Intentional Prayer

 

Ever wondered how to keep praying intentionally for all the people you know in your life who need Jesus? I must admit that I’ve been guilty of a certain randomness when it comes to praying for others.

However, I’ve recently devised the following idea. I created a simple spreadsheet in Excel, my computing skills being limited. The same idea could easily be done on a sheet of paper. I created columns, with the headings – Family, Extended Family, Neighbours, Work Colleagues, Friends and Other. I then filled up each column with the names of people who fit into those categories, grouping parents with their children.

Having completed the exercise, I found that there were 105 names on the lists, not including my immediate family of 5 in the Family column, whom I pray for every day. In order to not make the process too onerous, I decided I would pray Monday- Friday, five days per week for people on the list, leaving weekends free. Over a month there are usually 4 weeks, so twenty prayer sessions- so my list of 105 is roughly 5 people per session.

I’ve printed out the list and have it in the area where I pray. It’s a work in progress, so I might highlight every fifth person to denote who to pray for each day, and there will probably be new names to add as time progresses.

Another idea I’ve used for several years is to have a prayer calendar in the area where I pray so I can write down particular needs e.g., if someone is having surgery on a particular date.