One of the areas I'm most passionate about in life is PRAYER.
Unfortuanately, this hasn't always been the case. As many of you know, I didn't become a Christian until the age of 26. (Finally after years of poor, self destructive choices I gave my life to Jesus in 1996! You can read more about it here.)
My heart for prayer really began to grow in 1999. I was asked to accept a job leading a ministry at my church. I knew that God would have to show up BIG TIME or it would be a huge disaster. I read every book on prayer I could, studied prayer Bible passages, and most importantly, I began to pray. A lot! I cried out to the Lord, "Teach me how to PRAY!" And you know what?? God answered those prayers (in abundance)...and continues to grow me in my prayer life today!
A powerful tool that has really shaped my prayer life is my Prayer Guide.
The Prayer Guide I use was designed by an amazing ministry called Walking with Him. My favorite part is that the Prayer Guide may be personalized with photos, prayers and mementoes. It has become the story of my walk with the Lord!
For example, there is a section of the Prayer Guide on Thanking God. This part of my journal is filled with things I am grateful for (a picture of me getting baptized in 1999, family & friend pics, etc..). I also fill the pages with answers to prayers. In the picture below you can see the SOLD sign when our house sold last year - in less than 2 months! - and lots of post-it notes of answered prayers. It is a perfect visual reminder of how good God is and His faithfulness in answering prayer!
I also have a whole section of my Prayer Guide where I pray for myself and others. The pages are filled with photos of family and friends (this is where I put the pictures I receive at Christmas). I usually sit with a stack of index cards and/or post-it notes, and pray specifically for others (and then slide the index card behind their picture). If a friend sends an e-mail and asks me to pray for something, I print it off, pray, and then slide it behind the picture.This picture below shows my page for John. On the left I have a download of 31 Days of Praying for Your Husband. On the right are pics of me and John, and then post-it notes with specific prayers. (Can you see the top right post-it note?? It has prayers from my little Sarah. She loves to sit with me as I go through my Prayer Guide and help me pray for all of our family and friends! :))
Another example below. These are the pages I pray for my kids. I love being able to look at their precious faces as I pray for them! One resource I use when praying for my kids is 31 Biblical Virtues. You can see more prayers below from Sarah. Praying that her sister would be nice :)
I also have a section where I pray specifically for family/friends/acquaintances who do not know Jesus. (For verses to help pray for the lost, click here). What a blessing to watch God work in their lives ~ and then be able to move their picture from the "Far from God" section to the "Thank God" section when they come to know Jesus as their Savior!! Praise the Lord!! :)I could go on and on...but it is easier to understand when you try the Prayer Guide yourself. I asked the dear women at Walking with Him if they'd like to donate a Prayer Guide for me to giveaway. They are so amazing ~ they sent me TWO Prayer Guides to GIVE to TWO of my readers!! THANK YOU Jennifer and Lara!! (These women are so awesome...if you are ever in Traverse City, Michigan you must invite them to coffee and listen to how God is using them!)
To Win my Giveaway: Leave a comment in the comment section answering this question:
Why would you like to win a Prayer Guide?
RULES: Starts today, Tuesday, August 18th and ends Tuesday, August 25th at 9 PM. Winner will be contacted via e-mail. If your email address is not connected to your ID please leave your email address with your comment or email it to me at cindy.bultema@comcast.net with the subject "Giveaway". (If you have a hard time leaving a comment, e-mail me and I'll walk you through it.) Tell your friends :) I am THRILLED to be able to pass along two Prayer Guides!! Woo Hoo!! :)
I'll close with a quote from one of my favorite authors in the whole world...Corrie TenBoom.
"Prayer is powerful! The devil smiles when we make plans. He laughs when we get too busy. But he trembles when we pray!"
Blessings to you~
32 comments:
What an amazing product? I have been looking for a prayer guide for numerous years. Since becoming a Christian my prayer life has faltered. I have recently taken up to praying for my husband & children (thank you Stormie Ormartian). When asked to prayer through chain or e-mail I do a "quickie." I'm working on baby steps.
