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Do you start prayer focused on yourself or on God?
I usually jump right in to my needs and concerns...and then I get distracted and prayer time is over. Yuck. Not an effective or intimate way to pray.
In Part 2 of this three-part Prayer Series, I encourage you to approach God with a heart to know him BEFORE you seek blessings from him. Effective, powerful prayer comes from a heart committed to the will of God.
Today we're jumping into the specific categories featured in the Lettering Prayer Journal, beginning with those focused on you and your relationship with God. These "internal categories" include areas of personal spiritual growth designed to develop and deepen your walk with God.
Remember that praying scripture is a powerful way to pray in agreement with God and His will. Praying scripture has utterly changed my prayer life. You can remind God of His promises and plead your case like a lawyer does before a judge (Luke 18:1-8). Try using the verses in each category below to begin learning how to pray scripture.
"All of prayer is worship. You're acknowledging there is a God and that He can do what you cannot." - Kay Arthur, Lord Teach Me to Pray
I tell my kids all the time, "Be grateful!" And so often I'm not expressing my gratitude to God for his blessings. Let's not neglect this part of communication with God. Be thoughtful and specific in what you are thankful for each week to help you recognize the often unnoticed ways that God takes care of you.
"Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:18
Part of growing in Christ is realizing we are not in control. We are incapable of managing all of life on our own. This is one of my favorite categories because it allows you to acknowledge your weakness before God and ask him to fill you up.
Ask God to equip you with the tools, attitudes and beliefs that you need for this week, like patience, perseverance, courage, self-control and creativity.
"Now the God of peace...equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever." Hebrews 13:19-20
"Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God." 2 Corinthians 3:5
Have you ever noticed the Lord's Prayer says, "Give us this day our daily bread"? We're told to pray for our needs. Daily. God wants us to depend on Him, so he gives us just what we need for each day. From life's greatest challenges to the everyday battles like car line and crabby coworkers, God cares about what you care about. Share your burdens with Him, big and small. Allow Him to take the weight of your worries. Seek His will, share your hopes and dreams, ask for guidance. This is His desire!
"Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you." 1 Peter 5:7
"If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." John 15:7-8
When you take daily, consistent time with God through prayer, you'll discover your heart changing. With a little more focus, I hope you can already begin to expand and enhance your time with God this week.
1. You may try writing your prayers in different colors for different days. Visually, it separates them and it can help you identify if God answered a prayer on the same day you prayed it! Plus, hello, pretty colors.
2. Instead of creating your art at once, spread it out over several days. Pencil your hand lettered scripture verse one day, add the ink and color on a different day. This gives you more time meditating on it and takes away the pressure of having to do it all at once.
Have you been missing some of these areas in your prayer life? What category are you most excited to add to your prayers? Share in the comments!
With love and lettering,
I am so happy to see the popular trend of Bible journaling, creative prayer journaling, and all the pretty colors that make the scriptures come alive and pop out at you. A bonus these journals can be at down through generations!
Where can I but the “All The Promises of God” template or did you just use Google or wrote this on your left page of your Prayer Journal?🤣🤣🤣Terrific and so Pretty!
Praise and repentance are the areas I need to focus more on! I just head on into pleading and asking instead of spending time praising and repenting about my own sins. Ugh! Thank you for the great reminders!
I’ve really enjoyed this blog series. I have the LPJ and there are places where I didn’t know what to right or what the title of a section meant (like equipping). Thank you for the suggestions!
This is so good. Wow I’m excited to have a deeper knowledge of God and I’m excited to grow and becoming a prayer warrior.
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Krystal Whitten
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