Praying by the book, Part 2: Setting up a Prayer Notebook

Ready to be more proactive in your prayer life? In this blog I’ll explain, as promised in last week’s blog, how to set up a personal prayer notebook.
You’ll need:
*A small ringed notebook and at least about 30 sheets of filler paper. I prefer a six-ring notebook that measures about 4 ½ by 7 inches, small enough to fit in the pocket of my Bible cover. Mine was second-hand; my local drug-etc. store sells them for $5 in the stationery aisle. For some reason, I haven’t found them in office supply stores in my town.
*Small photos of people you pray for regularly, such as missionaries
*Heavier paper, like card stock, to make dividers
*A paper punch
*Stick-on colored tab dividers. I cut them in half, which means several people could share one package for the 10 sections I suggest. Instead of the heavier plastic dividers, you could use self-adhesive blank address labels (the 1x3” size), folded over to make a tap on the outside of the paper.
*Sticky notes (like Post-it ®)
*Paste
*Scissors
To assemble the notebook:
1. Using the heavier paper, cut ten dividers the size of your filler paper.
2. With your filler paper as a guide, punch ring holes.
3. Prepare divider tabs: one for each day of the week plus one labeled “A-Z” and another “Jordan Stones.”
4. Attach tabs to divider pages. Your first divider will have no tab (it’s for daily prayer reminders). The second one will start with “Sunday.” Your last two dividers will be “A-Z” and “Jordan Stones.” [These last two involve praise reminders.]
5. Add filler paper behind each tabbed section.
6. Consider putting an address label on the front inside cover of the notebook, just in case if gets lost.
7. Place a sticky note on the front blank tab and write on it the names of those in difficult situations that you decide you will pray for daily. This may be people with serious or terminal diseases, the grieving, and those in troubled marriages. When someone I know loses a spouse or loved one, I tell them that I will commit to praying for them daily in the first year of being alone. I mark after their name the date of their loved one’s death, so I know when the year is up. At that time I write them a note of care.
8. Behind each divider for a day of the week, use separate pages for people you will focus prayers on. For example, on Sunday, I pray for my church and for a pastor. I divide missionaries and Christian workers among other days of the week. Each person or family has its own “page” with a photo, contact information, birthdays, and a sticky note for current prayer needs. (The sticky note enables me to make changes without re-doing the whole page.)

NEXT BLOG: Praying for children