MY PRAYER JOURNAL

I want to share with you about one ingredient that is vitally important in a mommy’s life. It is PRAYER! I have found that the only way I can handle any kind of stress is to take it to the Lord.

Talking to God isn’t always easy for busy moms. There have many times in my life where I have started out praying, and before I know it, I am thinking about what we’re having for supper, did my son take out the garbage to the chickens, or did I just hear someone close the refrigerator door? “Oh, where was I, Dear Lord? Ah yes, please help me with…” I’m sure this has happened to you during one of your prayer times with God, too.

I have found something that really works. I use a prayer journal for writing out my prayers. Of course, I do pray without writing down my prayers! If I’m in a car or some place where I do not have my journal and I feel like praying, then of course, I pray!

You are probably already thinking that it is going to take forever to write out your prayers. It doesn’t.  In fact, it takes me longer to pray without the journal, because my mind easily strays from what I am trying to pray. When I have my journal, my thoughts are written down before I forget.

YOU DON’T HAVE TO WRITE EVERY WORD

You don’t have to write down every word. For instance, you can write down a sentence such as:  “Dear Lord, please help me to have a better attitude with… and help me to… and …” You can leave some of it blank and you can initial items or people. If someone were to look at my prayer journal, it would probably not make any sense to him or her. The only person it makes sense to is GOD and me.

YOU CAN MAKE A WEEKLY LIST

You can also make a list of items, and then pray down each one until you reach the end. It’s really up to you. Whatever is the easiest. You can have weekly prayer topics: Mondays: husband and children; Tuesdays: Relatives… and so on throughout the week.  You can be as organized or as little organized as you want.

Remember,  prayer shouldn’t be stressful!  You are not trying to write your neatest or spell every word correctly, you are praying. Your main purpose is to keep your mind focused on the Lord and to be able to express your thoughts and desires to Him without getting distracted and forgetting what it was you were praying over.

ASK THE HOLY SPIRIT

Most of the time I know what I need to pray for. However, there are times when my mind is blank. It is in these times that the Holy Spirit reveals to me what I should pray about. It maybe that I need to thank the Lord for all He is doing in my family and in my life. It is so easy to always want this or that. He desires our thankful hearts.

When I write down my prayers I not only keep my mind focused, but I also know that God has heard my requests, my yearnings, my desires. I guess you could say that I use my journal as an altar. I come to the Lord with my prayers and give it all to Him. And I can see it. It’s all written down.

I thank the Lord for giving me this idea of writing down my prayers in a journal. He knows my busy life as a mommy and my busy thoughts. I have grown closer to Him and look forward everyday to writing to my Heavenly Father. I can keep these journals and look back to my prayers to see how God has answered.

ANSWERED PRAYER JOURNAL

My children and I have kept a journal together for years. However, this journal is not a prayer journal.  It is a journal that keeps record on all answered prayers. I have a section for each month. I start with the number 1 and write whatever it is we need to pray about, then number 2 and so on. I leave a little bit of room to write down when the prayers were answered and the date. I pray out loud, and then each one of my children take turns praying. It is so exciting to be able to write down these answered prayers. It is so easy to forget what God has done for us, but when you have it on paper; you have the proof, and the memory.

I also have given each one of my children their own journals to write in. I want them to also have that personal relationship on their own with the Lord, and not just with the family.

PRAY FOR DADDY

It is also very important that we pray for daddy. Every Monday, my children and I each take turns praying for daddy. He is our leader and has many important decisions to make. Satan does not want him or our families  to succeed. Prayer is vital!

When do I have  time to write down these prayers?  I keep the journal right beside my bed. I start writing my prayers before I get out of bed. I write them when I lay my baby down for a nap. I write them when I go to bed in the evening. It is actually very easy. I can stop and start up again and not lose my train of thought. Remember, I’m not writing a book or a poem. I’m talking to God.

God hears me if I yell. He hears me if I whisper. He hears my thoughts and He hears me when I write to Him! God is interested in our hearts, not elaborate and vain words. God is waiting to hear from us and all we have to do is come. You can even come to him with a pencil, pen, or crayon!

SHERRY KISSINGER
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