Are You Struggling to Pray Together?

Are You Struggling to Pray Together?
 
Over the years, we have scheduled prayer time, relied on spontaneous prayer and been urged into our prayer closets by circumstances. For us, with our busy schedules and Derek’s unpredictable work schedule, the only way we have found to be consistent in prayer is to use a journal at times.

Derek resisted the idea for a time. He reasoned he did not want to write his innermost thoughts: he preferred his prayers to be spontaneous. However, the process of writing and recording prayers has proven to be a faith builder.  A journal of answered prayer is priceless. Rather personal in nature, we do not share its contents with others.  The process has managed to keep us grounded in the process.

If your husband works long hours, or has an unpredictable schedule , you might want to try a couple prayer journal. It is simple:

First: Write down the prayer request in simple terms. We have found when a prayer request is too long, we rarely read through it together. We would rather be consistent than perfect.

Second: Add scriptures to the request. We have found that praying the scriptures together to be quite powerful.

Third: We generally pray together in one another’s physical presence, but on days when Derek works late, and I retire early, (it occasionally happens), the requests in the prayer journal can still be prayed for daily.

Fourth: Once the prayer is answered we put the date it was answered and continue praying for the other requests.

This simple method has kept us fairly consistent in praying together, We welcome your suggestions.
 
Derek and Cheryl Carter enjoy teaching couples about the process of relational forgiveness,  genuine apology and practical communication through the ministry Foundations for Family Success (FamilySuccess.org). They are still working on their book Communication Keys and are in the process of practicing relational forgiveness as the date for release of their book keeps being delayed due to the challenges of writing together. Visit www. FamilySuccess.org to get a free copy of their marriage communication e-book.