long post. get ready. it's very personal and i'm sharing quite a bit. i've been asked by a few people to share on this topic and i'm finally ready!
one of the goals i have for 2013 was prayer. i'm so sick of praying but not praying. ya know? it's like i'm praying on survivor mode. "lord please, please, please... help, help, help..." i'm so ready to go deeper with it.
i made this because i am going back to work soon and now that i understand the importance of spending time in prayer everyday, i need it to be structured. the way i study now won't work. now, i get up at 6:00a.m., feed lilly and put her back down, and i'm downstairs by 6:30. then i make coffee and mosey on over to the office and take my sweet time deciding what to listen to/read/meditate on, etc... and it's wonderful- but when i return to the life of rushing out the door by 7am, that clearly won't work!
in the book, a woman after god's own heart, she talks a lot about having a prayer notebook. the more she would refer to hers, the more i knew i wanted to make one. then, i came across j
essica at proverbs living's post about making a prayer binder and that was confirmation enough for me. i used some of the links that jessica provided in her post and it led me to some awesome scripture-based prayers for your children and husband. i've also been pulling different prayers from all around the web to add in!
before i share, i don't want anyone to think that i do each and every thing in this binder daily, because i don't. i've been listening to a lot of sermons and reading a lot of books about spending alone time with God and i keep hearing the message that: God honors the effort and the consistency. it isn't necessarily about what you do during your time but you do need to
give the time. so...i can do that! i can- but i need to structure it so that i feel like i have options to go to because i won't have the luxury of time to sit and decide. so, i made a prayer notebook.
so what is inside? a lot...
*priority reminder list. first thing i see. #getyourlife
i've been learning that the people in my life have a ranking. sounds cold? it is. i've learned that god is first (duh) and then after him, my husband is my number one human priority on this earth. not my daughter. my husband. after him, lilly, then my home, then myself, then everyone else. really helps with making daily decisions! so she suggests that i open the day praying specifically for these people.
*5 "fat files" cover pages
i've also been reading about something called "five fat files" in the book. the idea behind that is that elizabeth george was taught that every woman should select five areas that they want to specialize in spiritual growth. you are to collect magazine articles, quotes, etc...in the files so that you can "specialize" in that area. pretty cool.
*printed prayers.
in this section, i've printed and placed prayers that are specific to my husband and daughter in sheet protectors to assist me in praying for them using scripture. i googled some but i am careful to cross check the scripture references to make sure i'm not out of order or just blindly praying someone else's prayer.
*daily agenda to organize my days and set goals
aim for nothing and you'll hit every time. so guilty. this is just a pacing guide for my day. this will look very different when i return to work full time. in the book, elizabeth shares her method for planning out her days. she makes two lists for one day. one list is made at night before she goes to bed. she prays over the next day and asks God to show her what needs to be done etc... then, the next day she revisits it during her quiet time and sets the goals in specific times slots in order to be as productive as she can. my version on this is below!
after those, we enter the tabbed dividers. they are:
*a prayer for today*letters to God*prayer requests*blessings & breakthroughs*notes and quotes
*a prayer for today
referring back to how the author seeks God about her daily schedule, she also asks herself the same 5 questions everyday and writes them down: (my general responses to her questions are below)
1. God, what can i do to show you that you are the ultimate priority in my life?
for me lately, it's "memorizing scripture" that i tend to jot down.
2. what can i do to show david that he is my number one human priority?
i usually ask david what i can do for him. surprisingly,he usually says nothing... so when he does it makes it super easy to accommodate him! but i try to make sure his meals are healthy and made with love, his laundry is done for work, etc...
3. what can i do to show my children that after their father, they are the most important thing to me?
lilly is a baby so this isn't hard. the only thing i tend to write down these days to to play with her and read with her more. since she is such a happy baby it's easy to sit on the floor with my laptop while she is in her bouncer next to me. i could easily put the distractions away and actually play with her.
4. what can i do to make my home a little piece of heaven and a place that my family loves to be?
lately i've been writing down "generally clean" a lot. i've been working on all areas of my home to be tidy- not perfect.
5. what can i do to serve and minister to your people?
as of now, my ministry is on instagram. i'm running a bible study over there and so i'll jot down something about encouraging those ladies that are studying this book with me.
so- after she prays this prayer, she records the specifics in her daily agenda- in order to make them actually happen. I just write them on sticky notes so that i don't have to keep printing the sheets
and because they usually are the same for quite a while.
*a specific prayer request sheet
this is for me to document prayer requests. there is also a place to record the date i pray about it and the date is is answer so i can count my blessing one by one!
*letters to God
sometimes, you just gotta pour out your heart to the Lord. here is where i do that.
*my prayer requests
i wanted to be able to ask the Lord for help- but more importantly i wanted to track it so that i might remember all of the amazing things God has done for me! writing down the dates are critical for me!
* blessings and breakthroughs
just a place to record the amazing work that God in my life!
*notes and quotes
a place for sermon notes, snippets from books that are really good (i'll add the page number and book title for later reference), and Godly quotes that i hear and really like!
*scripture memory sheets
i want to actually see how many scriptures i have memorized. it's not a lot. gotta get my game up.
*prayer schedule
basically, i'm the classic type "a" personality who needs a schedule in order to feel like at some point, i've been intentional about praying for everyone that asks or that i feel led to. here is my way of doing that. i jot down how often i would
like to pray for them and then i simply glance at the day of the week when i pray!
so. after this long, long, post- you have a peek into my prayer life. thanks for reading along and be blessed!
xo
p.s. what do you do for your quiet time? i'm always looking for new ideas!!!
