Welcome to our annual Prayer Series! This year, we’re expanding on each of the different prompts that you’ll find in our prayer journal. No journal required to benefit from the practical tips you’ll find here, but if you’d like to check out our 2019 Prayer Journal Collection, click here!
We don’t like to talk about it, but we can all have those moments or seasons in life where we doubt God or struggle to trust that He is who He says or does what He says He does. We all have those seasons of waiting for God to answer our prayers.
Today I wanted to share about how to build a confident faith because, without it, our prayers just turn into hollow words.
In Lamentations 3, a struggling Jeremiah cries out, “Yet THIS I call to mind and therefore I have hope…” He goes on to recount the love and compassion of the Lord, His mercies and faithfulness. And that’s exactly what we have to do when we enter those hard moments. We need to remember what the Lord HAS done in order to have faith for what He CAN do.
That’s why we looooove the Answered Prayers section in our prayer journals. It’s not just a wrap-up activity, it’s a celebration and a memorial of what the Lord has done in our lives. It’s a physical reminder that He is able and we can trust Him.
6 ways to track answered prayers:
1. Check marks – Our prayer journals have little circles at the end of each line, so as you hear or see an answer that month, you can check them off! Not all prayers will have black and white answers, but feel free to check even when you see progress. He’s working, friends!
2. Checking in with friends – Look back over your Sweet Friends section and then send a text or plan a coffee date to check-in and see how the Lord is working in their life. Do you need to keep praying? Or is it time to throw up the praise hands together?!
3. Writing in answered prayers section – Our last section in our journals each month is for Answered Prayers and there are a few ways you can use this! Record answers as you see them come along, have one big celebration at the end of the month where you look back at your check marks and record all God has done in more detail OR journal a prayer of praise to the Lord for how you’ve seen Him work that month!
4. Looking back – Sometimes answered prayers don’t happen in one month’s time. But those are sometimes the ones that call for the greatest celebration, so you don’t want to miss them! At the end of a quarter and especially the end of the year, look back through your journal and see what you can check off and add a date beside. Next time you’re tempted to think He’s not working, remind yourself that He is even when we can’t see it.
5. Prayer Memoirs!! – This hardbound legacy journal is for recording the faithfulness of God throughout your entire life. The prompted section takes you back through childhood and beyond to identify how God was working all along the way. Then, the lined section of this journal is space for you to record the words you’re currently hearing from Him. You can even transfer your answered prayers from each journal to this one place. What a meaningful gift to hand down to your family!
6. Talk about it – Sharing is caring! Speak openly about what God has done with your friends and family. Our faith is increased and encouraged when we hear about what He’s doing in the lives of others!
I cannot tell you how many times God has even “answered” requests for things I didn’t actively pray for that month. Maybe it can be chalked up to coincidence, but I believe it comes from a God who hears us even once as we pray our journal. I’ve talked so many times about perseverance in prayer and that we need to voice our requests but this is normally my response for if you aren’t hearing from God yet. It’s more times than not the exception to the rule, but sometimes God answers our prayers before we’ve actively prayed for them. What a gracious God, huh?
Do you have an answer to prayer you’d want to share in order to build up the faith of others? We’re collecting answered prayers for our prayer wall this October at Magnolia Market’s Silobration! And to say thank you, we’re giving you 50% off one product from our shop (excluding yearly). Email info@valmariepaper.com for more details!
Want to become a student of prayer? Sign up here to be notified when our NEW online course launches this January!
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