“Real prayer is communion with God, so that there will be common thoughts between His mind and ours.
What is needed is for Him to fill our hearts with His thoughts, and then His desires will become our desires flowing back to Him.” ~ A.W. Pink
Prayer Changes You
Prayer is an amazing thing. Not because it “works”, but because prayer changes the person praying. When we take the time to communicate with the Lord of the Universe, just submitting ourselves to an active relationship with Him changes us. We begin to desire that which He desires and our hearts begin to desire more of Him in our lives.
Does God Change His Mind When We Pray?
God is sovereign over all things, and God never changes. These things are true about God, so why pray?
One of the best explanations I’ve seen for how our intervention through prayer truly can change what is occurring (when it is the Lord’s will) comes from Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology. In his section on the incommunicable attributes of God, Dr. Grudem discusses God’s unchangeableness or immutability. He describes God’s unchangeableness as this:
God is unchanging in his being, perfections, purposes, and promises, yet God does act and feel emotions, and he acts and feels differently in response to different situations. ~ Systematic Theology, pg. 163
Dr. Grudem then goes on to talk about the many instances in Scripture where the Lord responds to prayer and/or repentance. Why does God “change His mind” when we pray?
Prayer Changes Situations
God doesn’t change His mind.
Rather, God’s purpose or response changes when the situation changes. And our humble prayers and repentance change a situation. Dr. Grudem explains it this way:
These instances [in Scripture] should all be understood as God’s present attitude or intention with respect to the situation as it exists at that moment. If the situation changes, then of course God’s attitude or expression of intention will also change. This is just saying that God responds differently to different situations. ~ Systematic Theology, pg. 164
This is not to say that God has to answer a prayer the way we want just because the situation changes (remember, much of praying involves God changing our hearts), but it does mean He now has a different situation to respond to.
Great Prayer Resources
Your Child’s Repentance and Requests Change Your Parenting
A good example of how prayer changes a situation is your relationship with your children.
When you catch your child in a lie, and the child is angry and unrepentant, you discipline your child to help them learn. When your child is openly repentant and wants to change, this is a different situation. You now have the room to show grace and mercy to your child, knowing the Lord is working in his heart.
Likewise, when your child humbly and sweetly requests something of you, the situation is much different than when your child demands or insists upon something.
Obviously, God is not the same as we are, and this is an imperfect illustration, but it does help us understand how our earnest communication with the Lord can change our real-life situation.
Getting Serious About Prayer Requests
“For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ~ Galatians 5:14 (ESV)
God is always sovereign over our life and circumstances. However, understanding that prayer changes situations helps us understand that 1) It is important for us to ask for prayer in overcoming our sin, in our life circumstances, and in our process of sanctification, and 2) It is important for us to faithfully pray for others.
Now that we know all this about praying to the Lord, we also know that praying is an important way to love others. Scripture calls us to pray not only for those we love, but also for our enemies–those who curse and abuse us. What if rather than turning to social media when we’re mistreated, we instead sought the Lord in prayer, praying for those who hurt us?
It’s possible to pray for people as they come to mind throughout the day. But if we’re being honest, it’s also easy to forget to pray for others altogether.
Printable Prayer Request Cards for Moms
To help you keep track of prayer requests in your prayer time, I’ve created a fun set of cards for you to print and use. The set has 27 double-sided pieces, and would make a great gift for the ladies in your life–just print them, cut them out, and tie a pretty pink or grey ribbon around them. Maybe add a couple of your favorite pens to complete the gift. (These are my favorite–they’re so pretty and write wonderfully.)
Let’s take a look at what’s in the printable Prayer Request Cards Set.
There are 16 prayer request cards. These are designed to help you keep track of who you’re praying for and that person’s needs. Simply write the name of the person you’re praying for on the front of the card, and their prayer requests (or your concerns and petitions for them) in list form on the back. If you need more than 16 cards, simply print this section as many times as you’d like.
