Good Morning!
To follow up with yesterday’s post about prayer, I went through my prayer journal last night. Yes, I do have a prayer journal. Honestly, I don’t use it as much as I should. It’s to my own benefit to do so. When I thumb through the pages, I am reminded of all the times God has either answered my prayer directly or when he has carried me through storms. Honestly, it is quite comforting to remember those times. Therapeutic, if you will.
It also reminds me to reach out to people that I haven’t been in touch with for a while. It’s rewarding to shoot someone a quick text to tell them you are praying for them, at that very moment, and ask if they have any specific prayer requests. “How’s your son doing? I’ve been praying for his new daughter. How is she?” These are the kind of things that build relationships. It shows that somebody cares about them. What a cool blessing to give to someone! Of course, you will likely be asked for you own prayer request in return. So, in a sense, there is a bit of self-serving, but it is all within the will of God. We end up looking out for each other. That’s what the church does. In Christ.
Of course, it takes a while to go through all this. In fact, I didn’t get very far into it at all. I have many more names to cover. Plus, I have not been very faithful in adding even a small portion of my prayer to the journal. If I did, my journal would be quite lengthy. All the better, right? All the more to enjoy!
How powerful and rewarding would it be to weave this discipline into my regular life! Every time I go through my journal, I desire to do it more thoroughly and regularly. It’s something that I really need to figure out. Without a doubt, my prayer life is less than it could be. I suppose I could treat it like a diet and exercise and enthusiastically burn out in a very short time. Or, I could develop a new habit and incorporate it into my daily life. Like my daily bible reading plan. I have developed a regular pattern for that. I don’t read it every day, but I do almost every day. When I don’t, I make it up right away, so I don’t get behind. It works well. No reason I couldn’t do that with my prayer journal, right?
James 5:16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
Ephesians 3:20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us.
Father, thank you for the gift of prayer. Show me how that I may make this a part of my regular daily routine. Amen.
Copyright © 2018 Scott Powers