Preparing a 3 Step Prayer Journal that Works

Do you ever feel discouraged or overwhelmed by your prayer life? Do you ever have moments like this:

Text received: “Hey I could really use some prayer today. Could you pray for me?”

Talking to a friend that you run into at the store: “I have a doctor’s appointment coming up, would you pray for me?”

You get a phone call from your family member: “I’m really struggling with my schedule, could you pray for me?”

You turn on the news: “Today in the news…(you fill in the blank with all the bad news.)”

Your spouse comes home and tells you that they may lose their job. You know the only answer is prayer.

God’s word tells us that we need to pray without ceasing and pray in all things with thanksgiving, but often times we allow our busy schedule and our frazzled minds to hinder our prayer life.There are so many needs on a daily basis that we need to commit to prayer, but often times either forget or we don’t make it a priority. I have been guilty of this!

There’s got to be a better way to commit our day to the Lord and to pray for those around us! Before I used a prayer journal, I felt overwhelmed and discouraged by all the things and people that I needed to pray for. I began to struggle with:

• feeling like there was not enough time
• I couldn’t keep everything organized
• I couldn’t remember all the needs
• frustration because I didn’t pray for something.

When I started trying to come up with a way to keep track of all my prayer needs, everything I tried fell short. I kept trying and trying (lots of different things) until I landed on what I am about to share with you.

It is NOT pretty! It is NOT elaborate! It IS very simple and easy, BUT it works!

Here are five reasons it works:

1. There is a system to the process, which keeps everything organized.
2. It keeps my mind from feeling overwhelmed by all the people and things that need to be prayed over.
3. It is a record keeper of what God is doing and has done. (and a faith builder of what God will do)
4. It helps keep me accountable and keeps record of my faithfulness to pray daily, or my lack of.
5. It is compact allowing for easy carry and it is easy to add and take away pages.

I am going to explain step by step what I purchased and how I organized my journal. So here goes…

First step: I bought a disc-bound journal.

I use the black leather TUL note-taking disc-bound notebook junior along with the TUL 5-count tab dividers.

Why did I go with the disc-bound notebook? If you have ever seen one of these in person you will know why I chose this style. The disc-bound notebook allows for major flexibility. You can remove pages and move them to another spot in the journal. You can add pages when you run out in a certain section of your journal. You can rearrange your pages if you want to change up the order of the journal. There are so many reasons this makes your life easier!

I also bought and prefer to use fine-point Sharpie pens because they do not bleed and you cannot see the writing from the other side of the paper.

Second step: I divided my journal into categories using the tab dividers.

I used only five tab dividers to save space. I put multiple categories under one tab. My journal is divided into the following categories:

1. Bible and Scripture Study
2. Gratitude and Daily Prayers
3. Sunday/Monday/Tuesday
4. Wednesday/Thursday
5. Friday/Saturday

(I will explain what each section contains further down in this post.)

After labeling each tab, I divided up my notebook pages evenly among the tabs.

Third Step: I assigned categories to my day of the week tabs and other tabs.

Each day of the week has specific things that I pray for.  It allows me to  have a plan and helps me not to forget anything. Here’s a breakdown of how I organize my prayers by day (as well as my extras):

Daily Prayer Tab: This tab includes a page for each member of my immediate family (husband, and children each get one whole page), a page for my extended family(parents, siblings, grandparents), a page for unbelievers that I am praying for, and a page for time-sensitive or urgent prayers.

Sunday, Monday, & Tuesday Tab: This tab is broken down by prayers for church leaders, specific ministries, as well as church members on Sunday. Prayers for financial needs, business concerns, homemaking issues, and other business related opportunities on Monday. Prayers for further extended family(aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, friends that are more like family) on Tuesday.

Wednesday & Thursday Tab: This tab is broken down by prayers for mission opportunities, missionary friends, mission organizations for Wednesday. Prayers for neighbors, ministry opportunity in our neighborhood and extra curricular activities, unbelievers, ministry and discipleship needs.

Thursday & Friday Tab: This tab is broken down by prayers for close friends as well as fellowship and service opportunities. Prayers for government leaders, Christian leaders, current events, national and worldly news, and for people around the world on Saturday.

On my “daily” tab I also have a page for thanksgiving. The Bible tells us to give thanks in everything and I am guilty of not being thankful enough. Often we are so busy wanting “some-thing” that we forget to be thankful and content. I put this page in my journal to make myself write down one thing each day that I am thankful for and keep my mind and heart in check. When my page fills up, I move it to the back of my journal and replace it with a fresh sheet. (Again, this is why I LOVE the disc-bound journal!! It is so flexible!!)
My last tab is my Bible & Scripture Memory section.

There is no better way to pray than to pray Scripture! If we believe God’s word is true and what He says about Himself is true, then we can claim those truths to Him when we pray.

If we are struggling with our children, we can stop and pray, “God you say children are a blessing, and that they are created in your image, and that you know the number of hairs on their head. You know them way better than I do! Your word says that You will accomplish what concerns me, and that if I lack wisdom to just ask You for help. So I am asking for wisdom on how to approach my child and I am holding onto the promise that you will accomplish this issue I am having that concerns me greatly.”

So, in this section I write down verses that I need often or that I want to work on memorizing. If I need encouragement or just to reflect on Scripture I can quickly read through my list.

In each section, whether thanksgiving, daily or per weekday, I always include the date in which the prayer need or thanksgiving was written.(I feel like this is a vital part of the journal) I also include an answer to each prayer need that is answered and a date. I purposefully do this for three reasons:

1. It helps me see how God is at work and it helps me to remember to thank Him for what He has done (and not done). It also documents His word for me to tell my children and others of His great work.
2. It keeps me accountable. If I record a date, I can look at my journal and see my faithfulness to thank God for things(or lack there of) and whether I’ve been faithful to pray or not.
3. It also helps me to follow up with people when I am praying for them. The prayer need stays fresh on my mind and helps me deepen friendships by showing genuine concern when I follow up with them. It helps me be intentional.

There are so many different wonderful ideas out there for organizing and keep your prayer journal, this one is just what works for me. Maybe you are looking for some way to help your prayer life be more efficient and organized. You could try this and see what happens. I know it will be a blessing to you!

I’m here to help or answer questions if you have them. Leave a comment.