Works for Me Wednesday: Prayer Guide (and GIVEAWAY)

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 large ministry at an area megachurch. 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 God, "Teach me how to PRAY!" And you know what?? He 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 journey with God!

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 - 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. 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!

I could go on and on...but it is easier to understand when you try the Prayer Guide yourself. Years ago 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've now given me almost 10 Prayer Guides to share over the past two years (at $35 each that's pretty generous!!)

Imagine my delight when the mailman arrived at my door yesterday with another Prayer Guide to giveaway. Woo Hoo!! THANK YOU Jennifer and Lara!!

To Win my Giveaway: Leave a comment in the comment section answering this question:

Why would you like to win a Prayer Guide??

Extra Entries:

•Follow *She Sparkles*
•Subscribe to *She Sparkles*
•Add my *She Sparkles* button to your blog
•Tweet about this giveaway including a link to this post

Please be sure to leave me a comment to let me know your extra entries.

RULES: Starts today, Wednesday, August 4th and ends Sunday, August 8th at 9 PM. Winner will be posted on my blog during the week of August 9th.

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@gmail.com with the subject "Giveaway".

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!"

Thanks for stopping by *She Sparkles*! Have a Wonderful, joy~filled Wednesday!!!



P.S. For more Works for Me Wednesday tips, head on over to visit Kristen at We are that Family. You'll be so glad you did! :)