The prayer request cards can be used a number of ways. Here are a few ideas:
- Choose a person each day to pray for and fill out a card for that day’s person. Save the card after praying and use the prayer request cards on a rotation, working through one each day.
- Fill out a card every time you come across someone in need of prayer. You can even keep a few on hand in your purse.
- In a group, such as a Bible study or small group, have each lady fill out a card with their own prayer requests. Collect the cards and pray for each lady throughout the week. Or perhaps bring a stack and have the ladies partner up, filling out a card for their partner for the week.
Prayer Request List Bookmarks
There are 5 prayer list bookmarks, each with room for 7 names. The bookmarks have a pretty graphic and a prayer list on one side, and a fun graphic on the other side.
These bookmarks are a great reminder to pray for others throughout the day. Here are a few ways to use them:
- Fill out all 5 prayer request list bookmarks with a different set of names and rotate the bookmarks over 5 weeks, praying for new people each week.
- Fill out all 5 prayer request list bookmarks and place them in your Bible, journal, daytimer, bedside book, and by your toothbrush to remind you to pray for different people throughout the day.
- At a women’s group, print a stack of prayer request list bookmarks, and have the ladies commit to pray for each other in groups of 8. They can record the names of their prayer partners.
- Use the prayer request list bookmarks for prayer requests you often miss, like the senate or your church elders, and store the bookmarks in your Bible to help you remember to pray for institutions and those in leadership.
“I Am Praying for You” Notecards
There are 6 prayer notecards. Each has a pretty floral wreath on the front. The inside of each says, “I’m praying for you today.” Praying for a friend is a wonderful way to love them. It’s also encouraging to hear that we’re being prayed for by others. Use these cards to let someone know you’re praying.
These prayer notecards are a great way to edify others. Here are a few ways to use them:
- When the Lord puts someone on your heart to pray for, write them an encouraging note and drop it in the mail, letting them know you’re praying.
- Let your friend know what you’re praying, encouraging her to seek the Lord in all she does.
- Write a helpful verse or two in the card.
- Attach the card to a small gift, like chocolate or a bouquet of flowers, to remind a suffering friend she’s being prayed for.
How to Print the Prayer Request Card Set for Moms
- Print these cards on duplex (back-to-back or double-sided). You’ll want to flip on the SHORT edge for these. You should be able to change the settings for this in the Properties tab of your printer box once you download and tell your computer to print.
- I recommend printing on white cardstock so the cards will be more durable and the back won’t show through on the front. This is my very favorite cardstock: Neenah Premium Cardstock.
Bible Resources for Your Kids
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60 Scriptures You Can Pray
The Bible is full of prayer that you can pray too!
How do you pray when you don’t know what to say? The Bible holds the answer.
God doesn’t expect us to pray without guidance. In fact, Scripture is full of examples of ordinary people approaching our extraordinary God in prayer.
Award-winning author Danika Cooley believes that praying God’s Word teaches us how to best communicate with our Lord:
“There are so many lessons we can learn from Scripture about how to approach God and what to expect when we do.”
Danika’s devotional 60 Scriptures You Can Pray covers eight types of prayer from the Bible, the expectations we should have when we pray, and the right heart attitude for prayer.
- Praise | We adore God for who he is.
- Thanksgiving | We thank God for all he has done.
- Confession | We admit our sin to the God who saves us.
- Supplication | We humbly ask God to provide for our needs.
- Intercession | We ask God to meet the needs of others.
- Deliverance | We cry out to God for help in times of trouble.
- Lament | We bring our sorrow to God, our comforter.
- Guidance | We ask for God’s help in determining his will for our lives.
When you read 60 Scriptures You Can Pray, you will:
- Develop a habit of praying daily over a two-month period
- Learn more about prayer in Scripture
- Understand eight different types of prayer
- Expand your understanding of how to pray biblically
- Become better acquainted with God, His Word, and why we pray
Packed with thoughtful explanations of biblical prayer and practical application in each devotion, 60 Scriptures You Can Pray is the tool you need to learn more about prayer–straight from God’s Word.
Want to equip the women in your church to pray biblically?
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