Today's Tidbit of Helpful Information: Practical Prayer Strategies

Practical Prayer Strategies

by Jill Marbach

1. Keep a journal for prayer, reflection on what God has been teaching you, etc.  Be creative and make it meaningful.

2. Find a place where you can have your quiet time alone so that you can talk out loud.  This may help you keep your mind from wandering.

3. If you are tired, do not lay down and try to pray.  Try kneeling or pacing.

4. When people ask you to pray for them, pray for them at that time.  Then get a piece of paper an write down the person, the request, and the date.  You can write it later in your journal.  Ask the person a few days later about it.

5. Keep a list of "treasures" at the back of your Bible.  Think of a few key times when God has answered your prayers in a supernatural or simple way.  Write these down and then when you are lacking faith in a prayer, you can refer to this list and remember God's faithfulness.

6. Write down the day you pray for something, what the request is, claim a passage of scripture with it, and then continue praying for it until you see God answer.

7. Try to think how you personally can incorporate prayer throughout your day.  For example, pray as you are walking to class, while you are waiting in line for lunch or at the bookstore, etc.  Talk to God about how your day is going, thank Him for what He is doing in and through you that day, etc.

8. Use world prayer cards.  Operation World, world maps, etc. to help you pray for the world.

9. Read through a Psalm a day and then reread it and pray it back to God by replacing all the "He" and "God" words with "You".

10. Put up "prayer points" or motivational verses or quote next to your mirror or in your car or on your refrigerator.

11. Do personal studies on prayer so that you will build Biblical convictions on it.  Look up verses on prayer and meditate and memorize them.  Study famous prayers in the Bible.  Study Jesus' prayer life - when and how did He pray?

12. Pray that God would make you into a man or woman of prayer.

I am in commando declutter mode around here. I have been clipping and saving little bits of helpful information throughout my married life....and that's it. Just saving them. Sometimes they are in my nightstand drawer, a folder, the junk drawer, the cookbook, etc. I know a great idea is to store them in a household binder but I am not even remotely interested in adding ANYTHING else to this house right now. So in an effort to rid my house of these little bits and bobs of paper, I'm going to post them here, like a cork board...my own Pinterest, if you will.

Today's Tidbit of Helpful Information: Praying for Non-Christians

What to Pray for Non-Christians

1. That God draws them to Himself

• John 6:44 "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him..."

2. That they seek to know God

• Acts 17:27 "God did this so that men would see Him and perhaps reached out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us."

3. That they believe the Scriptures

• 1 Thessalonians 2:13 "And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God..."

• Romans 10:17 "Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ."

4. That Satan is bound from blinding them to the truth

• Matthew 13:19 "When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown with his heart..."

• 2 Corinthians 4:4 "The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is in the image of God."

5. That the Holy Spirit works in them

• John 16:8-13 "When (the Holy Spirit) comes, He will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment...He will guide you into all truth..."

6. That God sends someone to lead them to Christ

• Matthew 9:37, 38 "Then He said to His disciples, 'The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field.'"

7. That they believe in Christ as Savior

• John 1:12 "Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God."

• John 5:24 "I tell you the truth, whoever heard My word and believes Him who send Me has eternal life and will not be condemned: He has crossed over from death to life."

8. That they turn from sin

• Acts 17:30, 31 "...(God) commands all people everywhere to repent."

• Acts 3:19 "Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord."

9. That they confess Christ as Lord

• Romans 10:9-10 "...if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord', and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."

10. That they yield all to follow Christ

• 2 Corinthians 5:15 "And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again."

• Philippians 3:7-8 "But whatever was to my profit I not consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish that I may gain Christ..."

11. That they root and grow in Christ

• Colossians 2:6-7 "So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthen in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.


**Author unknown to me

Book Reviews

You all know I love to do book reviews...it combines two of my favorite things a) books and b) telling people what I think.  Bwahaha!

If you are a blogger, if you love to read, AND you like free things, I want to tell you about one of my favorite book review programs: Booksneeze. 

Booksneeze is owned by Tommy Nelson Publishing and runs their program differently than others (I truly love them all).  You can only request one book at a time and cannot request another until Booksneeze has received and reviewed your review  In addition to posting on your own blog, you must also post on a book purchasing site such as CBD, Amazon, or Barnes & Noble.

There are some really fantastic offerings coming out this month so it would be a great time to sign up to be a book reviewer.  Just visit the website, click on the green "sign up" button on the blue banner, fill out your information and you're all set to go!  Happy reading!

