Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Introduction to Prayer Journal 2013


The daily personalized Scripture prayers will help you present your requests to the Lord, confess sin, express your deepest needs, find comfort, worship the Lord, and offer praises and thanksgiving. Prayers for New Year’s, Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and for various other themes are also included. 

Do you long for a more meaningful prayer life? Do you often feel at a loss to know how to express your heartfelt concerns to the Lord? In this Scripture prayer journal, you will find the words you need to talk to the Lord and to draw near to His heart in His Word. 

This devotional journal provides lined spaces for you to record “Praises, Prayers, and Personal Notes.” Feel free to write the thoughts and requests that are on your heart even when they don’t match the theme of the prayer for that day. 

Like Scripture itself, on some days the prayers will speak to your need while others won’t seem to fit at all. At another time the prayer may be exactly what you needed. As you pray, listen for what the Lord desires to say to you. Then write how the Lord spoke to your heart or helped you express your desires through the Scripture prayer.

This is a private prayer journal, one for yourself alone. If you feel uncomfortable writing detailed requests, you may want to write one word or a brief phrase, or use an initial for the name of the person for whom you are interceding. 

When you write abbreviated requests, make sure to use an easy clue that will help you remember what you desire to pray about. Some prayers are specifically worded to express intercession for others, with blanks to fill in the name of the person(s) for whom you are praying.
        
Though our prayers are not always answered the way we desire, we can be assured that the Lord deeply loves us, cares about our heartfelt needs, and is always present with us to comfort and support us. We have this confidence that Jesus “is at the right hand of God . . . interceding for us” (Rom. 8:34).  

“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will” (Rom. 8:26-27). 

Regularly go back and pray the requests in your journal. Be sure to record answered prayers with the date near the request, including your praises and perhaps an explanation as to how the answer came about. 

You’ll be surprised and blessed afresh by how God has answered. You’ll be reminded of the ways God has led you safely through trials you had long forgotten about. You’ll be encouraged and strengthened by His never-failing presence in your life—and you’ll be adding more praises!

This devotional prayer journal provides you a place where you can meet with your Savior. And as the hymn Near to the Heart of God promises, you will find a place “of quiet rest,” “where sin cannot molest.”  

You will find a place of comfort and full release, “where all is joy and peace,” where Jesus, our blessed Redeemer, sent from the heart of God holds us near to the heart of His Father.
        
Note: Copy and paste each day’s prayer and question into a document so you can answer the question/s and write your prayer requests, personal notes and praises.






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