ORGANIZING YOUR PRAYER JOURNAL.

Like any form of art, the journaling layout and content in a journal is unique for every person. Many people wonder how they will begin or what to include in a prayer journal and I hope the few tips shared below will be beneficial and become a starting point. Even as I share this, it is entirely dependent on you on what to pick and what to leave out. One of the benefits that I may not have mentioned in the previous post, is that having a prayer journal is a huge bonus because you have everything in one place. Everything? What do you mean? Well, let’s break it down.

ATTRIBUTES OF GOD

Prayer often starts with adoration and this offers great confidence even as we prepare to commune with God. Psalms 145:2 “Everyday I will bless you, And I will praise your name forever.” As you confess and praise Him for being Kind, Good, Generous, Faithful,Marvelous etc, you are praising Him and at the same time inviting these truths over your situation and it makes you more confident in prayer. More than knowing the word of God, we are meant to know the God of the Word and outlining His attributes solidifies our knowledge of Him.

 PERSONAL WORSHIP (of Invitation)

What do I want my life to become like? What do I desire to be the outcome of spending time with God? What is it that I know God wants for me as I worship? These are the prayers that focus on the spiritual and soul longings. Prayers the soul craves and cries out to God daily, the ones I never want to miss out on and never get tired of praying about. I draw them from scriptures, from songs or what God is teaching me from my Bible Study time. It could look like “Holy Spirit take over,Consume me with your presence. God live in my heart and make my heart your home. Brand me with your name, Let my daily discipline of seeking  turn to desire, Take all of me”

VERSES

What verse do you want to see made manifest in your life? While the Bible is a composite of prayer, we do not entirely go through them in a moment. True? There are a dozen prayers in the Bible but we often miss them. These are verses that you plead and declare over your life. There’s something  powerful about praying His word.

• Teachings: One thing I have always captured is what God teaches me  and no matter the season, I declare them over my life. What was that verse that you drew a life experience from? either before or after? 
• Promises: This has got to be my favorite. His word is binding to Him and when we get into prayer and claim those promises over our lives…hope is birthed and we become confident even in the middle of struggles.What has God promised you?
• “Favorites”: I put them with quotations because the word of God is entirely delightful but what are those specific verses that have been impressed on your heart?

TREASURES

I don’t know if anyone is like me but I get ministered to through songs and often I find that those are the words that my soul needs and I translate them into prayers. Same  with sermons. I choose to write lines, statements or those quotes that I can pray over. This is entirely just a collection of treasures gotten from the ways that God speaks to other people and I tap into that. 

Additionally, being someone who reads a lot of Christian literature, I find enlightenment in some of the books I have read especially books pertaining prayer and I never want to forget them.

SELF

This is the part where Philippians 4:6 comes to life. What needs do you have? Your goals? Dreams? Financial? Relationships? Business? Job?  A promotion?  Education? Breakthrough? Husband? Wife? Projects? Basically every petition that the heart wants. God delights to satisfy our desires that are aligned to His will. (Philippians 4:19) He will supply according to His riches in glory . Psalms 145:16 offers such great comfort. Also see 1 John 5:14 and 1 Peter 5:7. It is not selfish to take our needs before Him. He wants to give us rest as we pray to Him

COMMUNITY

We are called to intercede. The Bible urges us to pray. I love 1 Timothy 2:1 that says “The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. ” There is a broad category of community inclusive of work mates, school mates, neighbors, church community and close friends. In my case, that includes you as well, the one reading this.

Perhaps you know people who are sad, grieving, in need of breakthrough, this is a good segment to list them. Even without specific needs,  you are able to  just praying for God’s cover upon them. ( ( This morning I prayed Psalms 90:17 over my community..even in this season of Corona, God is still blessing the work of our hands, however that looks like)

Also see Ephesians 6:18 ; 1 Thessalonians 3:12 ; Colossians 1:9-12

Further, you can include specific prayers for your children and your spouse and make reference to what the Bible guides. There is so much joy in this as you see the prayers come alive in them.

SALVATION LIST

I have people in my life that I desire to see born again.  God’s heart is in salvation and He wants to see the world saved. 1 Timothy 2:4 “…who desires all men to be saved.” . Also see 2 Peter 3:9. By His grace and His love, He is patient that all may come to repentance and not perish. Therefore, it is my daily cry for my family , for my friends and for any soul that hasn’t known Him yet. Salvation is for all. I write them so I can pray over them without fail.I bet you have your own right?

Additionally, we are meant to stand in the gap over even those who are atheist etc…even though we may not mention them by names (if you don’t know any), we can cover them in prayer. It counts in the eyes of God.

CONVICTIONS

“My sheep know and hear my voice” the word says in John 10:27. As part of His pasture, I want to hang on every word that God says and live it out. God is always speaking and sometimes God will prompt us to pray certain scriptures or even make certain choices that are of significance in our lives and if we don’t write we miss out on the effect that comes with  it.

PROPHECIES  

Have you ever been told something only for it to come to pass years later that you don’t even recognize and the memory is vague? Many words are spoken over us and we need to pray over them. Not all prophecies are to be taken in which is why we offer them to prayer so God can do as to them as He wills and even pray against some.

All these segments being  in one place (in your prayer journal) increases the frequency  in which you pray over them and you are lest likely to forget. Remember to always leave out a section to write praise reports in segments such as SELF NEEDS, SALVATION LIST, COMMUNITY AND PROPHECIES

There are many things to be incorporated. This is what I do and just a sample. As highlighted, it is different for everyone but I hope you are inspired and ready to start. If you journal, be sure to add what works for you in the comments, we could learn a thing or two and enrich our prayer lives. 

Stay anchored. Keep His light shining through.

With love

Chebet

[email-subscribers-form id=”1″]