I think as believers we all know prayer is vital in our life but we still struggle with making it a priority. I’m going to share with you a simple way to make prayer stick!
One of the things I enjoy doing is speaking at women events and every time I share this prayer notebook with women I have several come to me afterwards and thank me. I’ve come to realize this prayer notebook idea clicks with so many people because it’s easy and practical. So I couldn’t wait to share it with you all!
Prayer our Life Line
I have tried various things to help me create a habit of prayer some have worked for a season in my life others didn’t but this one has stuck for 5 years now. Prayer is my source of strength and my connection to God so I continue in this journey of making Prayer a habit in my life.
Call to me and I will answer you and show you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:3
I believe in the power of prayer but I’m also a “doer” so I’m constantly fighting my natural tendency to make things happen instead of stopping and going to the One who holds all things together.
This notebook idea sticks because it’s so easy and effective. It has made all the difference in my prayer life!
Sticky Prayer Notebook
This notebook helps me stay focused on prayer and being intentional in my prayers. I don’t know about you but many times when I’m praying I get sidetracked. It also helps me write down the things that are important to me and then I can go back and see how God has answered prayer. I love to pray scripture so I write those passages of scripture down so I can talk to God about them.
I have had several journals in the five years I’ve been doing this and they all have their own twist because my life looked different at certain stages of our life. There were time I kept to a basic format and other times I found myself being creative and doodling a characteristic of God under the praise section.
God is at work! When you pray you join God in the work he is doing.
This notebook is yours, so make it your own, and don’t get caught up in making it “pinterest” beautiful. Just grab a notebook and start. It’s so easy, it will stick if you keep it simple! These tips are simply a guide. Try it and tweak it to fit your personality and lifestyle.
The picture below are some of the journals I have used. As you can see the size changed. One year I just bought a plain journal and added butterfly washi tape over it. My tabs are always handmade using scrap paper, sticky notes or washi tape or you can use real dividers if you have a binder.
What you’ll need:
- notebook or binder
- pen
- scrap paper pieces to make tabs or download our free tabs (link below)
- sticky notes
Take your notebook and divide it up into 4 main areas with about 25 sheets in each section. Use scrap paper or download our cute and FREE tabs here: prayer tabs Cut them out, fold them in half and glue.
Then label each tab with P.R.A.Y. like this:
- Praise
- Repentance
- Ask
- Yield/Rest
How to Use Your Notebook:
When I’m ready to pray I go through each section and set a timer for 2 minutes. Once the timer goes off I’ll go to the next tab and focus on that section. You can choose more time if you’d like. Sometimes it varies depending on how much time I have. Here’s the thing it doesn’t take much preparation to connect with God. He’ll meet us where we are at.
Now that I have gotten used to it I will pray in my car using the P.R.A.Y. format to keep me on target. When I remember I grab my notebook and stick it in my purse and pray while I’m waiting for an appointment or while running an errand.
Prayer is not an attempt to get God to do what we ask or manipulate Him into seeing our way but it’s a time to connect with your Heavenly Father who longs to hear from you. “It’s both an affirmation of His sovereignty, righteousness and majesty and an exercise to conform your desires and purposes to His will and glory.” John MacArthur Jr.
Praise: In the praise section, what you’ll do is spend time praising God for who He is and what He’s done. It can start with:
God I’m thankful for…
Heavenly Father you amaze me because…
Sometimes I go through the names of God and praise him for that characteristic. So Jehovah Rapha means “The Lord Heals”. So during my praise time I thank Him for the healing and restoring He has done in my life and in the lives of those around me. If I have time I focus on a verse that talks about this characteristic of His so I may look up Psalm 147:3 He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Talking to Him about who He is reminds us of the powerful and amazing God we serve.
Repentance: In this section, you can choose to write your areas of weakness or not. I leave my notebook lying around the house so I do not write out my confessions. Instead I write down verses in that section that remind me of the beauty that comes in restoration from sin. During this time I ask God to search my heart and show me if there is any offensive way in me so that I can come to Him with it and ask for forgiveness. We gain victory over sin when we come to Him asking for forgiveness and help.
Ask: I have added more tabs in this section with each of the names of my children and husband. I also have tabs that say: friends, family, sick & hurting (this can be people in your community or around the world.) Sometimes I write out specific things I want to pray for each of them. Sometimes if my heart is heavy or full, and I write out a prayer. Ask God to place people on your heart who need intercession, He will.
Yield: Contemplation and reflection has been lost in our fast paced world so I have learned to love when I get to this section. It’s a time to rest, listen and surrender.
Sometimes I sit in silence just listening to God. Other times I say breath prayers, “Here’s my heart Lord speak what is true.” I also have just written out and doodled a word/phrase that has stuck out to me from my bible reading time–He cares for me. If you’re struggling quieting your mind use this time to write or say a scripture verse.
You’ll add a Scripture Verses tab in this Yield section. Every time I remember or hear a verse that stands out to me I’ll jot it down on a sticky note or piece of scrap paper and I’ll add it later to this section. I will then use these verses to guide my prayers from time to time. I love praying scripture for my children and friends.
This is optional but I really enjoy journaling so I recently decided I was going to add a Journal tab at the back of my binder. I’m currently using a binder for my prayer notebook it’s the polka dots pictured above.
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