to pray.

The following is an excerpt from the book “Things God Can Do With Ashes” by Tim Crosby, published by The Quiet Hour, p. 96:

"Sometimes it takes a while for our prayers to take effect.  Josephine Cunnington Edwards prayed for her brother Bill for 50 years, but Bill wanted nothing to do with God.  Josephine even got a small church involved in the act, and Bill’s life slowly began to change.  Still, though, he was not religious.  But then something remarkable happened.

One day Bill’s wife Mary found Bill in tears.  He explained, “I heard the door open behind me.  I turned around, and—Oh Mary, it was the Lord! I knew Him by the nail prints in His hands.  No picture can ever portray the love in His eyes.  He said ‘Bill, I have a special request I have to make of you. I have 50 years of prayer for you to answer for.  Your parents went to their graves believing that they would never see you again in the kingdom.  Bill, I would love to have a grand surprise for them when they get to heaven.  Won’t you give your life to Me so that I can present you to them there?’ “

Within weeks Bill was baptized. “If you had seen Jesus,” he said, “you could never refuse Him anything that He asked of you.”

Friend, if you have a loved one who does not belong to God, never give up.  You have immediate access to a vast reservoir of untapped prayer power.  Claim those promises.  Your persistent prayers can sway the destiny of those you love and perhaps of generations to come."

So there you have it--the end of my "instruction" for Sections 3 & 4 of your Prayer Journal.  Now it is up to you!  It's time for YOU to think about your immediate family and get them written into one of these two sections of your Prayer Journal.  Remember, make this work for YOUR life, for YOUR family.

And your assignment for this week?  Leave me a comment telling me how you used these sections for your family.  Did you list your spouse in one and your children in the second, like I did?  Or did you use a section for your parents?  Or something different?  

Sneak peek!  I will tell you that we will have a section coming up later for "other" family members--so do not feel like you have to fit EVERYONE into these two sections.  But remember--we are trying to simplify our prayer lives as well, so use these sections for whomever you consider your IMMEDIATE family.  And don't forget to leave me a comment and tell me about it!

Have a blessed week with Jesus--and start using your Prayer Journal to help you talk with Him more!

~Susan

Save your Sanity with Loop Scheduling!

Hi Everyone!

If you are a homeschooling family, do you find yourself frequently leaving out subjects and materials that you really do want to cover?  Do you find yourself running out of time in the day and the "fun things" always get left out?  If so, you may find some helpful scheduling ideas in a guest article I wrote on this subject over at this link! Save Your Sanity with Loop Scheduling!

I hope this method helps you in your home school like it did me! :)

~Susan

How to Organize Your Prayer Life--Part 3

Welcome back Everyone!

So how has your Prayer Journal been working out for you so far???  Have you been using your Section 1 each day in your Quiet Time?  I hope so!  I hope you are collecting your own list of Bible verses which testify to God's power and might.  I have found this to be a real encouragement to me, especially when I am facing a problem!   It is good to focus your mind on how great your God is!

Are your ready for the next section?  Good--because I have more to share with you today!  We are now going to focus on your second divider--Section 2 of the daily prayer part of your Prayer Journal.
This section is going to be focusing on you!  Each day during your prayer time, after you have spent some time praising God and focusing on Him and thanking Him for all He does for you, then you are ready to bring your own personal needs and requests to Him.  So get your Journals out and label your next divider with "Myself," or your name, or your nick name.

