July 15, 2016

As part of my quest to become a more powerful and effective prayer warrior, I have started keeping a Bible and prayer journal.

 

 

I write down verses that I want to memorize and apply to my life, and inspirations and truths God shows me through His Word and prayer, as well as lists of prayer requests.   Sometimes I even write down my prayers as I pray.  I find that it’s helpful to go back and re-read those prayers; to pray them again when I am overwhelmed and don’t know where to begin, or when I want to be reminded to give thanks for requests that have been answered.

Since I’ve been keeping a prayer journal and looking back at my previous prayers, I see many more answers to prayer than I used to, simply because I remember what I prayed for and recognize that those prayers have been answered!

Partial inspiration for my prayer journal came from the movie War Room.  If you haven’t seen the movie yet, I highly recommend it!  It’s the story of a family that is falling apart from the pressures of the world, until the wife changes the path they’re headed down by turning her walk-in closet into a “war room,” where she prays every day.

 

 

I don’t have a closet that I can use as my war room, but my screened-in back porch serves as my “quiet place,” where I read the Bible and pray in the mornings, surrounded by nature.   I encourage you to create your own place at home where you can pray; a place to post lists of prayer requests and answers, or keep a prayer journal.

 

 

I have also recently joined a small prayer group at my church.  We get together once a week to pray for about an hour.  We pray for everything God puts on our hearts – our families, our church, our city, the kids and teens in our church and our community, our nation – the list goes on and on.  I’m getting more comfortable praying while other people are around, but, thankfully, there’s no pressure for me to pray aloud in front of the group.

I have noticed that each person who prays aloud has their own unique prayer style, and they’re all good – Jesus loves every way that we pray, because it’s all conversation with Him!  🙂   I’ve been very blessed to have these prayer warriors pray for me.  A few weeks ago, they were praying for me in my role as a mom of teens, and one of the ladies mentioned my words being strong, yet dripping with sweetness.  This woman had never met me before and would have had no way of knowing anything about me – it was God speaking through her!  It’s such a blessing to feel God’s love and His presence through prayer, both alone and with others.

Today I encourage you to deepen your prayer life by creating a prayer place, keeping a prayer journal, and possibly finding (or creating) a small prayer group.  And please share your victories and struggles with me – I’d love to be part of your journey!

 

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Lord, thank you for loving me so much that you want to speak to me through your Word.  Thank you for guiding me to become a more powerful and effective prayer warrior.  I pray that my ideas and insights will be helpful to others and will enable them to draw closer to you.  Please allow me to be an encourager of others and give me the words to speak into their lives. Thank you so much for answered prayers!