By Darrel Proffitt, Lead Pastor
I was sharing with someone today about keeping a prayer journal. I find it nearly impossible to remember who I need to pray for and what I should pray about without writing it down. I like to carry my journal with me so that when someone asks for my prayers I can do two things: pray for them right on the spot and write the request down for prayers throughout the day. I recommend developing the same practice.
Mark Batterson has written that a prayer journal is an indispensable part of spiritual growth. He writes “next to my Bible, my prayer journal is the most important tool in my spiritual growth. I never go anywhere without it, and I write in it all the time.” Perhaps you have heard that “the shortest pencil is longer than the longest memory.” Having a prayer journal allows you to pray for some people that might not naturally come to your mind. It also allows for you to change requests into thanksgivings, as God answers your prayers. When you do that, what a wonderful reminder of our amazing God!
One day we will realize how powerful prayer was and how we often took it for granted. When we get to the other side, God will reveal to us how powerful it is. But the good news is that you do not have to wait until then. Jesus’ disciples were taken by the way that Jesus prayed. They knew that it sustained and empowered Jesus. The same is true of us. Our strength and power to live this life is limited by the lack of a prayer life. A prayer journal is a constant reminder to take it seriously. As Batterson has so accurately written, “you are only one prayer away from a totally different life.”
I was sharing with someone today about keeping a prayer journal. I find it nearly impossible to remember who I need to pray for and what I should pray about without writing it down. I like to carry my journal with me so that when someone asks for my prayers I can do two things: pray for them right on the spot and write the request down for prayers throughout the day. I recommend developing the same practice.
Mark Batterson has written that a prayer journal is an indispensable part of spiritual growth. He writes “next to my Bible, my prayer journal is the most important tool in my spiritual growth. I never go anywhere without it, and I write in it all the time.” Perhaps you have heard that “the shortest pencil is longer than the longest memory.” Having a prayer journal allows you to pray for some people that might not naturally come to your mind. It also allows for you to change requests into thanksgivings, as God answers your prayers. When you do that, what a wonderful reminder of our amazing God!
One day we will realize how powerful prayer was and how we often took it for granted. When we get to the other side, God will reveal to us how powerful it is. But the good news is that you do not have to wait until then. Jesus’ disciples were taken by the way that Jesus prayed. They knew that it sustained and empowered Jesus. The same is true of us. Our strength and power to live this life is limited by the lack of a prayer life. A prayer journal is a constant reminder to take it seriously. As Batterson has so accurately written, “you are only one prayer away from a totally different life.”
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