Prayer

Putting My Prayer Life in Order

February 14, 2013 by Courtney 76 Comments

Order – I crave order. I make schedules and lists and plans and then the children wake up…and well – the order goes out the window! That’s when I light my candle, put on some classical music and say a prayer for peace in our home lol!

I shared on a post earlier this year – how my prayer life deeply suffered in 2012. Typically, I come to the end of the year and my prayer journal is bursting at the seams with a vibrant walk with God – but not in 2012. I was so busy blogging and homeschooling and cooking and cleaning and taking care of my husband…that long prayer times were abandoned for popcorn prayers through out the day.

So 2013 gave me a fresh start and I’m still struggling to find a new balance with a new ministry that is taking more time than it once did. It’s a discipline more easily lost than regained.

After sharing my above struggle I got quite a few emails from women asking for more details about what’s inside my prayer journals…so here’s how I do them.

Every year on January 1st, I attempt to get my spiritual life in order. I crack open a fresh, simple 5 subject notebook and transfer my favorite quotes and verses from last year’s journal to this years journal. Then I write out my spiritual goals for the year and begin my first devotion of the new year!

I have been journaling since I was 16 – so for about 21 years (I’ll save you the math – I’m 37 years old lol!). So you may ask, what do I write in my journals? My answer: It’s a massive plethora of stuff – that’s why I get the 5 subject, college rule, notebooks!. I write:

1. My daily prayer requests.Sometimes they are in list form and sometimes I write out entire prayers.

2. Confessions. I confess my sins in my notebook – yikes – do not let the kids get a hold of these lol! Lately, I have grown more private and I use code words or often I write the word “confession” (as seen above) and then I pause to confess my sins but I don’t write them down. The discipline of confessing is unnatural – it is easy to become neglectful in this area.

3. Praises. Sometimes I write them in list form and sometimes I write out entire prayers of thanksgiving.

4. Verses. Often, I write out verses from my quiet time using the SOAP method we use over at GoodMorningGirls.org The S – stands for Scripture. The O – stands for Observations. The A – stands for Applications. The P – stands for Prayer.

5. Prayer requests for others. I have missionary prayer cards I pray through. I also pray through lists of names of family, friends, and bloggers. When I led women’s Bible studies, I always kept the sign-up list in the folder so I could pray for the ladies by name.

6. Book notes – when I read a good book, I consider the author my mentor. Often times I journal quotes that have touched my soul.

What I don’t journal:

1. Bad things my husband says or does. At one time I would go to my journal when we fought and just pour out my frustrations…to the Lord. Taking my frustrations to the Lord was good but journaling them not so good. Here’s why…a few years later, I was reading through a journal and came to a point where Keith and I were fighting – oh it was ugly! All the feelings rushed back as if it had just happened only moments ago – what a tool from the enemy to distract me from the forgiveness and grace God had helped me to extend. I learned that day to no longer journal when I am angry…if you feel a need to write – tear it out and toss it – it’s amazing how anger can be restirred up simply by remembering.

2. Bad things about others. Here and there in my journals, I express disappointment when a friend or family member has hurt me. It’s amazing how years later, I can see my immaturity in some situations to the point that I am embarrassed of myself when I read what I wrote – sin is so evident all over the pages! I do not want to sin in my journal!

This video below was from a James Bible Study we did over at GoodMorningGirls.org In this video, I shared my FAVORITE verse on prayer. I put it here in case you have an extra few minutes to spare

(If you are receiving this post via email – click here to view this video)

So it’s a new year and time for new beginnings. It’s time to get our spiritual lives in order. If you have never tried journaling, I encourage you to hit the nearest Target and get yourself an inexpensive notebook. I can testify that it has been a powerful tool in my spiritual life.

Walk with the King,

**Chime In: Do you journal? What do you put in your journals? If you are a blogger and have blogged about your journals – feel free to include the link to your post in the comment section.

Filed Under: Prayer

Saturday Supplication

March 17, 2012 by Courtney 33 Comments

On Women Living Well’s Facebook Page – we have started something new called “Saturday Supplication“

James 5:16 says “Pray for each other…The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”NIV

Let’s serve one another through prayer.

