Prayers of My Heart Prayer Journal

Deer in the Headlights

03/11/2020

Have you ever felt like a deer in the headlights when you realized you forgot to pray for someone?  That happened to me several years ago. A person thanked me for praying for them. I was ashamed that I’d forgotten to and resolved to never again let that happen. The next morning, I asked God to show me a way to record prayer requests for those who asked me to pray for them and also go back and thank Him for His answers. In the quiet of the early morning hours, the word “spreadsheet” came to mind. Put the names of the people you pray for regularly across the top of the paper each week and designate a friend column for additional requests. Do you wish you had a better way to keep up with your prayers? If so, visit debbietaylorwilliams and click Prayers of My Heart. You’ll find prayer and journaling tips to rejuvenate your prayer life so you don’t forget to pray for someone.

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Good Year? Bad Year?

12/30/2019

As you look at your year, are your thoughts, “It’s been great!” Or, are your thoughts more along the lines of, “It’s been a rough or bad year”? Perhaps the “rough” or “bad” is related to finances, work, your marriage, children, parents, friendships. It may be related to your frustration with yourself, that you continue to struggle with the same sin. Whatever the case, something God wants us to be mindful of is that He was there for us in the past and He’s not going anywhere. He’s staying by our side. As Romans 3:26 reminds us, He is “just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”  Developing a grateful heart for who God is and His presence in our lives is a gift to ourselves and to others. Who would you rather be around? A negative, cup is always half empty, or a grateful person, mindful of their blessings in Christ? Psalm 63:4 says, “I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.”  I hope you have  Prayers of My Heart journal so you can daily lift your hands in praise of God and record a trait/name of Him each day. It is not too late to order.  Journaling God’s traits and praying in relation to His character increases our mindfulness of God’s blessings and how we’re to be being transformed into His likeness. JOIN the POMH Gathering on Facebook for encouragement. We’re going to have so much fun sharing how we’re journaling and God’s blessings.

We praise you, Lord, for being both just and our  justifier. We are so grateful!

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The Difference in Slow and Fast

10/21/2019

LISTEN

Are you hot tempered or does it take a lot to get you angry?  What kind of person would you rather be around – a hot tempered or patient, loving one? What kind of Heavenly Father do you prefer? One quickly angered by your shortcomings or slow to anger.  If you said you’d rather be in a relationship with someone who is slow to anger and great in love, you’re on the same page as Psalm 145:8. Psalm 145 encourages us to give thanks for God’s name and to praise Him. Why? “The Lord is gracious and merciful; SLOW TO ANGER and great in lovingkindness.”  Prayers of My Heart journal is a great place to record your thanks to God for all the ways the Bible reveals His character.  It is also a thoughtful and meaningful gift for those those on your Christmas list.

Lord, thank You for being SLOW to ANGER. You are a gracious and merciful God. We love You and thank You!

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Are You Like Tommy or David?

06/22/2019
Standing in the grocery store check out line, I noticed the child from the corner of my eye. You couldn’t help but notice. He was throwing a temper tantrum. “I want it!” he wailed at the top of his lungs.  The bedraggled mother tried her best to wrestle the package of M & Ms from his hands, while struggling at the same time to apologize to the cashier. She didn’t dare look at the customers in line behind her. Tommy “wanted” the M & M’s. That was clear. But, his mother knew full well that her child wasn’t “lacking” for food. His temper tantrum wasn’t unfamiliar to me. Although I don’t like to admit it, I’m a lot like Tommy. I may not lay on the floor and kick and scream. But when I get my mind around what I want and I don’t get it, I’m rather like him. I may complain. I may whine in my spirit.  What makes me different from Tommy? Height and weight. There’s something else, though, that can and should make believers different from Tommy.  The renown shepherd, David, points us to the key to being calm and trusting rather than demanding and complaining.  “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”  Psalm 23:1 David had a grasp on something I sometimes forget. There’s a difference between what I “want” and what I “lack.” Psalm 23:1 is best interpreted, “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack for nothing.” In other words, David was keenly award that the Lord was watching over him, leading him, and protecting him. He was mindful of his Shepherd’s provision.  If there are more times you focus on what you want rather than on God’s provision and you want to develop more of an attitude of gratitude, join me in daily journaling your gratitudes in  Prayers of My Heart prayer journal.  Discover the  7 Benefits of Journaling.  Our Heavenly Father wants us to grow closer to the image of Christ and less like Tommy. Will you begin today?

Jehovah-Ra-ah, we praise You, our Shepherd. In You we lack for nothing. May we set our minds on the things above according to Your Word.  Order Prayers of My Heart HERE.

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The Difference in Slow and Fast

10/21/2018

LISTEN

Are you hot tempered or does it take a lot to get you angry? Do people have to squeak out an affirmation of your love or are you known for being a loving person? What kind of person would you rather be around – a hot tempered unloving person or a patient, loving one? What kind of Heavenly Father do you prefer? One who is quickly angered by your shortcomings or slow to anger; One who is somewhat loving toward you or One who has great love for you? If you said you’d rather be in a relationship with someone who is slow to anger and great in love, you’re on the same page as Psalm 145:8. Psalm 145 encourages us to give thanks for God’s name and to praise Him.  Prayers of My Heart journal is a great place to do that. In times of discouragement or trial, you can thumb through the pages and be reminded of His goodness to you. Prayers of My Heart  is a thoughtful and meaningful gift for those those on your Christmas list.

Lord, we praise You for being SLOW to ANGER. You are a gracious and merciful God. We love You and thank You!

