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.

Baby Shower Prayer Cards

Have you ever been to a prayer shower? I have been to MANY. The sweet ladies at my church make sure to throw one for every old mom, new mom, young mom, blue mom. And it's obvious I'm a mom that reads way too much Dr. Suess.

Ever since falling in love with Photoshop, I have been making these prayer cards for sweet friends at their baby showers. I love sitting around with women I adore, babies in the womb I already love, interceding for them, praising God for this little life, recognizing our own inadequacy in raising children and trusting God's faithfulness.

In the past, I made these cards with each baby's specific name and the Mom and Dad's names, but since then I have had many people ask me about them and asking for generic ones, so I finally sat down and inserted the generic "this baby", "his," and "her." I'm excited to make these available and hear about these cards blessing other ladies.

There are generic boy and girl cards to choose from. You will need to:

1. Select and download the cards that you want to use (boy cards or girl cards) from my album in Picasa.

2. Have them printed however you prefer.

I usually have them printed as photos and them put them in a cute photo album for the expectant mom after we are doing praying. You could also have them printed on cardstock and attach them to scrapbook paper, ready to place in a baby book or hole-punched and fastened together with ribbon. The options are really limitless! Please send me pictures if you have a unique, finished product. I'd love to post your ideas!

3. Be encouraged that these prayers will bless an expectant mom now and will be remembered in the future, as the child grows and sees them answered.



***These are only for personal use***

Preggo Update

It seems crazy to me that (potentially) the 5th member of our family will be arriving in 6 weeks! Is it possible that I have already been pregnant for 7 1/2 months? Moms of multiple kids told me it would be hard to keep up with how "far along" I was and I completely concur. When someone asks me that question, I turn to the closest woman to me, (who is due in July, of course) ask her how far along she is and then figure out mine based on hers.

So far so good with regards to the pregnancy. I am becoming less and less active the bigger I get, but I am still feeling good and somewhat lively. Although, the chasing the kids around the house and piggybacking them has really slowed down. Taylor Joy understands, Beckett...not so much.

This weekend a lovely baby shower was thrown for me and it was such a sweet blessing. Being surrounded with many friends and family was a blessing, receiving thoughtful gifts that will bless our little one and being prayed over specifically for me, the baby and our family was something I will treasure always.

Having friends and family who love me pray over specific requests in regard to the rest of my pregnancy, the delivery, the recovery, the baby, my family's adapting to the new baby, this baby's life and spiritual development is one thing that really blesses my socks off. After praying with these women, I always feel a deep sense of gratitude for the care and concern they have for my family, a thankfulness for the Lord's hand in everything and excitement/readiness for this baby's arrival!

I completely recommend taking part in this at the next shower that you host. It will bless your guest of honor beyond words. In case you don't even know where to start, I'm going to put the prayer points we prayed for my baby to get you started.

- to make nursing uncomplicated and enjoyable
- to give Mom extra energy and a swift recovery
- for baby's disposition to be easy and good-natured
- for siblings to adjust quickly to baby
- for Mom to have special time with older siblings now and once baby arrives
- for grace to siblings so that they still feel connected to Mom and don't become jealous and disobedient
- to give Dad wisdom in how he serves Mom and that the Lord will direct him in how to minister to her
- for Mom to continue to seek the Lord when things are running smoothly and not so smoothly
- wisdom and grace for Mom and Dad as they shepherd their children
- the body of Christ to come alongside Mom and Dad and take active role in pointing them to Christ
- that baby will trust Christ as Savior at a young age and will treasure his/her inheritance as a Son/Daughter of God
- that baby would grow in faith and obedience and in love for God, not love the world or the things of the world and that baby would love the Lord with all their heart, soul, mind and strength and fear the Lord
- that baby would hate sin and love godliness, appreciate discipline and instruction, be quick to repent and not be stubborn before the Lord
- for baby's protection against Satan and evil, a firm stance during persecution, patience in affliction that looks to God and trusts in His faithfulness
- that baby would grow to treasure God's Word and stand up for truth and be free from deception and the lies of the evil one as well as having a great understanding of the Word
- that baby would grow to be responsible and loving in their relationships with others, walk in humility and look to the needs of others
- that baby would choose godly influences, be led to good friends and way from bad ones, and to marry a godly mate
- that baby would grow to desire inner beauty and godly character as they grow more Christ-like daily, that they and their future mates would be kept pure both before and after marriage
- that baby would grow to be fully devoted to Jesus Christ and joyfully invested in the cause of the kingdom


This obviously isn't an exhaustive list, but may help some of you with a starting point.

And, if you'd like to continue to pray these things for me and my family, I certainly wouldn't mind...