The Prayer Journal Experiment

Matthew515 Prayer JournalOn Beyond Evangelical, the author, Frank Viola made a post recently about goal setting and how to include those in your prayer life.

I am very familiar with prayer requests.  They are a regular part of my daily prayers and they are also a regular part of my church experience in both Sunday School and Worship Service.  The idea of the prayer request is that you not only petition God for your request but you also voice your request to other believers and ask that they pray for your request as well.

This is a Biblical practice.  14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. (James 5:14-16)

Frank Viola’s idea and practice is to take this one step further.  He actually has a journal that he uses to write down his dreams, his goals and his prayer requests and while he is more goal oriented that I am at the present, his idea has a lot of merit.

I now have purchased a small, black journal that I have begun to write down specific prayer requests and also specific praises as God has answered prayers I made before I got the journal.

Right now it is just the first page on which I am working and there are just 6 prayer requests and 2 praises listed.  I am starting small but I am already excited about what God is going to do with this humble beginning.

I know that by being specific in my journal and in my prayer requests that I can watch, over time, how God is answering my prayers and also how He is moving and working in me.  Perhaps some of the things I have written down are not as important as I think they are.   Perhaps I need to be faithful and patient in my current circumstances before God is ready to show me other things.  Perhaps the answers will come shortly or in many years down the road.

The point of this experiment is not the ultimate answer or answers although that is a great benefit.  The point of this experiment is that I be watchful, continuing in prayer and expecting God to show up and be amazing.  And most of all, that I be ready and waiting for His provision.

Do any of you keep prayer journals or a written record of your prayer life?  I would love to hear about it if you would not mind sharing.  Your comments, questions and thoughtful responses are always appreciated.

Comments

  1. Larry Mize says

    Matt, I am really enjoying reading and pondering your posts. I have begun using a prayer journal over the past few months. Recently we have had a large group of our folks here at Mount Zion go through a Bible study on prayer by Mark Batterson called “The Circle Maker”. It is one of the best books on prayer I have ever read. I have gone through it twice. God has already done some amazing things in our lives and in the lives of some of the folks at Mount Zion that have gone through the study and we will begin this next Monday with his 40 Day Prayer Devotional called “Draw the Circle”. We hope to have over 200 of our folks go through it together. It’s amazing what happens when God’s people pray!! When we journal what we are praying for and about it is much easier to see when and how God answers!!

  2. Matthew Gaither says

    Great to hear from you, Larry. I will definitely look up Mr. Batterson’s book. It sounds like something I need to read and then perhaps review for the site. I am incredibly excited about what God is doing and I want to make sure I stay right with Him and move as He wills. Thanks for your comment!

  3. John L. Edmondson says

    Matt, I am enjoying your blog and also it was great seeing you. I have not kept a journal but you have certainly provoked me thinking about keeping one. I would like to share with you that we are planting a new church through Hebron Baptist Church in Dacula we will be called Life Point Community Church. Our ministry has been focused on the lower income and we are very excited with what God has in store for us.

  4. Matthew Gaither says

    I will certainly pray for Life Point and that God would use you and bless you. It sounds like now would be a great time for you to start your prayer journal to see how God moves and works in this new church. Thank you for your comment and support, John.

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