Bri's Prayer Journal

Livextreme Ladies had a great time during our weekly fellowship.  It is always a time of encouragement just to listen and be heard.  I love hearing from each of the ladies in the group share their responses to the discussion topics.  Each lady is answering based on her current life situation.  Their life circumstances and personalities also shine through in their spiritual growth.

Last week we focused on prayer journals.  I challenged each of the ladies that have not already established a way in which they document prayers to begin a prayer journal that best suits them.  For the ladies that already use prayer journals, I encouraged them to continue in their diligence.  I also mentioned if they feel the need to revamp their prayer journal after hearing these new ideas to do so to keep their prayer lives fresh.

Bri shared her prayer journal and explained a few ways she keeps up with her prayers.  She uses a three ring binder with dividers and loose leaf paper to keep up with her journal.

The first section in her prayer journal is her prayers and praises.  I love how creative and resourceful she was in making her dividers.  The dividers are pieces of construction paper that coordinate with the binder cover.  She punched holes on the side so it would fit in the binder.  She then printed the label on white paper with the funky font and she along with her niece colored the letters.  

In this section, Bri uses a template to guide her prayers.  The picture below will take you to the blog where you can print off this template for free.  It is a great tool to prompt prayers and to keep track of requests along with their answers.  When she writes out her prayers, she also uses the acronym PRAY to form her prayer in order.  P- Praise   R- Repent   A- Ask   Y-Yeild

The next section Bri uses is for her Favorite Bible Verses.  This section is where she writes verses that pertain to her life or a certain topic she is studying.  

The last section is for Random Tidbits.  In this section, she keeps information sheets that pertain to spiritual matters.  She had a few papers that had info about the books of the Bible.

It is wonderful to see ladies growing in their spiritual lives.  Every lady in our group and every lady or person that reads this blog is either in a relationship with Christ or has the opportunity to have a relationship with Christ.  We all have the same ways of fellowship with Christ.  We can read the Bible and pray among other disciplines but these ways of communication can look different for each person.  I pray that you and the ladies in our group will continue to strive to grow in our spiritual lives.  There are many other tools that can be used to help facilitate our spiritual growth.  What are some tools that you use to encourage your own spiritual growth?  Please leave comments and ideas so we can explore may other spiritual tools.

Active Listening

Looking as though you are listening to a sermon on Sunday morning is easy.  You sit very still looking at the pastor and occasionally nod your head in agreement.  Actively listening is more difficult.  Thoughts can easily invade our focus on the message the pastor is presenting.  Are we getting as much out of a sermon as God is wanting us to get out of it?  The Holy Spirit is working through our pastor by giving him the words to say.  We participate in this encounter with the Holy Spirit by listening to the sermon with our heart as well as our ears.  

This week, Livextreme Ladies will talk about active listening in our church lives, specifically active listening during sermons.  There are many resources to find information on active listening skills.  One article that I found listed five key elements of active listening.  The article and the website's information are for improving skills related to your career, but many of these skills can also be an helpful in our everyday life.  

The five key elements of active listening include pay attention, show that you are listening, defer judgement, respond appropriately, and provide feedback.  These elements are important to listening to a sermon just like they are important when you are listening to a friend.  I would like to take a moment to share how these elements can be used during or after actively listening to a sermon.  

1. Pay Attention

• Look at the pastor/speaker directly or follow along in your Bible
• Empty your mind of thoughts that do not pertain to the message
• Focus on how the message relates to you and your life
• Avoid being distracted by environmental factors
• "Listen" to the speaker's body language

2. Show That You're Listening

• Nod occasionally
• Smile and use other facial expressions (raising eyebrows)
• Note your posture (sit up straight)
• It is ok to encourage the pastor/speaker with an Amen every once in a while :)

3. Defer Judgment

• Allow the pastor/speaker to finish before bringing your opinion to a conclusion 
• Continue to actively listen even when your "toes" get stepped on ;)

4. Respond Appropriately

       Your response will depend on how the Holy Spirit is working in your heart by the end of the sermon.  When the Holy Spirit is working within you be sure to respond in the corresponding way and in a timely manner.

