Getting practical about praying through the dark winter of the soul – Part 2

After more than twenty-five years in ministry, I’ve found I’ve experienced two kinds of prayer. Reactive and proactive. Reactive prayer knows I need God. It knows I cannot manage, fix, or cope with whatever stress I face. Reactive prayer, for me, is often a desperate response to a crisis.

But prayer can also be proactive. Prayer that moves me to dwell with the Lord simply because I love Him, prayer that flows responsively from time in the Word, prayer that intercedes before we even know a tragedy is coming is driven by love, not just need. This prayer is harder for me, especially when life is good. This is the prayer I have to fight for because it is the foundation that will hold when the storm hits. 

I have three tools in my prayer kit to share. These tools have helped me remain engaged with the Lord in consistent prayer through the easy and the hard times. These are not the only prayer tools that can be helpful, but out of all the ones that I’ve tried, these are the top three that have stuck.

Use a prayer binder. My binder is not as fancy as the one in the resource link, and that’s okay. It required an investment of time to organize it, but once it was finished, I found it an invaluable tool to help me cover all the people and needs I want to pray for regularly in a way that is manageable. See: https://www.stonesoupforfive.com/p/tutorials.html

Monthly prayer charts. There are several ready-made charts available for free online. These provide a daily verse and a prayer point. I have a monthly chart to help me praise God, dwell on His promises, and pray for my kids, husband, church, and extended family. See https://www.navigators.org/resource/praying-names-attributes-god/ for an example.

Concerns and responsibilities chart. A biblical counselor shared this life-changing tool with me. The concept is simple. Create a T-chart. Title the left side concerns and the right side responsibilities. Write down every burdensome detail in your life, sorting as you go. Is this concern outside of your control? It goes under concerns. Is this concern something you are responsible for addressing? It goes under responsibility. Everything under concerns is your prayer list. These are not yours to fix. Everything under responsibility requires a prayerful plan. You might need to invite others to speak into how you might address these responsibilities, and it’s okay to get creative. For example, I’ve ordered my groceries in high-stress seasons, and when the kids were young, I hired a babysitter so I could focus on necessary tasks.

These are only a few tools in my prayer kit, and I hope they help you.