1 Thessalonians 5:17 tells us to “pray without ceasing.”
We’re busy people. We have families. We have jobs. We have church committments. We all have houses to clean, meals to cook, laundry to wash, people to minister to. We have our kids activities, outings with friends, Bible studies, and errands to run.
Sometimes life is so crazy I have a hard time remembering things.
Simple, important things, like –
…people’s names
…appointments
…simple names of objects
…names of my children
…where my purse is
…where my cellphone is
….where my brain is
I have a prayer list that I use to pray through during my morning Bible time, but during my busy days, I sometimes forget to pray for the things on my heart and that need serious prayer.
During family devotions one evening, we discussed ways to help us remember how to pray for others. As I thought about it during the week, I remembered other things people have taught me.
*Grace heard at Bible camp to pray for someone by associating an object with them. She gave the
example of her Dad (that would be my husband) who always prays for friends Dave and Tim when he sees semis, because they are semi-drivers. He prays for his brother, Brad, when he sees a Fed-Ex truck, because he works for Fed-Ex.
*Jen shared with me how she prays about merging onto the Interstate. With a car full of boys, she is carrying precious cargo and desires safety. She shared this with me about a year before I moved to the huge metropolis where driving was a huge issue for me. I hung onto this advice and when I needed it, it was there.
*Jean taught me to pray when I get in the car; she would pray even if we were going to the grocery store.
*Shannon shared with me a sermon snippit from a minister who said he prays everytime the phone rings, asking the Lord for the wisdom and the faith to handle the conversation that is about to occur.
*Scott will change his password to a name or situation that currently needs serious prayer so daily, when he logs in to his computer, he is reminded to pray. He also told me when he sees somebody that reminds him of somebody he knows, he prays for that individual.
*Grace, a dear older woman, taught me to pray in the kitchen. She keeps a list posted in her kitchen cupboard, so as she is cooking, she refers to it and prays as she works. I need to make a list again! I haven’t done this for years.
*Tom and Julia, friends from college, used to post prayer requests and memory verses in their shower with clear contact paper.
Romans 12:10-13, “Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.
How do you keep prayer requests on your heart and mind during busy days? I would love to hear more tips.
I remember Tom and Julia. (Butz right?) We stayed with them during a Bill Gothard seminar in the Cities as a kid. They had two babies at the time. Be they're big now!
Mindy, this is so excellent! I use the association trick a lot. The other ideas are great. Thanks for sharing them.
Excellent reminders. Pray without ceasing. It is as much a state of mind, as a point in time.
Great ideas! I have post-it notes by my computer screen. If I sit down to "waste time" but prayer requests are sitting in front of me it's rather convicting. So I sit in prayer for awhile first. I have to often remind myself that God KNOWS my heart and if I am just casually praying so I can jump online that it's not really prayer.I'm going to try to incorporate some of your ideas.