My friend sat across from me in the coffee shop, drinking something hot from a big glass mug. I took a nibble from my pumpkin bread and choked back a few tears as I prepared to confess something.
It had been a very rough start to the year, and I knew I was in desperate need of prayers for strength. I was discouraged, at a loss for how to help in a difficult situation. I knew I need the Lord’s wisdom and prayer support through this hard time. Aside from my family, I had a handful of friends who I absolutely knew would remember me in their prayers if I asked them.
As I sat across from one such friend, I voiced the thing that had been burdening me ever since this hard season started. I had a feeling about the sort of people I could count on to pray for me, and in contrast, the people that didn’t give me the same confidence. That’s when an uncomfortable thought occurred to me.
Was I the kind of person that my own friends could count on to pray for them?
I had to admit to myself that I probably was not that kind of person for those dear to me. I was often sympathetic in the moment, might shoot up a quick prayer, but then would forget.
The healthy kind of shame came over me. I don’t want to be that way anymore. I want to be the kind that can be counted on to pray and not forget.
Thus began my 2025 mission of figuring out a prayer routine and system that will help me become a true praying woman. Not just praying in the moment, but someone who will hold my loved ones up in prayer over and over again, until their needs are answered one way or another. Someone who will “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17).
I’ve been slowly working through books on prayer, and writing myself reminders to pray in my phone. I been writing out prayer requests, and trying to become fluent at praying Scripture, and falling in and out of the habit of morning prayer too many times. Striving to figure this whole thing out, alternating between success and failure.
I think learning to become a woman of prayer is probably always like that, trying, and failing, and trying again. But hopefully becoming more and more faithful along the way.
In light of my ongoing desire to become better at prayer, I wanted to share one of the prayer resources I’ve picked up recently. I am excited about trying it as another way to guide and reinforce a habit of prayer in my life.
The Pour Out Your Heart Prayer Journal is a book I’ve been eyeing for almost a year now, and when my copy arrived in the mail it was so pretty that I just stared at it for a couple months, not wanting to mess up the beautiful cloth cover and pristine pages. But then I realized that was silly. This journal was meant to be used, to be messed up, to get fingerprint smudges on the pages and coffee drips on the cover over many years of use. So I finally jumped into it.
Most prayer journals that I have explored in the past have pages with room to write praises, thanksgiving, confession, and requests. This journal does as well, but the way it is organized is more conducive to years of use, and being able to easily find previous prayer requests.
The first section is devoted to spending time pondering the gospel - with pages to write out verses and any other quotes while remembering all the Lord has done for us in prayer.
The next section is similar, with pages to remember God’s promises in Scripture. The encouragement is to focus on the character and promises of God before presenting our requests to Him. As someone who tends to rush through prayer too often, I appreciate the built-in reminders and guidance for slowing down and pondering while praying Scripture.
Then we come to what you would typically expect in a prayer journal, pages for recording prayers for specific things. There are pages for praying for unbelievers, for the Church, and for Christ’s Kingdom to advance through missionaries and ministries. Next there are pages for praying for specific loved ones, and finally, pages for praying for yourself.
The final section is for recording God’s provision in answer to prayers. This section is meant to be used as you recognize God’s answers to prayer, or at the New Year as you look back and reflect on how God has worked throughout the year.
The back of the book holds a few pages with encouragement for prayer, and lists of possible verses to use in your prayers for each section. There are also some beautiful prayers included from saints from the past.
I love that the layout of this book is built specifically around remembering what God has done. Answered prayers cannot get lost in this journal because of how it is laid out. The pages for individuals are meant to be used with sticky notes so that as needs change, you can just swap out the notes. It’s a really smart system when you take a little time to understand it.
(Notice the water stain on the front of my journal. I’m learning to be okay with letting it get beat up!)
I have been laying aside time to pray each morning using this journal, and while I am still not as faithful to daily prayer as I aim to be, having all my prayer requests in one place, along with guidance for pondering and praise, is so helpful. I like having a place to write ongoing prayer requests and a system for keeping the same book for a long period of time. I look forward to using this journal for many years to come.
If you have a prayer journal, or some other system for keeping track of prayer requests and answered prayers, I would love to hear about it! Please share in the comments - I’d love encouragement and ideas, or to commiserate if developing a consistent prayer life is something with which you have struggled as I have!
Note: I received this journal for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
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