Prayer journals and quiet time
I want to take a break from the parenting issues for a while and blog about prayer journals. Prayer journals have been a source of such growth for me throughout my walk, and I want to write a few brief blogs on the different methods that I have used and the ways that I have altered them.
I use my prayer journals as a resource for me, not something that I need to do for God to answer my prayers. I think that is an important distinction. My journals provide me with a way to look back at what God has done, where I have been, and a way to remind me of what I need to continue to pray for. I do not think in any way that they are required or even necessarily best for all people.
On with the first review:
As with all non-parenting books, I want to add my disclaimer that just because I write about an author’s book, that does not mean that their parenting goods are worth their weight in salt 
OK, method #1 - Emilie Barnes More Hours In My Day
I read this book soon after my first child was born. I was looking to be more organized, and my mother-in-law had handed this book down to me. I can’t seem to find it now, so I haven’t perused through whether or not she goes off the deep end in other areas, but I used her prayer journalling method for a while, so I can comment on that 
Emilie’s plan seemed to me more of a way of organizing your space and organizing your requests (in a checklist style). This is the simplest form of prayer journaling, I believe. It is not a full text word-for-word copy of your prayers in print form; It is an outline of the things that you have prayed for and the things that you need to remember to pray for.
From her site, she has these tips, which I will expound on
Tips for Organizing Your Quiet Time:
► Make your own prayer basket.
► Find an accountability partner who will pray with you and for you as you strive to make your quiet time a reality.
► Set aside a special place for your quiet time and have your prayer basket waiting.
Emilie detailed her “prayer basket” and this was an idea that I really liked. The general idea is that you take a pretty little basket (I used a wicker one from Michael’s Crafts), and then you fill it with all of the things that you need for your quiet time. Mine had my Bible, my prayer journal, pens, cards and envelopes for writing notes to people if I prayed for them, stamps for the same, and a short devotional book. This basket made it so that my quiet time gear was always available. Four years later, I still have the basket in my formal living room and I use it now for all of my reading, not just Bible study time. I think it is an excellent idea.
Next she talks about ways to organize your prayer journal. She suggested that you have a page for each subject and each page is assigned to a day. For example, Mondays you would pray for yourself, Tuesdays you pray for family, Wednesdays you pray for the church, Thursdays you pray for government, etc, etc. While I liked the idea of not having to pray for everything everyday, I really couldn’t bring myself to implement this part of her journal for any extended amount of time. If my son fell ill, I didn’t want to wait until the next Tuesday to pray, y’know? There are some things that I need to take to God daily, especially my struggles, and I couldn’t put those on the back burner. Its definitely a time saver and far better than not praying at all, but still… not for me.
In order to make her pages work better for me, I chose to pray for my daily stuff no matter what. This included issues that I was facing that day, struggles, illnesses, requests that were urgent that someone shared with me, and anything else that couldn’t wait. For more long-term things and requests that were more general in nature, like praying for the president, non-urgent prayers for my friends (for their lives, work, family…), or long-term prayers, I would still put them on the category pages. Then each day I’d pray the urgent daily prayers and then I’d also pray from the category for the day. The categories were nice reminders and it allowed me more flexibility than I felt her original plan offered.
I sort of mentioned it above, but Emilie also suggests keeping cards, envelopes, and stamps around so that you can send little notes of encouragement and prayer to those who are on your heart each day. I love this idea. I am not a natural card writer, but it was always such a nice feeling to mail out those cards and know that I could be an encouragement to other people.