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Prayer Journal

A few weeks ago I got the idea to put together a prayer journal/binder. I believe in the power of prayer, and I believe that as Christians, we should be devoting ourselves to prayer. Not just when we need help, not just a quick prayer as we fall asleep-but really spending time talking to God and praying for not just ourselves, but our family, our friends, our co-workers, our husbands, our country, etc.

The thing is, there is no right or wrong way to pray. You can just sit down and talk to God about what is on your heart. You can talk to Him throughout the day. Or you can do something like I've done here, where you have planned days when you pray for certain people/things on different days throughout the week. I used to just pray for all of these things in one day, but I've been doing this for a couple weeks now, and I really enjoy it. 

So what I did for my prayer "journal" was use a 3 ring binder, which I already had on hand. Then I just bought some loose-leaf paper and some tabs. I searched on Pinterest for ideas,  prayers, and free printables to fill it with.

My binder starts with this model for prayer that I found on Pinterest:

Next, I have tabs. My first tab is "praise", where I have written down different attributes of God. I start off my prayers by thanking and praising God for all of the things He is.

The next tab is labeled "thanks". This is where I just have a list of all the things I'm thankful for, as well as keep track of answered prayers.

The following tabs are labeled Monday-Sunday, and for each day I have something different that I pray for. Monday is family, Tuesday is husband/marriage, Wednesday is friends and co-workers, Thursday is myself, Friday is neighbors, Saturday is my pastors, and Sunday is for missionaries, persecuted Christians, and our country. I printed out or wrote out prayers that I found online for ideas about what to pray for. 



After those tabs, I have a "verses" tab, where I have just written out all of my favorite verses. And the last tab is labeled "bible study", and it's where I keep track of notes and verses as I read and study the Bible. 


If you are in a prayer "rut", this may just be the thing to help you get out of it and get excited about praying again. And it doesn't even have to be this "fancy". I had fun putting this together, but really, you can just get a notebook and do something similar. Whatever works for you!

Do you have a prayer journal?

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