How I Made My Prayer Binder

I have mentioned a couple of times on here that I recently made a binder to help me better organize my prayer life. I've had a few questions about how it works, so I thought I would do a little explanation post for you today!

I began by finding my inspiration where I find almost all my creative inspiration: Pinterest! :) I found this post at the Stone Soup for Five blog and used that as my main inspiration for creating my binder. (I made a few modifications to fit my own needs, since I don't have the same life circumstances as that blogger.)

I had a plain old regular binder hanging out on the bookshelf, so I used that, but if you need one, RUN TO THE STORE NOW to get one! Three words: school supply sale. I made a cover sheet using the lovely printables from the Daily Dwelling blog.

For my tabbed dividers, I repurposed the color coded tabs I got for the conference I attended this summer. I had deconstructed that binder after the conference ended, so they were ready to be reused! You could, of course, use any old dividers, but I like these, from Avery, that are thick and have a slot in each one to hold papers as needed. (That way if I'm at church and get a prayer list at some kind, for example, I can slide it down in that divider/folder until I get home.

For my paper, I used regular old loose leaf notebook paper.

* I printed blank monthly calendar pages (my personal favorites are these from Scattered Squirrel) for the rest of the year. (Scattered Squirrel also has 2018 calendar pages available on her site.) I hole punched the calendar pages and put them in the front of the binder. If someone has a prayer request for a specific day (doctor's appointment, etc.) I can write it on that calendar square. Every day, I look at the calendar to see if there are any specific things that need my prayer attention that day.

Then I have my individual tabbed sections. These might need to look different for you, depending on what happens in your everyday life. But here are mine:

* Praise and Adoration. This is where I write down words of praise, song lyrics, or anything else that offers praise to God. I've been trying to get in the habit of listening to praise songs on YouTube while I get ready in the mornings. If a song stands out to me, I try to write it (and the date) in this section.

* Confession. This is where I write down ares of my life that aren't pleasing to the Lord or attitudes I need to confess and conquer. I haven't always been good at examining my heart regularly to look for things that aren't what they should be, so this is a great form of accountability for me to do so more regularly.

* Waiting. Sometimes I pray about things that I'm not sure when (or if) God will bring to pass in my life. I wanted to have a way to document the trail of prayers that accompany them so I can better see how God works in my heart as I pray along.

* Scripture and Quotes. Occasionally (and often through social media) I stumble upon verses or quotes that stand out to me as meaningful for my current season. I've been keeping them in my journal, but I decided to try to record them here instead so I can find them faster!

* Ryan. I wanted a section where I can write specific requests and prayers over Ryan. (If you don't have a husband, but that's a longing of your heart, you could always make a section for your someday husband!)

* Bekah. Yes, I have a section for myself. I think it's important to pray for yourself, for the roles you fill, and for the needs you have. I wanted a place to record those that are mine specifically.

(NOTE! If you have children, you could add tabs for them. Since, we don't have kids, I just made tabs for the two of us.)

* Our Ministry. I am careful to pray over the writing and speaking ministries God has given me, and I am also eager to pray over the new ministries God has brought and is bringing to us as a couple. I wanted a section just for those prayers.

* Listening. Ahhhhh, the part where you stop talking and start listening! Always hard to do, isn't it? But I wanted a place to write things I sensed the Lord pressing on my heart, so I made a specific section for it.

(NOTE! The above sections are ones I visit regularly but perhaps not daily. In other words, I don't sit down every single morning and make my way through eight sections. Some days I do, but some days I may focus on one or two and not the rest. But they are all there for me to reference as needed.

The next part of my binder divides the week into days. I have chosen an area to focus on in prayer each day of the week. It's not that I can't or won't pray from another day's section on any given day, but this helps me make sure I give focus to each area in depth at least once a week. This is also the section of the prayer binder that Ryan and I use together in our prayer time each morning. As we see each specific prayer answered, we cross it off and write the date beside it. (We also write the date we begin praying for something specific so we can see the start and end dates.)

Monday: Family. We pray for our families in a broad sense every Monday, but we also lift up specific requests if we know about them.

Tuesday: Friends. We pray for our friends on Tuesday, and we always lift up every specific request we've been given.

Wednesday: Prayer Teams. I have a specific team of people who prays for my writing and speaking ministry, so whenever they have a request, I put it in this section and pray over it on Wednesdays. Likewise, we are prayer partners for other friends in their ministries, so if they have something specific that needs prayer, we also put it in this section.

Thursday: Church and People. It's handy that this binder is also where I take sermon notes, because it means it's always with me when I go to church. Last Sunday, a friend had some needs and I just grabbed the binder and wrote them in there right away. No forgetting or losing the bulletin with the prayer request on it! This is the day we pray over specific ministries within our church home and also the people in it who ask us to pray for something in particular.

Friday: Our Marriage. Yes, I know, we already had our own tabs earlier, but those tabs are more for what's happening in each of our individual lives. On Fridays we pray for our marriage, its protection and its example before others.

Saturday: Our Nation and World. Enough said, right?

Sunday: Reflection and Thanks. Every Sunday, I flip back through the other sections to be reminded of what God has done throughout that week and summarize a prayer of thanks in this section. It's encouraging to see specific answers that have come about since the week beforee!

Teaching Notes. The final section is where I take notes on sermons, Sunday School lessons, and any other teaching I receive in any capacity. That way I can find the information quickly and easily!

So there you go! I'm sure as time goes along, I'll modify and tweak my process, but to begin, this is how it works. I love how it has helped me become more intentional about prayer and has encouraged me in seeing specific results.