Have you ever wanted to have a more intentional and Spirit led prayer life? This is definitely something I have struggled with for years. I’ve learned that abiding in prayer doesn’t have to be difficult. It should actually flow naturally out of our love for God and others and our study of His Word.
As a child, I remember my mom making it a priority that we pray together as a family every night. I continued this tradition into adulthood by praying every night before bed. However, when I think back on those prayers, I am appalled. They were self-centered and vague. I attempted to cover as many prayer requests as possible in the shortest amount of time. I prayed like this for several years, and it was a hard habit to break.
This is another area where I depended on the women who discipled me. If you are a woman who is strong in prayer, teach what you know to other women. It’s not something that comes naturally to all of us. It takes some direction, practice, and sometimes habit breaking.
I realize that prayer does not have to be perfect, and as Hebrews 4:16 says, with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. If you’re like me, you draw near to the throne of grace several times a day. In those moments, but more so in the time I have set aside to spend in prayer, I want my prayers to be intentional and filled with the Holy Spirit.
My former prayer life really needed a shift in focus. I had to shift the focus away from me and to the God of the universe. He deserved adoration and respect, not a list of demands. And He was speaking into my life through the study of His Word, so prayer was my opportunity to respond.
Discipleship In Prayer
Many women over the years have inspired and taught me how to break my bad prayer habits, but two women in particular stand out the most in teaching me how I should pray.
Sue prays over hundreds of prayer requests a week. She can actually give you an exact number. She shared that breaking her list down by days helps her to cover more prayer requests and to give each request the time it deserves. Her method was so intentional that I knew when she said she would pray for me, I could count on her to do it. I wanted to be that intentional about my prayer requests and the prayer requests of others.
Katie prays God’s Word and uses her time in God’s Word to really shape her prayers. She encouraged me to memorize God’s promises in Scripture and pray those promises over my prayer requests. She taught me to turn worry into worship with my prayers and to not be afraid to tell God specifically what I need.
Prayer Journal
From these two godly women, I have developed this Weekly Prayer Journal which I use to be intentional about prayer each week. I’m sharing it with you and hope that you will find it helpful in covering others in prayer. You can print the journal and write directly on each page or use it as a reference to set up your own notebook. As you can see from my picture, I used a notebook to answer the questions and color index cards for my requests.
Note: You will notice I do not have Prayer Request pages for Saturday and Sunday. I typically use these days to catch up on days I missed or to spend more time on requests heavy on my heart. It is also a great opportunity to look over my notes, reflect on the week, and thank God for where I’ve seen Him work in my life and others.
Abiding in prayer is transformative. The process of being intentional has produced so much growth in my life, and I hope it will do so in yours as well. I would love to hear your story of prayer. What do you do to be more intentional about prayer? Send me your story by emailing me through my Contact Page.