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Hello, I'm going to discuss with you the advantages of having a prayer list. Your prayer list could either be a notebook diary if you like to write or a text editor if you like to type. When you write a prayer list, it helps you organize your thoughts. When you write a prayer list, you keep a record of things you prayed. When you review your prayer list, you can think of new things to pray and offer thanks to God for answered prayers.
God is amazing, and he's watching us always, so we should always keep our thoughts good and acceptable for him. It takes some doing to remember you're being watched in everything you do, but its comforting and reassuring to know God is up in Heaven. God enjoys when we pray to him. Our prayers can just be a casual conversation with God, or they could be requesting he do some things. I think the proper way to pray is to always keep others in your mind and pray for them. Its possible to pray for yourself, but we shouldn't keep our main focus to be on ourselves always.
There are some things we'd like to pray always in every prayer we pray. Things such as protection from enemies like terrorists are things we obviously always want to be in our prayers. Things like praying for the roads that people do not have auto accidents is another thing we always want to pray for. There are many things we always want to pray for, but sometimes forget when we're fervently praying over the health of a loved one. If we put all our global prayers in one place(our prayer list), we can tell God,"In addition to the prayers I pray, also remember my prayer list." Now to some people, they may think this is a bad way to pray because it adds an element of laziness. And to this I agree! This is why I address it early on. If you constantly pray your prayer list be heard, without ever going back to review your prayer list, this can be a sin! So be careful of it. It is okay to pray that God hears your prayer list, but it is not okay to use it as a tool to eliminate prayer time with your maker.
As we explained the danger of treating your prayer list trivially, there is a lot to gain on having a mature prayer list. You can enhance your time praying with God by reviewing your old prayer list when you run out of things to pray. When you review your prayer list, many good things happen. You see all the prayers you had, and you think about how God has moved and answered some prayers. I date all my prayers when using notepad. It is as easy as pressing f5 when you're in Windows notepad. If you have a habit of dating your prayers, you can look back and remember all your prayers and when you prayed them. This may remind you to re-pray them again if you're still in need. Also, I love giving thanks to God. I thank him for allowing me to live in peace and love of my family. I give him thanks for many things. One of my favorite things is giving him thanks for answered prayer. Oh how great it is to have prayer answered. You may think it is such a great thing that you'd always know when your prayers are answered. But sometimes God answers a prayer you may forgot you prayed. With a prayer list, you'll remember all your prayers, and be able to give God the proper thanks he asks.
There are advantages and disadvantages to having an electronic prayer list. The major disadvantage is that you can lose it to a virus. So back up your prayer list as much as you can. In the event that you totally lose it, God still remembers it, and you can pray that he accepts the prayers on that list in addition to your new list. Still, its a good idea to rebuild your list from what you remember. I guess you can lose a paper prayer list too, but it is more difficult in some ways. One great advantage to an electronic prayer list is that you can search through it. Enter in a word or two, and get to where you want to read. I enjoy Crosswalk.com for having many Bible versions search-able. When I want to look up a verse, I remember a few words, and I can look it up easily. Finally I type faster than I write. Also my handwriting is not as good as type.
Final remarks: Remember the Lord's prayer says,"May thy will be done". So a good thing to add in your prayers is that God to do the best thing in his eyes over the best thing that we can imagine. I have a lot of prayers that get answered, but not all of them happen in the ways that I desire. Also sometimes things happen that I do not want to happen at all, such as the death of a loved one. I know that God is looking out for all of us, and he wants the best for all of us, so even though bad things happen, I know the God who is perfect and good is in control. We can't ask for a better reality than that which God gives to us. For while our temporary life on this Earth seems so real and lasting, we'll be in Heaven for infinitely longer. So do not keep your eyes fixed on what seems permanent in this life, look to love which will remain when you enter into Heaven and are reunited with loved ones.
Also, don't fall too far off the path in the other way either and think too trivially of this life! If we're given an opportunity to help others, we should take it. There may be loved ones we miss in Heaven, but there are also people on this earth that we could love if we met them. If we don't take a chance to build relationships with people, and help others as they need it, we may be cheating ourselves. If we have more than enough for ourselves in this life, we should help others in poverty. This life means a lot. And if you're veering too far off course in not thinking this life matters, help others, for you'll see how much life means to them. I know a lot of people don't go off course this way, but I feel I should still mention it.
-Jim Sager