Stone Soup for Five: Prayer Binder Challenge {week 3} praying for others

Prayer Binder Challenge {week 3} praying for others




Welcome to week three of our prayer binder challenge!  You can find week one here, week two here, and today we'll start in on week three, intercession.

Intercession: the act of intervening on behalf of another.

I have five dividers for intercession:  prayer for others, for prodigals, for my husband, and each of my sons.  So let's get to the pics and info!

I love that Elisabeth Elliot quote.  So true!

The first page after my divider is for urgent prayer requests.  It's just a plain piece of printer paper, torn in half with red marker on the side.  I put the request on the sticky note and date it.

The next few pages are prayer requests that are more long term and regular, like prayer for friends, marriages, family, extended family.  I pray for a few then move that pink sticky arrow down so I know where I left off.  I never pray through all of these in one day, usually just one or two.  (see that "answers" tab at the top of the right hand page?  That's next. 
Answered prayers!  How I love moving sticky notes here.  I'll usually just write the answer and date on the sticky note after it's answered and move it here.  If there's no room to write on the sticky note, I'll just write it on the page below it.  Sometimes I get answered prayers that I wasn't specifically praying for, so I'll journal it on a post it and add it.  This is so fun to flip back through and see! 



Prodigals are heavy on my heart the last few years.  So many friends and family have walked away from the Lord or are wandering down dark paths.  For this season in life, I completely removed my sections where I was praying weekly for church/missionaries/military etc. and put this section in.  I still pray for those areas (under my et al section) but not as regularly as I pray for prodigals right now.  As you grow and change, let your prayer binder do the same.

The large notecard on the left side is taped at the top to hinge open (see next pic) on this side of it is a quote and on the back is sticky notes with the names of the prodigals I am praying for.  This was as I turn the pages in this section, I can still see all their names to pray specifically.

The print on the left is from kerilynnwilson.com.  I got it quite a while ago, and am not sure if she still has any available, but you could send her an email if you like it!  On the right page is a prayer I printed from an article on crosswalk.com.  As I"m praying or if I read or hear something somewhere, I'll often write out notes anywhere in the section that I am in.  Again, my prayer binder is not pretty to look at, but it works hard for me!

One day I was feeling overwhelmed and hopeless praying through this section and I decided to look up the definition of hopeless and write it out.  Just that one act changed my attitude.  There is no one that is hopeless.  God is way too powerful for that.  I love this little note to keep my focus on God and not the sin or situation.

Mostly this section is packed full of quotes and verses and reminders to me...

and some short excerpts of sermons from Charles Spurgeon.

The page on the right I tore out of an old children's Bible book I picked up for a few cents at the thrift store.  It was an illustration of the prodigal son story.

More notes and reminders and songs...

Some quotes from Bible commentators and books and more Spurgeon.

Next up are the dividers for my husband and sons.  I won't get into too much detail on these, but will give you a general idea of what is in them.

I get so weary of the wait, so weary of praying without seeing results, and tend to default to praying less and less then missing days and weeks.  So I've printed out some verses to remind me how important it is to keep praying day and night.

More verses, quotes, thoughts to pray over.

And the printed out Inspired to Action calendar for husbands.  

A list of ideas to pray from mercyisnew.com.


Each of my sons have their own divider.  On the back of each one I've printed off a copy of the War Room ending prayer and personalized it for each son.  If you haven't seen the movie, get it!  Or at least watch this clip!



So that's my intercession section.  The key to remember:  set up your prayer binder for YOU.  Don't try to do it like mine, choose what is realistic and what works for you.  If you're not sure, keep it simple.  I would recommend one divider for "others" and one for "family."  Then as you figure out what you want and need, change it up to work for you.

Also, remember that you cannot pray through every section every day.  Some days I will just pray through the "others" pages.  Some days just the prodigals.  A lot of times it's what is weighing on my heart and maybe I don't get past "confession" that day.  It's all okay!  I don't even pray for my husband or sons every day.  (I know.  I used to feel that was WRONG!  It even felt wrong typing that.  But since God is not guided or bossed around by my prayers, He is able work in their lives while I am praying for our pastor or president.)   If you try to pray through your whole prayer binder every prayer time, you will get overwhelmed and discouraged!  Don't do that!

Think of your prayer binder as a menu or guide.  It is not a text book or map you have to follow rigorously.  You have choices.  You can pray as you feel led.  It can (and maybe should) change daily.  It is a journal, a diary to record your conversations with God.

Okay, now it's your turn.  If you have a prayer binder, please put below which dividers you have in yours and if you have some great quotes or verses, please share below!




11 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for all of this great advice. I especially like the section on what makes you stop praying often. I think it is like that for all of us. I like the way you work through your prayer binder when hitting a problem head-on. I tend to close it and think on whatever I am worried about. However, I like the idea of having a place that shows how the Lord was working through my thoughts. It is really easy to feel that nothing is happening when, in actuality, there are a lot of small changes going on in our
    hearts. I love the way you can retrace your thoughts by reading your sticky notes.

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    1. Yes! It's so easy to shut out prayer and meditate on and worry about our own problems! That is my usual default of dealing with stuff. But by His grace, I'm slowly learning a new way with my prayer binder. I have so far to go, but am so thankful for His mercy and grace in showing me a better way!

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  2. I've been blessed beyond measure today as I toured through your prayer binder. The section on the prodigal hit home for me. Then the end with "Raise Em Up". This brought tears! I've gained so much today because of your heart to share. Thank you so much Kari!

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    1. Oh, that prayer from the War Room leads me to tears every single time! So powerful!

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  3. Thank you! I love the sticky notes, I think I'll start using those. getting to move them to 'answered' sounds just so wonderful. So, I printed up, cut out and laminated dividers like yours. I made adoration, rest, confess, petition (me), family (hubby, boys, both sets of parents and 1 grandparents), friends (ones I'm in regular contact with now), distant family and friends (yep, all those christmas pictures!), missions, authorities, thanksgiving, praise. Tonight I went to write something in one boy's section, and just started there. Ah, prodigals. the wayward. Yes, I tend to pray for them as God brings them to mind, but perhaps something more regular is called for. I just love your creativity and all the notes and encouragements you have in there!

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    1. Yes! So excited to hear you are jumping right in! Sticky notes are a slight obsession of mine and love how they work in my journal!

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  4. Where do you find the printed version of the "raise an up" prayer?

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    1. there's a copy here: https://journalingthebible.com/2016/10/31/miss-claras-prayer/

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  5. Just starting my binder. So far I have the following tabs: Praise, Repent, Pray (with subdividers Me, husband, marriage, children then list each one, family, friends, Reaching beyond), Scripture (subdividers Jan, Feb, March all the way to Dec), Misc. (sub dividers Books, Misc., favorite verses, songs, I learned, answered.

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  6. I have been in a rut Spiritually. This week I started to put together my prayer journal and today I saw the picture by Kerilynn Wilson. I loved it and it reminded me of another time in my life when I was struggling. I asked my daughter to draw me something like it but with more armor of God and my daughters style. When my husband and I got home she gave me the picture. I am as excited I may use it for the cover of my journal. Thank you for your willingness to share this with us.

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