JANE STORY |GUEST

I have never met a Christian who didn’t struggle with prayer at some point in their life. Most want to pray more or gain more from their prayer life. They may feel dissatisfied with this part of their faith or feel guilty that they don’t pray enough. Many find their minds distracted while praying and wonder if there’s any way to stay focused. Still others may want more practical guidance.

In my own prayer life, I’ve struggled with forgetfulness. I often think of things when I’m busy and send up a quick supplication in the moment. Later, I forget about it and don’t continue to pray for that situation. Maybe you too know that sinking feeling when you realize you promised to pray for a friend but later forgot.

Beneath these struggles is the understanding that prayer is important to our faith and our walk with Christ. Even more, it is one of God’s commands to us.

Prayer is God’s Will

We often wonder about God’s will for us, but He spells out part of that plan clearly in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-19:

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

God desires that we pray without ceasing! I don’t live up to that standard, but a quick glance at your Bible’s concordance displays a wealth of Scripture commanding us to pray. It is not an optional part of Christian faith; it is essential.

Not only does prayer “cause things to happen that would not otherwise happen” as John Piper famously teaches; it is a primary means of our own transformation. [1]As we spend time with the Lord, He molds our hearts so that we love Him more and desire what He desires. As we cast our cares on Him, He fills us with His peace (Phil. 4:6-7). We have God Himself praying for us in both the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:26) and Christ (Rom. 8:34), so we never pray alone. It is how we participate in the Trinitarian life of our God.

The Bible exhorts us to pray, yet how do we pray effectively? My challenges with prayer subsided greatly after one conversation with my friend, “Janet”*

The Calendar that Changed My Life

I was seated in an old recliner, gazing across the room at a woman I hardly knew. She had just described one of the most fervent prayer lives I’d ever heard about. I was compelled to ask, “How do you do that? How do you stay focused and motivated?” She pulled a small scratchpad off the shelf and shared something that changed my life.

Janet’s prayer calendar is simple, and she didn’t invent the idea. At the top of the paper, she marks out a section. She writes the names of the days of the week with a little space between each. She then assigns certain things to each day. Perhaps she prays for her pastors on Tuesdays and for our government officials on Wednesdays.

The second section is her list of daily prayers. She divided these into categories. For example, has a list of lost friends and family, a list of her children, a list of character qualities she wants to grow in, and regular life things that need attention. Perhaps she is praying for wisdom as she and her husband save for a new car, or maybe she wants to pray daily about the school around the corner from her house.

I was fortunate enough to be on sabbatical from the mission field when I encountered this method and had plenty of time to implement it. I carefully wrote out a draft, allowing myself several days to decide the categories and the requests.

My favorite thing about this method is that it is easy to follow in the moment. When I finish reading the Bible, I can stop and pray briefly for the things I discovered in Scripture, in adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication. Then I simply open my notebook to the marked page and find the day of the week. I don’t have to search my memory for what I had wanted to pray for. It also takes much less discipline to follow a plan than to come up with new things each time. I can always add new topics as they arise, but the calendar ensures I am praying regularly about important issues.

Every few months I find that some of the requests become outdated. When this happens, I turn to the next page in the notebook and copy the format all over again. I re-write the requests and keep going. This allows me to easily flip back and remember all the things God has done by simply reviewing my old lists.

When friends ask me to pray for them, I make a quick note in my phone. Then, every Monday I lift up those requests to the Lord. If it’s something urgent, I write it down in my daily section. The calendar makes me a more faithful friend.

There are still days where I struggle to pray, and I am just a covered by God’s grace on those days as my ‘successful’ ones. Still, this simple system has made me more faithful in this spiritual discipline and it might do the same for you. When we pray more, the result is a richer faith, and more glory and honor to our God and King. May God bless us with these gifts!

*Name changed for privacy

[1] https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/three-motivations-to-pray

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash