A peek inside Heather’s prayer binder

My friend Heather made a prayer binder a few years ago in a workshop I taught and has been using it ever since. I asked her if she would mind sharing her thoughts with us on her prayer binder and how it has helped her pray more consistently.

Introduction

Heather: My husband and I met in 1992. I was 12 and he was 13. Yah…I felt pretty cool dating an older teenage guy. 🙂 We both grew up in an extremely rough neighborhood with parents who were not believers. We were young and stupid… which led us down a dark and dangerous path. In fact, neither of us should be here walking on this earth spreading our sarcastic humor, collecting dirt bikes and hopefully showing others the great power, forgiveness and the love of our Lord through our life here in Central Oregon.
We will celebrate our 23rd wedding anniversary in August and we have two amazing boys (ages 14 and 9) who I homeschool and I thank God for everyday.

[Kari here: Something that you probably need to know about Heather, she is IN IT TO WIN IT. Here’s a picture she entered in a contest at their co-op to take the best picture reading the required book.]

Anyway, back to the prayer binder. 🙂

How has the prayer binder helped your prayer life?

Heather: It has helped me be organized, remember what God has done for me, and relieved guilt about my prayer life. I say that because I usually forget God’s abundant blessings.
If I don’t write about God’s movements in my life, I forget. The enemy loves this.
If I don’t write down how God has answered my prayers, I forget. The enemy loves that.
My prayer binder is my written down memory of God in my life. Not today Satan!

The prayer binder has also helped me be less annoyed if I’m pulled away from my quiet time. (Remember I’m a boy mom and it gets crazy!)  Also, sometimes during my quiet time if I am leaning into one prayer for an extended period of time and I have used all my quiet time up, I would feel such guilt. Now that I’m using my prayer binder, if that happens, I just bookmark where I am and I can pick up right where I left off! No more guilt and annoyance! 

Talk to me about the practical side of the prayer binder.

Heather: My prayer binder is a pick up and go portable prayer book I can take anywhere. I am a busy boy mom helping my hubby run a business. I need something I can grab quickly in the morning during my quiet time and start from the beginning and work by way though it in categorical ways in the time I have.
It helps lead me to praise the Lord, rest in his goodness, confess and repent of my sins, to petition our needs to Him, and helps me consistently pray for others, for my husband and for my boys.
Plus all of these prayers are organized in one cute portable book.

Can you walk us through a few of your pages and categories?

Heather: My categories are set up like Kari has in the workbook. Praise, Rest, Confess, Petition, and then family and others. Here are a few of the sections and pages:

Praise

Rest

Confess

Petition

Answered prayers

Family/others

Any parting thoughts?

Heather: My advice to someone contemplating this prayer binder is just give it a try! It won’t hurt to get it started. It may not be your thing, but, if it is you will love it and will reap such rewards from it!
You can customize it to make it fun and make it pretty. You can make it something you look forward to pulling out and using.

Make or invest in a nice cover, beautiful paper and super nice pens (that you hide from your boys who will hide behind the couch and fashion those lovely pens into medieval weapons that are quite genius.) Sorry, that may just be me…anyway…make the binder your own creation, just for you! Something beautiful and fun, something just between you and your Father in heaven and watch Him work!

You can find a workbook to help you set up your own prayer binder here.
You can also find links to resources on Amazon here.

If you have any questions for Heather, just leave them in the comments below and I’ll bug her to answer them!