When I spoke last week in the sermon about our actions not backing up our words I got to thinking about places in my life where I am most vulnerable to this and my mind went to my prayer life. How often do I tell someone I will pray for them and allow the commitment to fade in the business of life? I never mean to let that happen, but in all honesty it does.
I have read a number of books on prayer in recent years so I thought I would share one or two of the ideas to help keep our intentions alive.
1 Write it down as soon as you have the chance. That is why we put a blank prayer list in our bulletins at New Life.
2 Stop and pray there and then. This can be done with the people themselves or you can find a quiet place. This is especially helpful on the telephone. If you have never prayed with someone on the phone try it!!
3 Remember that praying for someone does not mean we need to tell God their life story and instruct Him on what to do. Just remembering them before God is sufficient. He knows the situation much better than we do.
4 I have tried something new this year; I’ve saved all this year’s Christmas cards with photographs and I am using them as bookmarks. That means whenever I pick up that book, I remember that person or family before God. So if you sent us a card with your photo, chances are good that I will be praying for you very regularly sometime this year and if you happen to be in a big book that I take a long time to read…
This may not work for you but finding a creative reminder is always helpful. Attach your prayer list to the mirror in your bathroom, put a small sticky dot on your watch and cell phone as a reminder. Do you have some other ideas? I would love to hear about them.
From the Zebra Bag 
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