Prayer Calendars

Always be joyful, never stop praying. give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you who are in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

A few weeks ago, Phil asked me to start joining him every morning to pray together.  What started off more as an awkward scheduling meeting followed by a few minutes of praying, has since turned into the highlight of my day!

After the first few days of just sort of randomly bringing up prayer requests amidst talking over logistical family issues, we realized we needed something to guide our time to help us be effective in reaching our goal; to pray God's will into our lives.

We decided that since we couldn't spend all morning praying as we would love to (the kids wake up, and Phil actually has to go to work:), we made our prayer requests more succinct.  We each bring one personal prayer request or praise, someone we want to pray for (coworker, friend, government employee, cashier, etc.) and then we pray for our girls.

We have been using this prayer calendar from Inspired To Action (associated with the Hello Mornings Bible study group I was a part of) to pray through the month over our girls.  This has helped us to be more specific in our prayers for our girls and has also helped to give me a focus through the day on different Biblical Disciplines I want to instill in them.

I share all of this with you because this practice has improved my relationship with Christ, my husband, my kids and other people I interact with, stranger or friend.  I encourage you to find a way to have an accountability partner, or just find time to incorporate prayer into your day. 

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7