Prayer Notecards 01/27/2011
 
Truth be told, I struggle with intercessory prayer. I find it both challenging and overwhelming. Challenging because I don't always know what to pray for; overwhelming because the number of people to pray for can become massive over time.

Paul Miller suggests a way forward in his insightful book, A Praying Life. There, he points out that for many, an intercessory prayer list actually gets in the way because it becomes event- and situation-driven rather than person-driven. For example, we make a list by writing down a person's name and the situation or event that needs prayed for. We end up praying for them, which is good, but we tend to not pray for their overall spiritual character. For example:

Sue -- health
Rick -- new job
Tom -- marriage

Instead, Miller points out that we are more likely to be effective in our prayers if we focus on people and praying for their spiritual growth and character. A useful tool for doing this is to build a notecard for each person in your life that you want to pray for.

On the notecard, write their name and perhaps a verse or two from the Bible that encapsulates your prayer for them. Beneath these verses, write a few categories within which you will pray for this person. Over time, you will create a "deck" of cards that you will refer to in prayer. Miller suggests praying for just a couple each day, but I wrote out about 5 or 6 on yellow cards that I will pray for every day--my wife, my son, myself, those I'm mentoring (and being mentored by), and my church's leadership group. Then, I have about 10 other cards that I'll pray through by going through a couple each day.

Below is an example card. It's a card for my son. On it, you can see his name, the verses I use to focus on while I'm praying for him, and the specific categories I'm praying in for him: health, spiritual, and sleep.

I've personally found this to be very valuable. It has enabled me to pray much more effectively for people in my life because it helps me focus on them as people, rather than as items to be prayed for (like on a list). There is nothing wrong with using a list, but if you struggle with it like I did, give this method a shot.
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