DO YOU WANT TO REVOLUTIONIZE PRAYER TIMES IN YOUR HOME?
TRY PRAYER BOXES!

“God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you”
(1 Samuel 12:23).

Is prayer part of your home? If your home belongs to God, it certainly will be. Jesus said in Mark 11:17: “My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” A praying family is God’s family. If we are not a praying family, we may as well be a heathen family! Well, that’s what God word says. Check it out in Jeremiah 10:25.

However, I found that when our children were young, we needed to teach them to pray. Little children like to pray for “Mommy and Daddy” and the cat and the dog etc. We must teach them to widen their horizon of prayer.

Therefore, I made a FAMILY PRAYER BOX. On cards, I wrote the names of each one in the family, including all the extended family—aunts and uncles and grandparents etc. After reading God’s Word at the end of our meal we passed around the Family Prayer Box and they picked out a card. This is a wonderful way to regularly pray for your whole family. Also, the children love to pick out a card.

But that was only a start. I then made another box to include other people we needed to pray for—missionaries, needs in the nation, and the world. We now passed around two Prayer Boxes for the children to take cards. This gave them inspiration to pray for others beyond their little world and revolutionized their praying.

The years have gone by and now we have eight different prayer boxes in our home. There are so many needs in the nation and the world to pray for that we keep adding boxes. Every morning and every evening at our Family Bible and Prayer time we use our FAMILY PRAYER BOX and choose one other.

Let me tell you about each prayer box. I hope you’ll be inspired to make some too, even if not quite as many as we have.

1. OUR FAMILY PRAYER BOX

Start with this one. This keeps you praying for each other daily and also your extended family. I don’t think you’ll have as many as we have in our FAMILY PRAYER BOX. With in-laws and grandchildren and great-grandchildren we now have over 100 family members!

2. OUR WORLD CHANGING PRAYER BOX

Filled with cards of people who we hear about who are need of prayer, missionaries, and different needs in the nation and the world.

3. OUR PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS PRAYER BOX

I believe every home needs to have this prayer box. Your box will be fat with cards. There are 60 countries persecuting Christians. Check them out on the Internet. You may have to alternate these countries in your prayer box. As you research, you will become aware of many specific needs and people to pray for. Don’t forget North Korea who persecute Christians more than any other country in the world.

Hebrews 13:3 tells us to pray for those being persecuted as though we were in prison with them and to feel their suffering as though we were suffering their pain in our own body.

4. OUR ISRAEL PRAYER BOX

You cannot be without this Prayer Box either. We are commanded to pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6). And remember Isaiah 64:6, 7: “On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchman; all the day and all the night they shall NEVER BE SILENT. You who put the LORD in remembrance, take no rest, and give him no rest until he establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth.”

5. OUR NATIONAL PRAYER BOX

We have a great burden for this box. We pray for the needs in our nation. We pray for our president and the members of his cabinet. We pray against the evils of nation such as abortion and homosexuality, etc. We pray for revival and a great move of God in our nation. Proverbs 14:34 says: “Righteousness exalts a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.” You and your children will want to pray for your nation.

6. OUR MARRIAGE AND FAMILY RESTORATION PRAYER BOX

Praying for marriages and families that are going through difficulty or separating. We pray for their restoration.

7. OUR SALVATION AND HEALING PRAYER BOX

In this box, we place the names of those who need salvation and healing. We have many cards in this box too.

8. OUR COUNTRIES AND CAPITALS PRAYER BOX

I write on cards the names of the most strategic capitals and countries of the world. This is also a good way for your children to get to know the capitals of the countries of the world and yet at the same time give them a vision to pray. I also write on the back of the card the name of the Prime Minister or President of that country so we can pray for him too. The Scripture says that God beholds the nations of the world. We should also be watching over the nations to pray for them.

Here are some other ideas for Prayer Boxes that you may like to make:

OUR 10/40 WINDOW PRAYER BOX

The 10/40 Window is the rectangular area of North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, approximately between 10 degrees north and 40 degrees north latitude. These countries include most of the world's Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists--a high percentage of the least evangelized and unreached peoples with the Gospel. Nine out of ten people in the 10/40 Window or The Land Between the Walls have never heard the gospel. The persecution of Christians in the 10/40 Window has increased by 400 percent over the last 10 years.

OUR CHURCH FELLOWSHIP PRAYER BOX

Write cards of the different families in your church who need prayer and encouragement. We have used this box from time to time.

OUR NEIGHBORHOOD PRAYER BOX

Do you have a vision to reach out to your neighbors and community? The best way is to begin with prayer. As you pray for them, God will show you how He wants you to reach out to them, perhaps to invite them over for a meal to show them God’s love.

OUR THANK YOU BOX

Don’t forget to say Thank You for your answers to prayer.

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Enlist your children to help make the Prayer Boxes and also writing the cards. You can find old boxes and redecorate them. Children love doing this. If you have young children, you will find it a good idea to use pictures of missionaries, a certain person you are praying for to be saved or healed, and the kind of people who live in different countries.

Become a praying family. Praying families are WORLD-CHANGING FAMILIES!

NANCY CAMPBELL
www.aboverubies.org

Check out these links:
http://tinyurl.com/OurPrayerBox
http://tinyurl.com/IdeasForPrayerCards
http://www.worldwatchlist.us/world-watch-list-countries/
http://win1040.com/
http://www.1040windowreporter.com/#!prayer-points/vend http://tinyurl.com/Recommended Links
http://tinyurl.com/PrayerInTheHome
http://aboverubies.org/morning-evening-principle