Stone Soup for Five: What's in my Prayer Binder -- Part 2!

What's in my Prayer Binder -- Part 2!




Welcome back to my prayer binder!  Today we'll go over the next three sections in my binder.  (The first three are here.)  These are my sections for petition (prayers for myself), prayers for others, and a special section: prayers for prodigals.

There is no right way to put together your prayer binder, and it will change a lot over time as mine did from the original one I made (see it under the Prayer Binder tab at the top).  Right now a few of my friends and I are in a season of praying for prodigal children, so I put an entirely new section in my binder just for that.  But, let's get to the good stuff, the pics!

PETITION

This is the start of my PETITION section.  I have a paper bag that I keep in there to store notes and things that I want to save for later (plus a super cute postcard from the Oregon coast!).



And like I said in the last post, my prayer binder isn't really pretty. It's a workhorse with some pretty things (thanks to The Reset Girl stickers and cards).  On the right side, I have a half sheet of paper of some topics to pray about for myself.  When the page under it gets full, I'll replace it with a new one.


The page on the left is the back of the previous page. I write down notes and verses that stand out to me as I find them. On the right page I have my Monday through Friday tabs.  Each tab is a different theme.  Monday is when I pray for myself as a Christ-follower.


Tuesdays I pray for my marriage.


The left is the back of my marriage page, and the right is Wednesday's theme of praying against my besetting sin of gluttony.  Ugh.  It's a long, slow process.


Thursday is praying for myself as a steward of my time, money, home, family, body and mind.  I usually only pray for one or two of those things each time.


Friday I pray for my work as a writer.


And this is a miscellaneous page (left) and a journaling page (right) that I use if I'm feeling unsettled or just need to process some thoughts. When this page gets full I toss it out and put in a new one.


OTHERS

This next section is where I pray for OTHERS (not my immediate family--they're later).



This is how I do my section for others.  I have a few pages that are blank, but I use those mini sticky notes and put prayer requests on them.  BE SURE TO DATE THEM!  Then, as they are answered, I move it to another page in this section that is tabbed "answered."  I do it this way, rather than listing requests on paper, because it helps me see them better (I get lost and unfocused with long hand-written lists) and it allows me to move them (to the answered section) rather than cross stuff out and have a big mess.  It helps my brain feel uncluttered and helps me focus on each sticky note rather than a big, long, exhausting list.


PRODIGALS
*This section can be omitted or completely changed to something that you are in the season of praying for.  In my first prayer binder, this wasn't a section and I went straight from PETITION to praying for my family. 
 Up next is my PRODIGALS section.  This is a precious section where I can spend time praying for specific broken hearts and their families.  It is probably the biggest section in my binder right now.


I LOVE this art print from Kerilynn Wilson!  It's called "Warrior" and I think it's a perfect reminder to keep fighting for our kids, even when it's exhausting and we are tired and battle worn.  The following pages are verses and notes and prayers that I keep adding whenever something stands out to me.


There are notes from sermons (The page on the right is from a Charles Spurgeon sermon for young men.), verses, quotes, and prayers written out anywhere there is an inch of space.



The page on the right is from an old Bible  Picture book I picked up at Goodwill.  I got it specifically to cut out pages and add them to my Bible journal or Prayer Binder.  It's a fitting picture of a scene from the prodigal son parable.  I litter this section with reminders about God's power.




I have lots of hymns and song lyrics in this section too, and reminders to pray with hope and to have great expectations of God rather than great expectations of sin.



More song lyrics and pages I printed out of verses to pray for prodigals.  Sometimes I write out my thoughts and lists and prayers (like the next few pages) but sometimes I just pray them.



I need lots of reminders of who I'm fighting (Satan, not any of these prodigals or people or things that might have led them astray.)  I want to be fighting in the main battle, not wasting my time on side skirmishes.



These post it notes have the names of the prodigals I'm currently praying for.  The page on the right is a page that I created based on a commentary from Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 30:6.  "But David [surrounded by enemies and people who wanted to destroy him] strengthened himself in the Lord his God."  I wondered HOW David did that in the midst of dire circumstances and Matthew Henry gave this insight:  "David believed and considered, with application to his present case, the power and providence of God, His justice and goodness, the method He commonly takes of bringing low and then raising up, His care of His people that serve Him and trust Him and the promises He has made."

 When I read that quote, I immediately created a page to try it myself and see if it helped strengthen me for this long, wearisome battle.  And you know what? It did!  If you want a copy of it (I was going to label it "for hard prayers, but that felt weak, so I labeled it "A Warrior Mom's Guide for Strengthening in Prayer."  Ya, I know, it needs a better name.  Feel free to offer some!  Either way, though, I've made it available for you to print out and it's under the "Subscriber Bonuses" tab above (the password is at the bottom of all my emails if you subscribe!).  Next week we'll go through the family sections and finish with the end sections.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment and I'll try to answer them there!  Thanks for flipping through my prayer binder with me!









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1 comment:

  1. What font did you use for your section tabs? Love the way they look!

    ReplyDelete

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