Create Your Own Prayer Journal

Do you need a little inspiration to boost your prayer life? Do you desire a more focused prayer time with God? Do you sometimes forget to pray for needs that should be lifted to the Lord? Does your home lack the space to set up a war room? If so, it's time for you to create your own prayer journal! This portable war room is perfect for traveling, homes with limited space, and to keep all your prayer requests in one place. Creating your own prayer journal can be as easy or complicated as you wish. 
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This project can be seriously simple! Write your requests in any ol' journal and call it a day. The purpose is still accomplished. You may be wondering, What exactly is the purpose of a prayer journal? Here it is: 
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To draw closer in relationship with the Lord
To seek God's will for your life
To allow the Holy Spirit to work in you
To intervene for your family, friends, community, nation, and world
To learn God's heart
To confess and repent 
To trust His plans
To protect your family
To bring your worries to the feet of Jesus (and drop them there!)
To bring a sense of peace to your day
To prioritize your life
To teach your children to turn to God for all of their needs
To model a daily prayer life for your family 

If you want to get a little fancy with your prayer journal, let your creativity and imagination run wild. I am a huge fan of order, neatness, and design so I attempted to make a journal that would lure me to open it every day. I used items I already had on hand--scrapbook paper, scissors, glue, pictures, Bible verses and online prayer resources. The only thing I purchased was a binder and page protectors. Odds are that you already have all the resources needed. And again, you could just use a notebook and pen to achieve the same result! 

The first page of my prayer journal opens with an image of Jesus and a list of names He's called in the Bible. On this page, I focus on praising Him, thanking him, and confessing my sins. Looking at the face of Christ forces me to instantly slow down, breathe, reflect, and connect with Him in a way I struggle to do without a visual (mom brain, anyone?). This particular depiction of Christ is entitled Prince of Peace, and it was painted by Akiane Kramarik. 
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​On the next page, I listed personal daily prayers for my husband. I love this background scrapbook page that reminds me of a serious truth: My spouse is not perfect, but he is perfect for me. God placed me with a person whose strengths and imperfections provide me the opportunity to grow in Christ, learning to be more like Him. Following my personal prayer requests for my husband is a monthly calendar that offers a different prayer for every day of the month. 

After prayer for my marriage comes prayer for my children. I made a page for each child, which includes their picture, specific prayer requests, and their individual life verse. If you're unfamiliar with the term "life verse," it's simply a piece of Scripture from the Bible that you aim to live by or pray over someone. 
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Next, are a few pages of prayer for myself and my roles as a wife, mother, and disciple. I listed personal prayer needs, and a couple resources from online (a daily prayer list for moms, one for wives, a Bible verse, and a blog post about how Satan works to attack our views on marriage and parenting). 
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After that, I have a page with four separate lists: one with the names of my close friends, another for family and friends dealing with health concerns, one with the names of friends who are pregnant, and a list of people dear to me who have not accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior. I'm not including the image of this page in order to respect these individuals' privacy.

​Then, I have a few pages that display pictures of family members. I pray over each person and their individual needs. Included in these pictures are our parents, grandparents, siblings, cousins, and our sponsor child from Africa. 
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When my children went to school, I included a picture of their class. I prayed over their teachers, classmates, and for guidance on future decisions regarding their education. 
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​Then, I have a page with the president's picture and a list of prayers for him. Below his image is one of my husband's military company when they were deployed, which reminds me to pray for our deployed troops and their families. Next to that is a prayer printable for our country. 
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The last component of my prayer journal is a list of answered prayers. It's the perfect way to end my time in prayer, by looking at all of the times when God said "Yes" to my requests. 
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Please know that I do not get to every page of my prayer journal each day. Sometimes I only get in a page or two before life interrupts. Thankfully, God calls us to pray without ceasing throughout the day, so I try to have a continual dialogue with Him. 

I hope this prayer journal inspires you to create you own, making meaningful prayer a part of your daily life. This addition to your life promises to bring you closer to Christ, make you a spiritual role model for your family, increase your obedience to God's will, and turn you into a true prayer warrior. All of the resources from my prayer journal can be found on my Prayer Closet Pinterest board. Also, check out my posts entitled "How to Create A Prayer Closet" and "Prayer Journal for Kids." 

Do you already have a prayer journal? I'd love to hear about the contents you included, how you utilize this tool and the ways it's moved in your life. Please share in the comment section below!

​God's blessing on this adventure!