Prayer Cards

Remembering  to pray for other people on a regular basis is not exactly one of my strong points. It’s especially hard when I haven’t seen some of those people in several years, but I have to admit that I often don’t even think to pray for friends or fellow students I see on a daily basis.

But I desire to pray for those people. I want God to touch their lives; in many cases, I want my old (and new) friends to come to know Him.

One of the methods I use to make sure I pray for the people in my life is to use daily prayer cards. (Thanks to my camp counselor Cherish for giving me this idea when I was a Sophomore in high school!) I have a 3×5 card for each day of the week (except Sunday), and each card has different names written on it. There are people I met in places where I used to live, friends from my home church in Musselshell and my church here in Dillon, kids I’ve worked with at camps, students I’ve sat with in college classes, family members from both of my parents’ families, instructors who have taught me here at Western,  Bible study buddies, 4-H friends, coworkers…etc. And whenever I meet someone new who I want to be praying for on a regular basis, I add them to a card.

Every morning (at least usually) after I wake up my brain with a toning session, I curl up in bed with a cup of mocha, pull out that day’s prayer card, and talk to God. My mind wanders sometimes, an issue which I certainly need to work on — day-dreaming is awesome for writing fiction, but not for when I’m talking to God.

Not that I shouldn’t continue to pray for people throughout the day…and God has been wonderfully laying people on my heart to pray for at random moments. Like every other area of my faith, praying for people sporadically during the day is one which is currently “under construction.”

If you’re wondering why I don’t have a prayer card for Sunday, it’s because I wanted to set aside a day to remember to just be thankful. It’s so easy to get caught up in the “God-please-help-me-with-this; God-please-be-with-them” rut and to not give thanks. To not praise Him for Who He is. To not be still and listen to Him. Setting aside Sunday as a special “thanks” day helps me to keep in mind those different aspects of prayer throughout the rest of the week.

How do you remember to pray for people throughout the week?

Is there some aspect of your prayer life that you struggle with?

Can I pray for you for anything?