Save Your Christmas Cards & PRAY

Thought #1: It bugs me that people I love aren’t prayed for regularly in my life.

Thought #2: I love these Christmas Cards so much.. what shall I do with them?

 Um, DUH!

(This is the first time I had this thought, you guys are probably way ahead of me.)

I’m going to take them down from this here board and out of the overflow basket…

I’m going to put them in this non-holiday little decorative box that I love…

and I’m going to PRAY for my friends and family that I love so much!!!

I’ll have to do a little math, but with the amount of cards at my house, I might only get to focus on a family for 1 week out of the year. Still calculating.

Is that enough? Um, YES! Let’s take Emily P below. How often did I pray for her in 2011?

Not so much unless I knew something was happening or I told her I was praying for her on an issue. A dedicated week… I feel like this could be really neat.

So, I’ll take one out of the box and put it in my Bible and pray for them however I feel led.

Or maybe I’ll email that person and check in – see how I can pray for their family. We shall see.

Here’s another type of box you could do  – faux book/tin thing that also looks decorative and sits on shelf.

And maybe I’ll just talk a big game and will have to report back that I failed miserably. Who knows – but it’s worth a shot. It’s a also a little accountability to get in my Bible and prayer each morning more in 2012.

And, I’m not going to wait or not try because I’m afraid I’ll fail or won’t execute it perfectly.

OTHER THOUGHTS ON PRAYER LIFE:

 Louie Giglio really challenged me in a sermon years ago on praying – how we just say “praying for you” all of the time. I try to catch myself before I type it or write it. Will I really be prayING consistently for that person? If not – I might just say “just prayed for you” and stop right there and pray for the person when I see the request or the hard time on facebook. Let’s just get real and either pray or don’t pray. But don’t claim we are as a greeting or nice remark. I’m so guilty of it.

Also, I have learned over the years and find it THRILLING when someone will just pop in my head “randomly” and if  I pray for them RIGHT THEN – and then let that person know. Almost EVERY time the person says how they needed prayer SO BAD that day. I hope I’m even more in tune with how the Holy Spirit can nudge us and remind us of people in our lives that really need our prayers and encouragement. Even just for a minute.

Lastly, my mentor suggested maybe writing down weekly routine? Reason 100 why I SHOULD be consistent with spending time in prayer and in the Word in the mornings.That’s another post for the NEW YEAR! 🙂

M – Pray for my kids and my husband

T – Pray for my side of the family

W – Pray for Ron’s side of the family

H – Pray for small group

F – Pray for those on my heart in my life (sick, in need, etc.)

Have you tried using your cards to pray for friends throughout the year?

What has God taught you about PRAYER?

What is your system? How do you keep up with all of the things that really do need our devoted prayer?