Here are the final seven ways to make prayer a natural part of your everyday family life (thanks to Kim Butts for compiling this list). Again, if you don’t have kids, this list is still worth reading and implementing in your own life!
9. Teach children to keep a personal prayer journal.
Here they can record personal prayer requests, praises, and answers to prayer.
10. Develop a missionary prayer notebook.
Place prayer cards or pictures of missionaries your family and/or church supports in a three-ring binder with plastic page protectors, colorful paper, etc. Include pages with pockets for recent newsletters, prayer needs, e-mail messages, etc. Pray through the notebook on a regular basis. Help your children make the connection between prayer and saving the lost. Pray together that the Lord of the harvest (Mt. 9:38) would send workers into His harvest fields.
11. Adopt a people group to pray for--perhaps one of the unreached groups of the 10/40 Window.
Pray for your people group daily, research its needs, and be open to what God will do through your family. To adopt a people group, contact Adopt-a-People Clearinghouse, P.O. Box 1795, Colorado Springs, CO 80901-1795. There is also a wonderful video that teaches children about the 10/40 Window called The 10/40 Window for Children. It is available from Joey and Fawn Parish, 6673 Sora Street, Ventura, CA 93003.
12. Develop a family prayer calendar each month.
Take turns, or do it together. Put each family event or activity on the calendar, so it can be prayed for. Wouldn't it be great to have the entire family pray for a child to do his best at the track meet or that Mom would meet someone who needed to hear about Jesus at her meeting?
13. Go on a prayer walk in your neighborhood.
Pray for all the families that live around you. For help on how to do this, obtain the book Prayerwalking by Steve Hawthorne and Graham Kendrick (Creation House) or the video Prayerwalking for Kids, available from Joey and Fawn Parish (see address above).
14. Adopt a leader to pray for.
The objective of this National Day of Prayer Task Force program is to have families adopt a local, state, or national political leader. The family commits to pray for and communicate with this leader for at least one year. Kits are available from NDOP at (800) 444-8828.
15. Participate as a family in prayer events.
Join with other believers for the National Day of Prayer (first Thursday in May), PrayUSA!, Praying Through the Window, March for Jesus, etc. Encourage your junior- or senior-high school children to take part in See You at the Pole.
Now it’s your turn. Which of these suggestions would you like to implement in your family’s life? Do you have any other prayer ideas to share with us that your family does?
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