A Practical Idea to Encourage You to Pray

                                          

My dad and mom believed in praying about EVERYTHING. That is what they taught the four of us...”God wants to hear your prayers and He is interested in EVERYTHING about you.” It was nothing for my dad to stop and pray in a grocery store for a friend who was hurting...or for a cashier who had a burden...or even for my stumped big toe! He was full of adventure and full of faith...that is why we helped him, right along with my mother, in building a church “from scratch” or revitalizing dying churches...mostly in Pennsylvania.

After my mother went to Heaven and Dad was getting older, I thought: “Who is going to pray for all these people like Dad does?” The Lord said: “How about you, Maylou?” Whoa! I had better get busy!

My prayer lists, up until that time, were odds and ends of 3x5 cards, or an occasional paper list. I needed more than that. So...I began a prayer journal. I will be glad to share it with you, if you want. Trust me, it is VERY simple. Basically, lists of dates and names with “ans” for answered...then highlighted in yellow.  It has motivated me to stay on track with my prayer time.

A HUGE help is to have a “distraction sheet” close by. This is just a plain piece of paper to write down any distracting thought (“Did I send a birthday card to Susie Q?”) and focus on my requests.

In the front of my prayer journal, I have written many verses that encourage me to pray even when circumstances seem insurmountable. Just a few...

One of my favorites - Psalm 5:3: “In the morning, O Lord, You hear my voice; in the morning, I lay my requests before You and WAIT in expectation.”

A verse I pray for my family - Isaiah 41:20: “That they may see and know and consider and understand together that the hand of the Lord hath done this.”

Mark 9:29 - “...This kind can come forth by nothing but prayer and fasting.”

Psalm 31:24 - “Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord.”

A dear friend of ours in England was telling us how she longed to help her son who was having huge financial challenges. Ann told us her son looked at her and said, “Mum, don’t put your hand in your pockets...put them together.” We knew what he meant...”Pray, Mum, pray!!!”

--Maylou Holladay