If you have a prayer request, comment on this thread on Facebook. When you pray for someone else’s request click “like” on their comment.

If you do not have Facebook and have a prayer request. Please leave it in the comment section here. There is no way for us to indicate that we are praying for you without replying and I know that many readers read along but prefer not to comment. So please know that many will see your request and lift you up in prayer today.

“Prayer — secret fervent believing prayer — lies at the root of all personal godliness.” EM Bounds

Be blessed!

Walk with the King,

Filed Under: Prayer, Saturday Supplication

5 eBook Giveaway of Warrior Prayers

May 17, 2011 by Courtney 303 Comments

Have you heard of this eBook, Warrior Prayers by Brooke McGlothlin? It’s been buzzing around on twitter and the blogosphere and I HAD to get my hands on it!

Let me be honest, this eBook knocked my socks off! I LOVE it! Why you may ask? Because not only is the writing open and transparent but the prayers - the prayers are exactly what I need.

It’s specifically the powerful, God-breathed prayers that make me want to shout out loud – “if you have $5.97 get this eBook!” (-and no I’m not being paid to say this! lol! I honestly believe it!)

I find it so easy for me to get lazy in my prayer life. I find myself just praying a list of wants to God. This eBook has been transforming my morning prayers not just for my son but for my entire family.

Warrior Prayers has over 220 scriptures (yes, I counted them all myself because I was blown away at what an amazing resource this really is!) written out that we can pray over our boys (and family as I have been doing!)

Let me give you an example from page 14 on the topic of Obedience:

Whether it is favorable or unfavorable, may____________(fill in your child’s name) obey the LORD our God so that it will go well with him (Jeremiah 42:6).

May _______________obey his parents in the Lord, for this is right (Ephesians 6:1).

May ________________obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29).

May ________________show his love for Christ by obeying His commands (John 14:15).

Or the topic of love:

May _______________not love the world or the things in the world (I John 2:15).

May the Lord make ____________increase and abound in love (I Thessalonians 3:12)

May ____________ not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth (I John 3:18).

May ____________love the LORD his God with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might (Deuteronomy 6:5).

This is just a small taste of the 220+ verses that can be prayed over our boys. Brooke takes you through many scripture passages on the topics of integrity, anger, pride, purity, honor, love, joy, peace, patience, and kindness – just to name a few!

In the Conclusion Brooke writes:

“Prayer? The desperate cry of a mama whose life has taught her she has so little control.

I cannot hold my children tightly enough to protect them from all harm, cannot force these brothers to love each other well, cannot control their actions, cannot keep them from losing the people they love, cannot ensure that they will turn out to be the men I dream they will be, cannot make them love the Lord.

I cannot change their hearts of stone to hearts of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26).

Prayer is the coming to the end of myself, the letting go, and placing my hope in the God who CAN.”

Are you praying for your children? I suggest that you pray scripture over them if you are not already doing so and this is a great tool to help you.

I am giving away 5 copies of the Warrior Prayers eBook!!! To win simply leave a comment below before Saturday at 9pm!For extra entries: Facebook or tweet this link for the giveaway! I’ll be giving away the 2nd edition in PDF format (which includes study questions and is newly available on Kindle here. It will be available on Nook soon.)

Walk with the King!

Filed Under: Books, Giveaways, Prayer

My Mini Faith Crisis – Does God Hear My Prayers?

April 6, 2011 by Courtney 22 Comments

Years ago, I had a faith crisis. I questioned if God was really hearing my prayers. God spoke to me through his word and here’s what he said:

Psalm 139:17,18
“How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.”

As I emptied my suitcases from vacation, I found 100′s of grains of sand stuck in the corners of the suitcase and inside of shoes. Memories of reading Psalm 139 on the beach wrapped around me like a warm blanket – comforting me.

I am on God’s mind.

You are on God’s mind.

Bask in this truth today!

Walk with the King!

This post is linked to Raising Homemakers, Titus 2sdays, and We Are That Family.

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