Planned prayer. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking it might be a little weird. Or maybe you're thinking that it's a little too much. I did too, to be quite honest. Planned prayer, to me, is basically scheduling your prayer time and what you will pray for. At first, when someone told me about this whole concept, I felt that it wasn't "real". How can prayer be real if you plan it like a dentist appointment? For the next couple of days after I heard about this idea, I started noticing how lenient I was with my prayer time. Somedays I didn't get around to it or forgot about it. Prayer is not something to check off a to-do list. Prayer is sacred and should be cherished daily, even if its only just a few minutes (before meals does not count, by the way). But in this day and age, its easy to forget it. That's exactly what Satan wants too. Planning your prayer may sound a little peculiar, but I can testify that it works. It gives your faith structure and consistency.
On Sundays, I will get a notecard (hot pink of course) and write down each day of the week. Next to the day I will write who/what I will be specifically praying for. Here's an example of what my prayer schedule looks like:
Nov 10th- Family
Nov 11th- Friends
Nov 12th- School + Future Education
Nov 13th-Future Husband
Nov 14th- My church and my pastors
Nov 15th- The persecuted church
Nov 16th- Myself
That last one may seem a little weird too. However, praying for yourself is actually pretty important. (Check out
this post from John Piper for how to pray for yourself). I hope everyone has a blessed Sunday!
