What's in my prayer binder? The first sections.

This month is prayer month here on the blog.  I'm super excited to do a series of blog posts and videos about my prayer binder because it has grown and changed so much from my original one.  And since praying with my prayer binder is not the only way I pray, I'll share some different ways I've learned to pray that help keep prayer time from becoming stale.

Today I'm going to share the first three sections (with LOTS of pictures!) of my prayer binder.  But, first, the binder itself.  For years, I had a cheap half-sized binder that eventually fell apart at the seams.  So I upgraded to this heavy duty one, and it has really held up well. (Plus the color!) If you don't have a Staples nearby, these half size binders on Amazon are fun and work well too.

I am constantly collecting quotes and verses and scatter them throughout my binder.  Spurgeon is a favorite!


PRAISE

In the front pocket I have my Gospel Project Notebook.  I'll get more into how I use that in a later blog post.  My first section is Praise.  This is first because I really need to quiet my mind and compose myself before I start praying.  It helps most of the time...

Here I have some favorite hymns and songs, some verses and some quotes.  (I made my divider tabs on Microsoft Word and laminated them.  But for years I had just basic tabbed dividers.  Some friends use a page protector with pretty cardstock paper inside it for a divider.) All stickers are from theresetgirl.com

The page on the right is from Matthew Henry's book A Method for Prayer (which I LOVE).  In this section I try to quiet my head and think through all that God is, has done for me, and promises me.

King David's prayer (right page) is always good to think through and praise God for.


REST

My next section is rest.  Basically this section is again to quiet my mind and try to settle myself.

I have notes, quotes, verses and hymns in this section too.  (Can you tell I need a lot of reminders to slow down and focus on what I'm doing?)

The quote taped above is from Matthew Henry's commentary on Exodus from blueletterbible.org.  As I'm sure you can tell, my prayer binder is a working one.  I don't make it picture perfect on every page because it's a tool, not a scrapbook.  Sometimes, when I can, I'll take some time to update a page or make it look good (especially if I know it's a page I'll keep for the long term), but most of the time it's a workhorse.  Not pretty, but productive.

By this point in the REST section, I've hopefully taken some time to breathe and get into what I'm doing.  I usually just flip through these pages and pray over or think through what catches my eye that day.

The last page of my REST section leads to my CONFESS section.


CONFESS

A lot of people have questions about this section.  I decided long ago to not write down what I'm confessing, for a few reasons.  One is because it gets tedious and discouraging to see that I'm struggling with the same thing over and over and over.  And two, I don't necessarily want to die and someone see those sins written down. And three, I don't want to focus as much on my sins as I want to focus on Christ and what He did for me.  I confess to God in my head (reading through those questions really helps) and then move on.

These are the other pages in my CONFESS section.  I read and pray through these notes and ask forgiveness and for help and power to overcome.
There's a really cool story to go along with that onion picture I drew there.  I was going through a particularly hard season of prayer and no answers (in fact, answers in the opposite way I was praying) and met with a dear friend who encouraged me.  I told her that I thought I had gotten through all my unbelief years ago.  I believed God could do anything and those layers of unbelief had been brushed off, like the dry layers on the outside of an onion.  But when this new problem hit, I was doubting that God could handle it.  And it revealed a deeper layer of unbelief, not the layers that crumble off easily when you brush against them, but the deeper, meatier layers of unbelief.  The layers that are harder to peel off and hurt more.  I love the cry of the father in Mark 9:24, "I believe! help my unbelief!"


Those are the first three sections of my prayer binder.  You can also find a tutorial for my original prayer binder at the top, under the "Prayer Binder" tab.  I'll be back next week with the next sections, so be sure to subscribe (and get your free Bible study through Ephesians!)

Other posts you might like:

Prayer Binder Q&A

Dawne's Prayer Binder flip-through video

Prayer Binder hacks

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