(mlslomp@sasktel.net)
Hi Cindy, First I want to say WOW! What you have done with your prayer book has really given me a revelation. I have always had a prayer list but this takes it to a new level. It is awesome how you can go back and reflect on the prayers that God answers. I am going to do something like this because we all need more prayer!
I would love to win the prayer guide because even though I pray I do need to pray more and some days it is hard to know what to pray for. Our church really needs prayer! My Pastor and his family do. We had a church member who had a vision from God the other day and what that vision revealed was scary. The members of the church are not praying enough and God told us we are in fear of losing protection over our church and Pastor if we do not make prayer a priority in our lives.
It seems everyone gets to busy for God and do not make time from prayer anymore. They need people like me who is willing to pray but sometimes just does not know what to pray. I am going to make a book like yours. That will help me so much. I may even share it with the church!. I am sorry this comment was so long but your blog really blessed me and encouraged me this morning!
((Big hugs and many blessings to you))!
Okay Cindy. I didn't comment on your last giveaway because I don't like to do contests. I always think someone else should win - someone else needs it more. But the prayer guide is just what I need. I pretty much like to copy everything you do (ha ha, since we were kids - not always a good idea to copy you!). I came home after visiting you and put all our toys in bins with labels. I even had heard about your prayer guide and made myself a little booklet of Christmas card pictures of people to pray for. But it is time for a boost, a revitalization, for me in my relationship with God and definitely time for me to get my mind off myself and onto others!! JJ
That prayer book is such a great idea! I'd love this book because I think it would be really helpful to focus during prayer to look at pictures of people I am praying for. And to track God's faithfulness in answering would also be a good faith builder for me. Great giveaway Cindy!!
I would like to win a prayer guide so that I can keep record of what I'm praying for and document answered prayer in a way that my children can look back and see God's hand in our lives.
Right now I've incorporated answered prayer a bit in my scrapbooks, but I like the idea of this book too.
Thank you for sharing your Prayer Guide! I love this idea...it would make counting the blessings of answered prayer so much more simple.
Blessings,
Catherine
Awesome website! I really, really need a prayer guide. Somedays I just want to give myself a kick in the pants for running out the door without talking to God first. Though I do talk to Him all day long, I need to get disciplined to take some quiet time everyday.
What an incredible idea! I'd like to be included in the giveaway, but even if I don't win, I still "won" by coming here to find this idea. I will employ these suggestions. Right now, I record my prayers in a journal, but I love the idea of adding photos. I'm a very visual person, and this would help keep me focused in prayer.
Thank you, Cindy. You blessed me this morning.
Another note: I plan to link to this giveaway from my blog, under "Soul Food."
What a fantastic concept! I am going to email this link to all my friends!!!
BTW, thank you for sharing your amazing faith-story.
A HUGE note of thanks for all of your feedack :) You have blessed me, and I know you've also encouraged the dear women from Walking with Him (who created this Prayer Guide!). Thank you! I wish I had a whole box of them to give away! :)
Why would I like to win this prayer guide? Because you have made it sound so amazing, and I want to have my own amazing prayer journal! Because I want my time spent praying to be something I look forward to and can make fun. Because I want to spend more time in prayer - and I want to look forward to it more than anything. Thanks for this great giveaway!!!
God Bless.
Kristybeckendorf@yahoo.com
Cindy, by the time I found out there was a giveaway of a prayer guide ... I wanted one! What a wonderful tool. I am a women's ministry directory, and I would really love to share this with the women I minister with and to. Thank you for sharing and for the photos to help paint the picture!
Cindy, one more thing ... would you mind if I put a link to your prayer guide "guide" on my blog? Today we focused on praying for teachers, and in the coming weeks we'll do some other prayer focus ideas. I would love for my readers to see what you've shared. Just email and let me know. Thanks again!
I have a problem with instant gratification (regarding the prayer guide) so I ordered mine in pink! Woohoo! Thanks for the info I have been really trying to figure out a way to get my prayer life on track!
I'm a jeans and t-shirt prayer warrior, learning to walk in a new level of authority and listening to the heartbeat of heaven.
