KEEPING TRACK OF PRAYER REQUESTS

Think about a time you prayed with a group of people. Have you ever glanced around to see who is making notes of requests? There are usually a few women who attentively record. In a group, I’ll listen, pray for others right then, and even ask some of the people later on about the request, but I’ve always had a hard time keeping track, and I rarely pray through the lists later on in the week. I don’t want to be a hypocrite that records the requests for show, so I just don’t write them down at all. Deep down, I know I’m just trying to excuse my laziness. Maybe you can relate and like me, you want to change.

We must pray for others. Paul prayed for other people (Philippians 1:3-6). Jesus prayed for other people (John 17:20-23). We need to pray for others, no excuses. It takes work to keep track of requests and praises and can feel overwhelming, but the people you pray for are worth it. If you pray for others, you will grow in your relationship with God and with those people. The eternal and even earthly rewards for showing love to others by intentionally praying for them, far, far outweighs the small troubles to keep track. So let’s do it! Start small. Don’t bother backtracking, move forward from today, but start today.

Choose a system that works for you. If you hate the system, don’t cease praying, just switch methods. Pick something portable. You never know when you’ll be able to have a spiritual conversation with a coworker or a grocery store clerk or an old friend. Don’t worry about researching the perfect method. Begin, and in time you will find the perfect method for you. So what are some methods?

Pen and Paper. I’ve heard of anything from prayer journal’s, to index cards, to manilla folders, to post-it notes. If you love writing the good old fashioned way, there are loads of methods for you! There are prayer journals you can buy online or you can take any blank book and carry it around with you. This method is great because you can write down the date and easily look back at an old request to see how God answered that prayer. You can just keep track in the order you receive requests or you can split your book into sections like Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication, or Family, Friends, Church, Missions, etc. It’s great because you can look back, but it’s downfall is that it can be hard to find requests. A possible solution could be organizing according to categories that are to be prayed for one time, daily, weekly, monthly, etc. This method also isn’t as portable and has a potential to be left behind and lost.

The index card method is really fun to pray through. You can organize it like I recommend with the journal by types of prayer or categories of requests. If you choose this method, you would carry around index cards and write requests on index cards. Then at home you would have a box that is organized however you desire. When it comes time to pray, you just pull out any cards from the categories and pray through those. It’s nice because you can add things straight to the card. You can shuffle decks to get variety while you’re praying. You can also add in Scripture that you want to pray through. The downside is you have to be pretty organized and keep blank cards with you all the time. But, of all of the “Pen & Paper” methods, this is the one I like the best. Manilla envelopes work the same way as index cards, but you can put any size paper in the folder. That way if you are at a restaurant you could write it down on a napkin and bring it home. If someone sends you an email you could print it out and keep it in the folder.

Putting Post-it notes around the house is another fun and interesting method for requests. You can put general or specific requests on any post-it note and hang it up wherever you will see it. The downside is that you probably wouldn’t want to put personal ones anywhere just in case someone visits! You also would probably have to use this in addition to another system because eventually you’ll have to trade out the post-its.

Digital. As much as I love the feel of pen to paper, digital methods are probably the most practical. You can use the same exact systems described above, just in digital programs such as a word processor or a notes app. The upsides are so numerous! It won’t be destroyed or lost, you have it with you everywhere because of your phone, you can literally copy and paste from emails or notifications, and depending on what you use you will also be able to search to easily find specific requests. The downside is that when you go to pray, you will have to use a device. I highly recommend putting your phone on airplane mode when you pray to keep distractions from popping up.

Once you’ve picked a method, remember to schedule a specific time to actually pray through them. This is the mistake I most commonly make. I record everything, but then I don’t actually pray. Maybe it starts with setting aside 15 minutes one day a week. You can make it part of your Bible reading time or do it while you’re waiting in a line or on a 15 minute work break. Either way, pick something and try it. If it doesn’t work, change it, but don’t cease praying.

This has been a really convicting post to write. I want to get better at this. So I’ve committed to trying The Prayer Mate app through the end of August. I tried using it about 6 years ago, but at that time you couldn’t upload it to a cloud so I lost all my info in a phone switch. They have fixed that problem and you can regularly back it up now. I’m excited to try it out! I am starting slow and just entering in whatever prayer requests have popped up this week. So far I’ve opened it and prayed with it two days this week! At the end of August I hope to give another update on whether or not I will stick with this system.

If you have made it through this unusually long post, I hope you are convicted and encouraged to start one of these methods. If you have something that works for you, send me a message. I’d love to know what works for people! No matter what, don’t give up. Never cease to try praying more. You will be blessed.

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