• Be open and honest in your response
• Pray at your seat during the invitation for what God has laid on your heart
• Kneel at the alter and bare your heart to God
• Share with the pastor what is weighing heavy on you and pray with him
• Make public decisions that you have made

5. Provide Feedback

       This is where our printable for the week comes in.  In order for us to remember what the pastor has said during the half hour or so that he has preached, it might be a good idea to take notes.  There are many ways to take notes.  The Cornell Method is very easy to use and covers the main concepts of a sermon such as scripture, notes on each passage or verse, application, and key verse.  The ladies will use this method for Sunday and share feedback next week.  A few ideas about providing feedback would include the following:

• Reflect what you understood from the message
• Talk to someone that attended the sermon about one thing you learned
• Ask the pastor/speaker questions to clarify certain points
• Summarize the pastor's/speaker's comments periodically in your notes/mentally
• Comment to the pastor/speaker about what you received from the message

 

The plan for tonight is for the ladies to discuss how they are active listeners during a sermon.  I will then take the time to introduce them to the Cornell Method of note taking.  The challenge will be for them to use this method to take notes during one of the sermons they hear this week.  Next week, we will share our experience in taking notes and give feedback about this method of note taking.  Please join us in our attempt at being a more active listener during sermons and using tools such as the Cornell Method to help us.  Leave a comment describing how you are an active listener during sermons and how you use note taking as a tool to keep you focused.  

Prayer Journal Update

A prayer journal is as unique as it's owner.  There are many different methods that can be used to track your prayer life.  The key is to find a system that works well with your personality, your circumstances, and your available time.

After sending a Facebook message to our group about discussing prayer journal techniques, one of the ladies commented back that this was something she had been thinking about.  This was exciting news to me. I prayerfully considered a topic of discussion that would improve our Christian walks.  The Holy Spirit was definitely guiding me as I chose the topic.

We had two ladies other than myself share their prayer journals with the group.  Tracy Livvix explained that she used a composition notebook to write out her prayers based on topic.  She then differentiated the prayers with an upward arrow and the praises with the downward arrow.  The arrow in the left margin beside each prayer represented that our prayer lives are not one way communication.  We pray with requests and God answers with blessings.

Katherine Martin described her "quiet time" as she demonstrated how she used her prayer journal.  She uses a spiral notebook as her prayer journal.  During her "quiet time", she uses a devotional book to guide her Bible study as she ponders the meaning of scripture and how it is relevant to her.  She writes notes and application ideas from the devotion time at the top of the page.  At the bottom of the page, she writes out her prayers.  

The "show and tell" time seemed to go over very well.  I challenged the ladies that do not currently use a prayer journal to think of a method that would best benefit them and their own Christian walks.  Two of the ladies asked for the dividers that I used to form my prayer journal.  They will use the dividers for their own  or to improve their current prayer journals.  Bri commented on Facebook that she is working on putting together a prayer journal and she will bring it next week to "show and tell".  A friend of mine who is following this blog is also very excited about implementing these ideas to form her own prayer journal.  I am very excited that this was a relevant topic for our ladies group and other lady friends.

This could be an ongoing topic to help our ladies group to focus on our prayer lives.  Our prayer journals will grow as we grow in our Christian walk.  We would love to hear how you are using a prayer journal.  What is your method of keeping track of your requests and blessings?  Does a prayer journal benefit your prayer life?  What does yours look like?  Leave a comment below to share your ideas.

Life is like riding a bike...

Life is like riding a bicycle. 

To keep your balance, 

you must keep moving. 

- Albert Einstein 

Balance is something that most people struggle with on a daily basis.  Balance can be easily found in many areas of our lives.  It can be found in your check book, diet, and even your Christian walk.  Balance can also be easily lost.  A receipt can be misplaced, a diet can be forgotten, and we can stray from our Christian walk.

Today was my first attempt in many a years to ride a bicycle.  The Lord gave me this bike through my friend Sergey.  I figure God had a few lessons in mind for me in my bicycle riding experience.  With this thought, I felt it was best for me to practice riding alone.  I brought it home yesterday and tried a little.  It was a hilarious site.  Half an hour later, I decided that because of time restraints I would pray over the night and spend more time on it today.

This morning, I set up the bike close to the garage with the kick stand holding it upright.  With one hand on the handle bar and the other on the seat, I stood quietly and bowed my head in prayer.  The prayer sounded a little like this...

I'm going to need courage God.  I'll probably need a sense of humor.  I might need some band aids.  More than anything, I'm going to need you to jog beside me with one hand hear on my right hand directing my path and the other on the seat holding me up. 

 I think God is just like an earthly father when He has the opportunity to teach His children a thing or two even when they are in their late twenties. My attempts at riding reminded me of when my earthly father taught me to ride a bike a couple of decades a go.  My earthly father is over a thousand miles away but my Heavenly Father is always by my side.  

My experience with this bicycle riding business has been exactly what Mr. Einstein said.  After many attempts, I finally learned that I just had to go.  I cleared my mind of thoughts and just went.  The spotlight on the battle of courage and doubt had to be blacked from the stage of my mind so that I could focus on Who was there to hold me up.  

