Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. 1 Cor. 15:58

design

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Day 12: Pray and Be Thankful

Philippians 4:6-- Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.  Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done.

*****************
The main thing I want to talk about today is "... and thank him for all he has done."

How many times have we prayed, forgot about it, and then miss all the wonderful things God has answered for us?

It's SO easy to do. I've done it.  And then you ask, "God, why haven't you answered my prayers?"  When HE has... but we don't remember it. (We humans tend to have the memory of gnats... or at least, I think I do.)

OR...

You have every intention of praying for something.. be it the church prayer requests.... a facebook friend's prayer request..... something that pops into our mind... and then... we forget it.  Life comes up.  We intend to pray about it, but by the time we get time to actually pray, we have forgotten whatever it is we need (maybe I need to pray for a better memory...)

The point is, we all need a way to remember, to be accountable for our prayers, AND a way to look back and truly see all of the wonderful things God has done for us!

I have started keeping a prayer list in a notebook at the computer desk-- that way when someone asks for prayers on facebook or a mommy message board, I can pray right then, and then write it down so I can remember it for later.

That has helped me really well.  I can see the people I'm praying for AND I can see what God is doing for them. It really is an awesome thing!

AND THEN....

The other day I was readind another blog here and came across something called called a Bible Notebook.  And I so wanted to whack myself up the head for not thinking of it before!  I'm all about my homemaking notebook, so this was a natural progression for me.  I'm a visual person... I have to SEE something to remember it.  I have to write down my prayers to remember them.

Please check out the site http://donotdepart.com/make-a-bible-notebook .  It has some really great ideas on things that can go in your notebook (I'm not affliated with them in anyway.. I just thought it was a really good idea!!)

You don't have to have as in depth of a notebook as that suggests.  Mine is just a regular 1 subject, spiral notebook (It's 1 subject because Wal-mart had them for $0.20 a piece.. so I bought 5, but anyway).  I keep my prayer list in there and a daily prayer that add to as the day goes on.  I keep dates with the days I wrote them and the days they were answered.

I'm NOT doing that to TEST God. Or to see what *I* can do. If it was *me*, nothing would be done. I'm doing this so *I* can remember to THANK HIM for ALL of the prayers he answers.  So I won't FORGET.  So I can THANK HIM for all the things he does... whether I remember it or not. 

I know not all prayers will be answered quickly or even not at all.... but I will continue to pray for them.  Our job isn't to answer prayers (thank goodness).  Our job is to pray with a sincere heart, and thank God for answering them.

If you don't have a prayer journal, I encourage you to start one.  It's honestly a great way to organize things (I'm big on the organizing).  It's actually pretty neat to go back and see what you wanted, what you *thought* you wanted, and what God has done for you, your family, your friends...

God Bless You-- and remember to thank Him for all he has done :)

Kelly

4 comments:

  1. Hi Kelly. I do the same - say I'll pray for you - then forget. So on my blog I started a prayer list - for me! So when I go update, post or read up on everyone else's blog, its my reminder to pray for those on my prayer list. We used to keep a prayer journal at the one ladies meeting I used to go to and then we'd write in when and how God had answered them. Its very encouraging and faith building.
    Great post
    God bless
    Tracy

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the kick in the behind! ;) I just added a notebook to my Walmart list.

    My MIL did this and she was able to go back and show her kids how God answers prayers too.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Just don't forget what you put your notebook. lol ;) I have been doing keeping a prayer journal for a while and it really does help me remember to pray. I've also been keeping a journal of what I discover in the Bible. Anything I can do to help me remember is a good thing. Many blessings!

    ReplyDelete
  4. This is the exact reason I started keeping a journal. When I would talk to my mentor and complain about God not answering my prayers, she lovingly corrected me about that and she listed off things she had seen God do in my life (THAT is why I have a mentor!)

    She then told me to keep a journal of all prayer requests and then update it when God answers the prayers, whether or not it was answered the way I thought it should be answered. Since doing that, I have seen and have tangible evidence of what God is doing in my life and the life of my friends. After 3 years, I'm on my 5th journal!

    I think it was Abraham (?) that built stone altars every time He had an experience with God and I see my prayer journals as my stone altar.

    ReplyDelete