Several years ago I read A Praying Life by Paul Miller for the first time (I highly commend the book). One of my major takeaways was his prayer card system that he used in order to keep track of prayer requests. I began to implement this system of prayer in my daily devotions and it has been a tremendous help to me to pray for others more faithfully. In short, I pray for different groups of people each of the five weekdays every week. I have index cards where I write a person’s name and as I learn of prayer requests, I write them on their card.
Here is a sample of what your prayer time could look like each weekday:
Monday: BASE Group
Tuesday: Lost people in the community
Wednesday: Those that are in a Bible study with you; your mentor(s)/mentee(s)
Thursday: Missionaries
Friday: NewBranch elders, deacons, staff, ministry leaders, and upcoming events (use the newsletter as a prayer guide)
To be clear, I often pray for more than just the group of people that I’ve assigned to a particular day (family, pressing prayer needs, the day before me, etc.). However, this system gives me a foundation and helps to discipline me to pray for others on a regular basis.
Perhaps you are considering different options to be more disciplined in your prayer life in 2021. I would encourage you to think about utilizing a prayer card system. This is certainly not the only prayer system, but it is one that has been a blessing to me personally. If you have any questions about this, please let me know and I would be glad to chat with you!
I leave you with this powerful quote from A.C. Dixon:
“When we depend upon organizations, we get what organizations can do; when we depend upon education, we get what education can do; when we depend upon man, we get what man can do; but when we depend upon prayer, we get what God can do.”
Brothers and sisters, may we be a people who are characterized by humbly depending on the Lord in prayer in 2021!
Written by Jonathan Mitchell