Oh--and I forgot to mention one other thing in last week's post, so I will share it now.  You don't have to do this, but I have found it kind of fun to pick sort of a "theme verse" for each section in my Prayer Journal.  I take this theme verse and kind of claim it as my own, and I write it on the back side of my divider.  So here is the theme verse I have chosen for my "Almighty God" section:

Yes, you are right--I couldn't choose just ONE so I chose two verses. :)  And here is the verse I chose for my "Myself" section:

Some ideas for this part of your journal are as follows:

Section 2:  Myself

~Ask Him to examine your heart and reveal your sinful ways

~Confess those sins and ask Him to rule in your heart and life

~Confess total weakness and sinfulness and confess your need for God

~Acknowledge your desire to be dead to self and alive in Jesus

~Ask Him to help you take your eyes off yourself and on to Him

~Pray that God’s will be done in your life today, not your own will

~Ask God to help you listen for His voice/guidance and show you how He would like to use you today

~Surrender the inmost places of your heart and mind to Him, which is the essence of Godliness

~Ask God to use you as a tool to spread the Gospel to non-believers and be an example and encouragement to fellow Christians

~Ask God to protect you from things that keep you from having a gentle and quiet spirit:  unconfessed sin, unforgiving spirit, neglecting responsibilities, anxiety, anger, self-centeredness, physical disorders, fatigue

~Petition God for the following:  to be drawn closer to Him, direction to His will, to be a man or woman of God’s Word, to be a man or woman of Prayer, help to live a life above reproach, wholehearted devotion, wisdom, knowledge, discernment, intuition, servant’s heart, discipline, self-control, fruit of the spirit to be present in your life, attitude of gratitude, wise with time and money, discipline and self-control with exercise and nutrition, thoughtful of others, compassionate, desire to see lost people come to know Jesus, giving of self (time, money, possessions, spiritual gifts, other talents), energy, strength, courage, boldness, compassion, sensitive to sin and quick to repent, to accept God’s rest and not fill that special time with other things to do, to know Him more and more, remember and keep priorities straight, to be pure in mind and heart, to be humble, diligence, good health

~Thank God for His gift of salvation

Some Bible verses I have collected that apply to the "Myself" section are as follows:

“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail.  They are new every morning;  great is your faithfulness.  I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.’ “  Lamentations 3:22-24

“For he will abundantly pardon.”  Isaiah 55:7

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”  James 1:5

“The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?  The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”  Psalm 27:1

“For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock.  And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the LORD.”  Psalm 27:5 & 6

“Stop trusting in man, who has but a breath in his nostrils.  Of what account is he?”  Isaiah 2:22

“Pray without ceasing.”  1 Thessalonians 5:17 NASB

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go.”  Psalms 32:8

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You can also record any special quotes that speak to your heart.  These are two that are precious to me:

“. . . whoever comes to Me, I will never cast out.”  John 6:37 ESV

“If you have nothing else to plead before God but this one promise from your Lord and Savior, you have the assurance that you will never, never be turned away. It may seem to you that you are hanging upon a single promise, but appropriate that one promise, and it will open to you the whole treasure house of the riches of the grace of Christ.  Cling to that promise and you are safe.  ‘The person who comes to Me, I will never cast away.’ 

Present this assurance to Jesus, and you are as safe as though inside the city of God.”

Ellen G. White

10 Manuscript Releases 175.1

“Not one sincere prayer is lost.  Amid the anthems of the celestial choir, God hears the cries of the weakest human being.  We pour out our heart’s desire in our closets, we breathe a prayer as we walk by the way, and our words reach the throne of the Monarch of the universe.  They may be inaudible to any human ear, but they cannot die away into silence, nor can they be lost through the activities of business that are going on.  Nothing can drown the soul’s desire.  It rises above the din of the street, above the confusion of the multitude, to the heavenly courts.  It is God to whom we are speaking, and our prayer is heard.”
Ellen G. White

Christ’s Object Lessons p. 174

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So there you have it--we now have the first two sections of our Prayer Journal started.  So when you have your Quiet Time for the next week, you will each day start with praising God and then move to speaking with Him about your concerns and needs and stresses.  Leave your problems with Him when you get up from your devotion time--He is well able to handle all of them!

Assignment for this week:  Please share something in the comments that you have decided to write in your Prayer Journal either in Section 1 "Almighty God", or in Section 2 "Myself."  Share special Bible verses, poems, quotes, or even encouraging thoughts that you had as you prayed through these two parts of your Prayer Journal.  

See you next week for Part 4 of our series!

~Susan