a family to find a comfortable and affordable home
a single dad to see his kids
a mom with a difficult child
a woman with a difficult landlord
a pastor seeking G-d
a person battling lust
a teen choosing to stand alone
a young woman unexpectantly pregnant
an innocent child
a homeschooler battling the state
someone caught in depression
a man in a bar, to go home to his family
a person fighting terminal illness
a man seeking employment
a drug addict coming clean, an alcoholic staying sober, a smoker, the caffein addicted, someone caught in gluttony
your neighbor's soul
yourself, that you would have the strength to lift the sword and wear the armour
Prayer Basket
Years ago, I heard about an idea that I really enjoyed. It was called a
prayer basket. I did one for my my grandmother and it was really fun putting
it together. Chose a medium sized basket and include some of the following:
kleenex
small bible
candles
prayer shawl
trinkets to remind you of things to pray for,
a magen david for your shul or
a cross, for your church body
a coin, for the government
family photograph
note in a bottle, for the lost
baby doll, for the children of the world
mirror, you know who that's for
small bottle of annointing oil
instrumental music
a prayer diary
...anything else to encourage prayer
Prayer Notebook
Do you have a difficult time getting started to pray? We say that we can't
seem to find the time, but I have found that I would get snatches of time here
and there.
After a time of making moments, G-d asked of me a firmer committment.
I would allot for prayer a chunk of time, originally 15 minutes. Then I hit the
snag. I did not know what to pray for. I got the "bless grandma and grandpa" stuff
out of the way and still had 12 1/2 minutes left. I knew there were other things
I wanted to say but at that moment they escaped me. This is an idea I had when
I decided to get organized.
I bought a small looseleaf notebook, the snap your fingers kind. Already I had
another thing to pray for. I divided it into sections and subdivisions.
I originally thought I would pray for each thing in the book every day. Then
with all things faithfully covered and I could hold everything together in
perfect unison and change the world around me. Things did change, starting with
my expectations.
The notebook became a tome. The thing just grew and grew. I couldn't get
through it in a week, nevermind a day. Well, you can see why the book grew
because I like to talk. And when no one else will, G-d will happily listen.
Here are some of my suggestions for divisions. By the way, when you finish
putting this together, it makes a great addition for your prayer basket.
Church or shul
Name of your present congregation
Leadership by name
Shabbat school/Sunday school teachers by name
Children
Name of any previous previous
Leadership by name
Teachers by name
Children
Congregations of Friends
Family
Names of family members (each one in the household has his own page)
My side of the family (parents, siblings, neices, nephews)each by name
His side of the family (parents, siblings, neices, nephews)
Distant Family
Friends
...from your congregation
each by name, include their children
Homeschoolers
name each family, include their children
...from clubs
Ministries
Awanas -include leaders, children (include family situations)
Musicians
Men by name (i.e. Billy Graham, etc.)
Churches - Pray for the message of truth (if you disagree with doctrine, still pray for the people)
Catholics
Protestants
Mormons
J Witnesses
Jews
Muslims
Our World
America
liberties
government
president
congress - issues and representatives
supreme court justices by name
State ...
Names of other countries
People
teachers
the deceived, or fallen
those that hate you
As you pray for each person, family, or ministry, include any situations, circumstance, or needs. Pray for G-d's will and truth revealed in all situations. Pray for health, wisdom, and integrity for people.
Continue to add divisions and pages for every area of your life, and your world. Now you know why the book just grows and grows.
You just need to open up your book and your heart to "pray without ceasing."
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