Delighted to meet you. You do sparkle.
Blessings from this missionary mommy,
Sarah Dawn
I love the idea of putting pictures along with the prayer needs! As a visual person, it would help me greatly.
you put the P in prayer! :) seriously. last week was out annual women's retreat. the foundation of our relationship with our Savior is prayer. it is the only way to communicate with our Heavenly Father. the neat thing you do, is keep it so personal with a touch of fun and looks very organized. who wouldn't want that! thank you for such an awesome giveaway, whoever wins this will be blessed!
OH this is SO exciting!! I have kept a prayer journal for over 15 years - this guide would be such a great partner to my journals - to guide me!!! I love the idea of the pictures and lists of prayers! Thank you for sharing yours with us! Truly a blessing!
Prayer is such an important part of being a servant of God. I grew up Baptist and I was the great-granddaughter of a Southern Baptist preacher. I learned to pray and read the Bible at an early age. As I grew up, I got out of the habit of praying and going to church. I met my husband while I was a junior in high school. He proposed and I soon began taking RCIA classes to become Catholic. Talk about a huge change from being Baptist! I learned a lot in my classes and soon began to love the Catholic faith. Prayer is huge in my church. I am a firm believer that if you go to the Lord in prayer, He will listen to you! I think that this prayer guide is a great way to keep track of you requests and answers. Also to include your thanksgivings!!!! Love the fun idea!
Cindy, I love, love, love your theme verse! Your love of the Lord is so uplifting. I want to know and love Him more and I think your prayer guide would be a great resource for just that! God bless your day! Jenny C.
It looks a lot like a scrapbook. And guess what? I love to scrapbook. Who'da thought that scrapbooking and prayer could go together. I like this!
Pam
Hi Cindy, I made my way over here from Julie's blog. The prayer journal/guide is wonderful. It would help me get my prayers organized and since I'm a visual person, it would help and encourage me.
I can't wait to check out the rest of your blog.
There is definitely power in prayer. I would love to have a guide to help me in my prayer life!! Thank you so much for a wonderful give-a-way! I love visiting your blog! Many blessings to you!
Your prayer guide looks great! I would love to be included in your give away. I am anxious to check out your links to add to my prayer time! Thanks so much for the ideas.
Hi Cindy,
I was told that if you hear something more than once it is important. Ms. Deb above and I go to the same church. God used her as a tool to send me a message that my prayer life is lacking and so our altars across the nation. God led me to do a blog on house of prayer. And now I have read your blog here about your prayer guide and how you use it. It would be wonder gift to win and I would share it with Ms. Deb and the ladies in my SS class. May even put it in the library that was just opened up in our church. Thank you.
Hey Cindy!
I love the prayer guide, I have to say this isn't the first time I've seen it. Good intentions don't always get us so far. I'd love one because I know it will help me keep my prayer life in order and organized and easier to keep track of! Many areas of my life are quite organized, like my kitchen, bathroom, the kids toys, my budget, even the books I want to read. (thanks shelfari) But I have not applied these skills to my prayer life. I think it's next! What a great tool to have when I'm praying for my small group, family, and anything else that comes my way.
You're an inspiration!
Blessings to you...
chellies@comcast.net
What a great way to keep me focused as I pray for individuals and families. I love the idea of having a book devoted to praying for the special people in my life. Great giveaway, Cindy!
Cindy, I have to agree with Jill above. I have such a hard time (perhaps in part because of my darling, high-spirited children!) staying focused as I pray. I think this Prayer Guide would help me greatly in that regard.
nikandre@yahoo.com
How awesome is this!!! Love it! This is an area in my life that needs serious development, and you have inspired me this morning!
wow i am loving EVERYTHING about this!xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxjane
ivebeen googling for prayer guides butthink i will have to make my own here in the uk! so excited...just need to think of the categories to put into it...any ideas?
.Individuals...my family..friends
.Thanking God
.Orphans and adopting families
.Myself
.the people i know who dont know Jesus
.
any more? xxxxxxxxxxxxjanex
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