Winner of "Courageous" DVD

The winner of the DVD is

Comment #18 TEllison

I used Random.org to find the winner.  TEllison, there is no identifying information on your Blogger id so please contact me at coveredandpraying (at) sbcglobal (dot) net to give me your full name and mailing address.

If I don't hear back from TEllison by February 15, I will use random.org to pick a new winner!  Congrats and thanks for stopping by, everybody!

Share This Lesson With Your Children

Adventures in Odyssey had the perfect show to go along with this post from last week.  Fill some mugs with hot cocoa, grab a special snack and your children and share this special show with them. 

Discuss with your children the concept that "words may never hurt me" is quite possibly the biggest lie our moms ever told us.  Encourage them to use their words to build each other up - especially those children who are sitting by themselves.

Today's Tidbit of Helpful Information: Prayer

Again, more thought-provoking than helpful today...although I don't know anything more helpful than prayer!

 Don't Wait to Pray

We do not need to bow our heads,

    or fold our hands and kneel,

When we desire to speak to God

    His presence we can feel.

While hands are busy making beds,

    or planning daily meals,

Or busy washing little things

    and mending toes and heels;

Or busy cleaning pots and pans,

    or dusting up the floor,

Our hands can be right on the job

    but hearts to God can soar.

When making beds we should thank God

    for white sheets which we spead.

For millions never know the feel

    of a nice, clean, comfy bed.

And when we're busy making meals

    it's nice to breathe a prayer,

And thank God for the rich supply

    of good food everywhere.

Though washing dishes is a chore

    and we don't like to do it.

Thank God there was food on the plate

    and we had strength to chew it.

When tempted to complain and fret

    it's time to stop a minute,

And thank God for our "home sweet home"

    and everybody in it.

It really "happies" up the heart

    and merrily it sings

When we take time to talk to God

    'bout little homey things.

We should not wait until the night

    to thank God for His care;

In every minute, every hour

    there's reason for a prayer.

**Author unknown to me

I am in commando declutter mode around here. I have been clipping and saving little bits of helpful information throughout my married life....and that's it. Just saving them. Sometimes they are in my nightstand drawer, a folder, the junk drawer, the cookbook, etc. I know a great idea is to store them in a household binder but I am not even remotely interested in adding ANYTHING else to this house right now. So in an effort to rid my house of these little bits and bobs of paper, I'm going to post them here, like a cork board...my own Pinterest, if you will.

Courageous DVD Giveaway!!!

"Honor begins at home" This movie is a much needed call to fatherhood, we need our men to rise up and be men of courage, to lead their families, to be present....to be intentional.

"Courageous" is the newest project from Sherwood Pictures Ministry, the amazing force that brought us "Facing the Giants" and "Fireproof".  Their first project was called "Flywheel" and although I really, really liked "Facing the Giants" and "Fireproof", I like "Flywheel" the best, no matter how low-budget it was.....that is, until "Courageous".

Mr. Steady and I went to see this with our good friends at the theater.  It was so moving and profound that Mr. Steady then took The Thinker and The Reader to see it at the dollar cinema.  That's huge for Mr. Steady because he's not really a movie guy...well, he says he doesn't mind movies, he just doesn't like paying for them.

After seeing the trailer I knew I would need tissues but I wasn't prepared for the humor this movie has sprinkled within.  It is a very serious matter and one that needs to be shared with every man in America and with every woman raising a son, but the humor was so unexpected and quite frankly, made the movie. 

I am so excited to announce that Focus on the Family has provided me a DVD of the movie to giveaway!  Focus on the Family is dedicated to helping families thrive and they have a plethora of resources available on this topic and more.  Other fantastic resources for family shepherding are available from Voddie Baucham and Kevin Swanson.

To enter the drawing, simply leave a comment below with one of two responses:
a. If you have seen the movie, tell us your favorite part (without spoiling it for others). 
b. If you haven't seen the movie yet, tell us how you think we, as wives, can best support and encourage our husbands and sons to be courageous.

To receive a second entry, post a comment on Facebook or write a blog post about this contest, linking your friends and viewers back to this blog post and then leave a second comment that you did so.

Contest with end January 31 at midnight and the winner will be announced on February 1.  You must leave a way for me to contact you in your comment if your name isn't linked to your blog or email address.

Disclaimer: I was provided with a complimentary copy of the Courageous DVD from Focus on the Family.  All opinions expressed are solely mine and I am not being compensated in any way for this giveaway.