Once my confidence was nearly at a comfortable level, I began to make ovals in the driveway.  I'm sure I looked silly as I wobbled from side to side to keep the balance that would come and go.  The curves are a balancing act all on their own.  The trick is finding a happy median between two extremes. A balance must be established of confidence with caution; pedaling with gliding; and steering with driving.

As I type this post, my hand are raw and tired from the death grip I had on the handle bars during my practice session.  The death grip did nothing to help me learn to ride the bike faster, more confidently, or more skillfully.  So, why do my hands hurt?  The handles were the thing that I could brace myself with during this "out of my comfort zone experience."  The grip did very little to make me feel more confident in the bicycles ability to keep me from harms way.  My death grip on the handle bars of life should be exchanged for a tight hold to my trust in God. 





Lessons are taught everyday.  I will be ready for another riding lesson tomorrow.  By then, my courage will be replenished, my sense of humor will be renewed, and my skinned knee will be healed with the help of a band aid.  I just have to remember what I learned today and apply it to tomorrow. 

Prayer Journals

Every Livextreme Ladies' Night Out is different.  Our chatting sometimes is focused on our lives and how things are going.  Other times the core of the conversation is on prayer requests.  Some nights we pick apart The Shack through our discussion.

The one thing that I feel God wants our group of ladies to focus on is prayer.  Each of them always has at least one thing that is weighing on them.  Throughout the night, we keep up with a list of prayer requests.  At the end, before we leave McDonald's, one lady prays over the list of requests.

Tomorrow night, I would like for us to focus on prayer.  Some of the ladies have a journal they use to keep up with their prayers.  We will have a time to share how we keep up with our prayers.  Each lady will bring their prayer journal and tell how it is used in their daily quiet time.

Recently I changed from a spiral notebook to a three ring binder with dividers.  To begin the "show and tell" time, I will share my prayer journal and explain how I use it daily to see God is at work in my life and the lives of others.

The picture above shows the front cover of my prayer journal.  This prayer journal idea came from Monica's blog and can be found at DailyDwelling.  This is a white 1/2" three ring binder with a clear pocket in the front and back.  The binder design is better for me than a spiral notebook because clean paper, additional sections, and other resources can easily be added or taken away.  A journal with room to grow is more conducive to my personal quiet time.

There are ten tabbed sections of topics for prayer in this version of the prayer journal.  Those sections include: 
1. Scripture
2. Praise
3. Self
4. Husband
5. Children
6. Friends
7. Family
8. Church
9. Neighbors
10. Reaching Beyond   

Five of the sections seemed more relevant to my life: scripture, praise, friends, family, and church.  Narrowing the sections to five seemed to allow for more quality prayer time.  The section titles were each printed onto card stock and placed into a clear page protector sleeve with a color tab.  Then, I used my label maker to print a label for each section so it can be easily found.

Between each tabbed section I inserted loose leaf college lined paper.  The date and my prayers for each section are written on the paper in different colored ink.  A time to review my previous prayers to make note of the date that the prayers were answered has allowed my prayer time to be more active and encouraging. A highlighter could be used to put a spotlight on answered prayers so this time will be more engaging.   

In my personal experience, using this method of journaling prayers has made me more aware of God's work in my life and the lives of others.  Here is a brief description of how I use this journal during my quiet time with God.  

• The scripture section is full of printables that help me to organize the scriptures I am memorizing and also my personal Bible study notes.  In the future, I intend to add notes from sermons, quotes from book and magazines, and pictures that relate to scriptures I am studying. 
• Instead of using the self section, I write prayers of praise.  This is where I use words of praise to pray about personal matters.  This has helped me to have a more positive look on my daily life.  One of the first things I do in the morning is praise God for who He is and thank Him for the blessings he has bestowed upon me.  
• Prayers for each of my friends and the things that are heavy on their hearts as well as things that God leads me to pray for them are kept up to date in this section.  It has become a great joy to see how the prayers are answered in God's way which is always better than what I prayed.
• The family section is a prayer topic that I must trust God with wholeheartedly.  A two days journey separates me from my family but I know God is taking care of them even though I do not always know what is going on down south.  I pray for their general well being and the things they have asked me to pray about.  It is difficult not being there but I know He has His eyes on them.
• Church is a huge part of my life.  Let me rephrase that.  Church is my life.  All of the ministry activities and situations are listed in this section.  It helps to keep up with prayer needs of the ministry including physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual topics.  Ministry is run on faith and there is no need for us to get discouraged because we are blind to God's provision or the work of the Holy Spirit.

Please be in prayer for our Livextreme Ladies Night Out every Thursday at 7:00PM.  If you have any ideas about how you keep up with prayer requests and how God has answered them, please comment.  I would love to hear fresh ideas.