Prayer Cards

Several years ago, after reading A Praying Life by Paul Miller, I decided to make some prayer cards to assist me in praying for the people in my life as he did and as he recommends in his book. I thought the idea of praying specific scriptures over my children and husband was a beautiful thing.

I searched the scriptures and asked the Lord to help me choose the ones that were right for my children and for Allen, ones that would speak to the calling God has on their life and to the giftings he has given them as well as the struggles they will face and the Lord laid some on my heart.

Since them, I have made many others for women to use a little more generically with blanks at the top to fill in with stickers the names of your children or husband or whoever you want that card to be for. I would love to share them with you as well. But before I do that, can I just share my conviction on why I did this or why this may be of some assistance to you?

In reading the scriptures, I am convicted that I need to be praying and in a prayerful spirit throughout the day from these passages,

Ephesians 6:18 says, "And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kind of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints."

1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

Apart from that, having a history of prayer in my life, I know it as a source of power in my life, leading to growth and perseverance. As a mom of 3 littles, I need this desperately and I am so dependent on God to help me when I am clueless as to handle a situation, when I need to be in the right state of mind for discipline, and when I begin traveling uncharted territory (which is mostly everyday).

I also know that it has the power to bend our wills to God's will as we pray and put ourselves out there, allowing God to change our will and align it to His.

Prayer is discipline and work, and doesn't come easy, but if you have failed in the past,(and hasn't everyone?) be willing to start fresh. Confess your failure to God and discipline yourself to begin anew. Take baby steps, like the prayer cards, setting them by the sink while you do dishes, allowing yourself to meditate on and pray through the specific scriptures on the cards. Redeem the time you spend in the shower, in the car, and waiting rooms, using those spare moments for intercession or meditation.

Once you are doing well with "baby steps," expand the prayer time by waking up 10 minutes earlier in the morning and then adding on to your time. And I have come to realize how important it is to take hold of the distractions. The way I do this is by writing them down. If I get distracted thinking of all the things I need to do today (especially as I sit in the house which screams out to me for help and maintenance), I tuck those away by writing down "load of reds, call Mom, get chicken out of deep freeze, etc.) and then I don't have to let them float around in my head anymore. They are written down.

I hope these are helpful for you as you embark upon the discipline of prayer, hopefully flowing from a heart that desires to pursue God. Keep in mind that these are just a starting point, expand from these cards and pray many different scriptures over your children and husband, church, family, friends, and our nation.

Be sure to click on the picture to make it large, and then right click and save as... After having them printed at your photo place of choice, we added names with stickers and then laminated them for durability. We also hole punched and used a metal ring to hold them together and make it easy to flip. It would also be easy to use a dry-erase marker to write on and add scriptures or people, if you desire to do that.