Natl Day of Prayer

These dates have a way of sneaking up on us.  It’s unfortunate because great ideas come for me in the last minute about how we could and should pray together more.  But perhaps a quick note on the blog might just help.

This morning I decided to carve out some time to pray.  I’ve put a few practices in my life that have really helped my prayer life recently, although I constantly find myself wishing I was more disciplined to dial in with God more regularly.  For whatever it’s worth, here’s 3 things that have helped me more in this area.

  1. Type out your prayers.  Seems a bit odd at first, but once you get used to it, it’s a great way to “journal.”  For me journaling has never stuck.  I’ve taken shots at it, but my handwriting is terrible and slow.  Typing allows me to keep up with my thoughts more and, as odd as it sounds, I kind of enjoy typing.  When I do this I simply write out what I’d want to say in my mind toward God.  I often start by typing out a verse that I had just read, then I launch into praying for my family, my parent, my friends, my church and then finish with prayers about my upcoming day. 

  2. Create a prayer grid.  For those of you that like tables or excel sheets this will be right up your alley.  Try making a column with names of people that you want to pray for, then make a second column that has space to write out specific prayer requests, then add a third aisle that allows you room to write how the prayers were answered by God.  Put a date even if you can.  This makes for a great way to look back and see God’s faithfulness

  3. Turn your radio off.  This sounds easy, but if you can commit to going to work with your radio off and try to commit your time there to hearing from God, asking for his help, expressing how you desire to line up with his ways, I believe your day can get going in the right direction.

In honor of national prayer day, give one of these a shot.  See how your day or your life takes a different turn when you feel God’s presence in your day.

Happy National Prayer Day!

PS - You all are defintely a part of my regular prayers!

~ by dgraffam on May 1, 2008.