“The Lord is gracious and merciful; SLOW TO ANGER and great in lovingkindness.” Psalm 145:8

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Praise to the MOST HIGH

08/02/2018
“The Lord thundered from heaven, and the MOST HIGH uttered His voice.”
How big is our God? How often do we recognize His hand in our everyday life? How often does something good come our way, and we pass it off, thinking, “that’s nice.” Or, do we bow our hearts in humble gratefulness and thank the MOST HIGH for what He gives us? From God’s perspective, are we grateful or ungrateful children?
David cried to God in his distress. God responded through what others might call “favorable circumstances.” But David’s response was, “Thank You, MOST HIGH. You did this in answer to my calling out to You.” David worshipped and praised God.
Would you agree that today is a good day for us to look through our prayer journals and highlight or date answered prayers; expressing gratitude to our MOST HIGH God?

Lord, MOST HIGH, give us eyes to see Your hand moving in our lives. Give us grateful hearts. 

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Praise to the JUSTIFIER

06/16/2018

“I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the JUSTIFIER of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

Romans 3:26

God is just. But, in addition, He is the JUSTIFIER.  What does His revelation of Himself to us explain? That God declares us righteous when we repent of our sins and confess Jesus as Savior and Lord. If we’re not already lifting our hands in praise of God; that He is both JUST and JUSTIFIER, now is a good time to praise Him. “I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.” Psalm 63:4

We praise you, God, both just and JUSTIFIER!

I hope you’re getting a copy of Prayers of My Heart so you can join me in daily recording a character trait or name of God each day. It increases our mindfulness when we not only read the way in which God reveals Himself, but we also write it.

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Praise to JEHOVAH-Shammah, the Lord is There

06/11/2018

“…the name of the city from that day shall be: THE LORD IS THERE.” Hebrew. YHWH Shammah

Ezekiel 48:35 NKJV

In our study and praise of the Lord each day, we’re often familiar with the ways in which God is revealed. That may not be the case with Jehovah-Shammah, the LORD is There. What does this name indicate? I looked to Herbert Lockyer’s “All the Divine Names and Titles in the Bible” to explain.

“Ezekiel saw the glory of God, and recorded its departure from the Temple because of Israel’s idolatry and iniquity. He likewise saw judgment upon Jerusalem, and the setting up of the Prince, the second David, as the channel of Israel’s future blessing – the judgements of God and Magog – the setting up of an ideal city with the restoration of the Temple within it. The name of this ideal commonwealth or kingdom is to be Jehovah-Shammah – “The LORED is there” – so called because of the manifest present and power of Jehovah therein.”

Lockyer continues, “Here, then, in this consoling title, the last of Jehovah’s titles, …He designates Himself as the Dweller from beyond space in the millennial city of Jerusalem. In the past, Tabernacle and Temple alike were His dwelling place, but in the future a wider sphere is to be His. During the millennium there will be the Temple and the City. In the New Jerusalem, however, there is no Temple, but the LORD Himself, as Jehovah-Shammah.”

Heavenly Father, we praise You for Your eternal dwelling in our hearts. We look with hope and anticipation to the New Jerusalem and being in the presence of You, Jehovah-Shammah.

Record each of God’s divine names in Prayers of My Heart, available HERE.

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Praise to JEHOVAH-RA-AH

06/09/2018

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

Psalm 23:1

Standing at the grocery store, I noticed the child from the corner of my eye. You couldn’t help but notice. He was throwing a temper tantrum. “I want it!” he wailed at the top of his lungs.  The bedraggled mother tried her best to wrestle the package of M & Ms from his hands, while struggling at the same time to apologize the cashier. She didn’t dare look at the customers in line behind her. Tommy “wanted” the M & M’s. That was clear. But, his mother knew full well that her child wasn’t lacking for food.

His temper tantrum wasn’t unfamiliar to me. Although I don’t like to admit it, I’m a lot like Tommy. I may not lay in the floor and kick and scream. But when I get my mind around what I want and I don’t get it, I’m rather like him. I may complain. I may whine in my spirit. I may sulk. I may cry out loud on occasion. What makes me different from Tommy? Height and weight. What makes me different from David? He had a keen grasp on something I often forget – there’s a difference between what I “want” and what I “lack.”

David’s psalm best reads, “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack for nothing.” In other words, the Lord fed him, watched over him, led him, protected him. And, David was keenly mindful of his Shepherd’s provision.

Maybe there are times when you’re like me; more aware of what we want than of what we don’t lack. If so, and you want to develop an attitude of gratitude, join me in daily journaling that for which we’re thankful each day.  Prayers of My Heart prayer journal is now available and has several places where we can list that for which we’re thankful. I received a early copy from my publisher and in addition to writing PTL for “Praise the Lord” beside answered prayer, I’m also using the Month at A Glance section to daily record that for which I’m grateful. Check out the 7 Benefits of Journaling in the “Look Inside” Welcome.  Get a quick glimpse of the other sections where you can record your gratefulness to God HERE. Let’s develop an attitude of gratitude for the Lord, our Shepherd and join David in praising Him, “You are Jehovah-Ra-ah. I lack for nothing.”

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Thank You, GOD, for Your GREAT LOVINGKINDNESS

04/23/2018

“The Lord is gracious and merciful; Slow to anger and GREAT IN LOVINGKINDNESS.”

Psalm 145:8

Many people have never felt that they were the object of someone’s love; and especially of their great love. But if we’re Christians, we must recognize that we are. God showed great lovingkindness toward us in sending Jesus to rescue us from hell. We’re the recipients of God’s GREAT LOVINGKINDNESS. That’s a reason to praise Him!

LORD, we rejoice and praise You who are GREAT in LOVINGKINDNESS! Thank You for Your love. Thank You for Your kindness. Thank You for Your GREAT LOVINGKINDNESS! 

You can record your thankfulness to God for His GREAT LOVINGKINDNESS in the Meditations, Notes, and Prayers section of Prayers of My Heart. 

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