Guest Writer Monday: Savannah!

How was your weekend? I am loving the sunshine today! Savannah is going to kick off our week with a guest post! You are going to love her idea. Enjoy and leave her some love!


A few months ago, I got a text from my mother on a Sunday morning.

“Do you ever tell someone ‘I’ll pray for you,’ and consider that your prayer?”

The ugly truth is that I have done that. My world is full of people who desire and deserve my prayer, but sometimes my prayer for them gets lost in my prayer for “me”-- my prayer time revolves mostly around my immediate family. I pray for strength, patience and guidance for my husband; obedience, faith, and dedication for my son; pure hearts, love of Scripture, presence of peace for my girls… and a heck of a lot of forgiveness and perseverance for me.

I start my prayers small, and grow them- blessings on my family, home, church, city, state, nation, and planet. Sometimes I feel like I’m praying the way my 3 year old daughter does: “God bless Mommy, Daddy, Bubby, Sissy, all the puppies, all the dolphins, all the mountains, and all the stars.”

My prayers, when I’m not properly focused, tend to ramble and become more generalized and more vague. “God, heal the wounded.” “Father, send someone to minister to the lost” “Lord, thank you for health.”

And while sometimes the most simple prayers can also be the most powerful…
A joyful praise, “Thank you, Jesus!!”
A desperate hosanna, “Jehovah, help.”

…I still feel guilty and sad when I (unintentionally) don’t remember the people for whom I said I’d pray.

So, I came up with something to help my memory: Post-It Prayers. I’m certain I’m not the first to come up with this, but it’s been a great process.

Post-It notes. I keep a pack in my purse, in my car, and several scattered around the house (don’t we all?). When I tell someone I’ll pray for them, I write their name and a little description on a Post-It, and place it somewhere I’ll remember.

Sometimes I don’t even mention to the person that I’ll pray, if they don’t specifically ask for prayer. Sometimes I like to “stealth pray,” or pray for someone without their knowing it… like I’m a secret spy for the Lord! I like asking help or blessing for somebody when they don’t know I’m doing it, just like I like dropping off food boxes for people at Thanksgiving, just like I like donating formula at our local women’s shelter without giving them my name.

So, I write a note on a Post-It and then when I see it in some special place- the bathroom mirror, the inside of a kitchen cabinet, my steering wheel, a lampshade- I pray for that person/situation. I like to touch each note before or during my prayer; literally praying over someone’s name gives it more of a personal, powerful place in my heart.

*photo from flickr.com user ciarrai

I also like to write Scripture on different colored notes, and put them in surprise places too- the drawer in the refrigerator, the top of the toilet, the jug of laundry detergent- so that I go about my day bathed in prayer and the Word.

There are so many great prayers, and even some really good “how-to” prayers and “why to” prayers in the Bible.

When the Israelites where acting like a hot mess in the desert, Moses’ prayer alone assuaged God’s wrath: Psalm 106:23 & 45 (New Living Translation)
23 So he (the LORD) declared he would destroy them.
But Moses, his chosen one, stepped between the LORD and the people.
He begged him to turn from his anger and not destroy them…..
45 He remembered his covenant with them and relented because of his
unfailing love.

I don’t, by any stretch, claim to be a Moses. But I know my intercessory prayers are heard. I know my God has an ear for my pleas. My favorite verses on intercession (praying on others’ behalf) come from Peter’s account of his time in jail, when his friends prayed desperately for him: Acts 12:5 & 12 (New International Version) “5So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.” Then an angel of the Lord was sent to remove Peter’s shackles and break his chains. The angel walked Peter past the guards and out of the city, unharmed. Peter realized the angel had been sent to free him. “12When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying.”

Prayer is a powerful tool, and an intimate way to communicate with our Father. Do not be afraid (or forgetful!!) to pray on another’s behalf. Not only they, but also you, will be blessed because of it.