Years ago when I was a young human resources generalist, my boss realized something about me – I tend to forget things. I just can’t help it; I’m a little scatterbrained! I even have the plaque to prove it! On my high school “Senior Day” where they give away all of those “prestigious” awards like “Who’s Most Likely to Succeed” and such, I received the honor of being named, “The Most Absent-Minded”. It was a glorious day, I tell you!

To remedy my forgetfulness and better organize me, my boss insisted I purchase a Franklin Planner. It is a miracle worker! After years of using it, I am totally dependent upon it now. If I happen to leave the house without it, it is like leaving my brain at home!

After I began structured prayer journaling, which captures my to-do list from God, as well as prayer requests and other spiritual things that matter greatly to me, I had an epiphany, if you will:

If I am that diligent on keeping up with my daily, worldly matters in my Franklin Planner then why wouldn’t I be just as committed, if not even more so, in keeping up with my spiritual matters???!

This is what sealed the deal for me when it came to this type of prayer journaling. Without it, it is like leaving my planner at home – I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what my appointments are. It is a terrible feeling!

Without capturing all of my kingdom assignments and such, I would feel lost. I could not imagine not writing down what God is doing in my life! How else would I keep up with it all??? Remember, there are at least ten unique areas of my prayer life that represents my relationship with Christ, so without keeping a record of it all just like I do my worldly affairs, It would be worse than being absent-minded!

Now the end of all things is near; therefore, be serious and disciplined for prayer. 1 Peter 4:7 (HCSB)

Besides God’s Word, which I mostly access electronically, these are the two most important books I own.

Before you leave, let me ask you something I had to ask myself years ago, aren’t the spiritual things of God more important to manage than your daily, worldly affairs?

I think YES!

Hopefully, you agree. So, let’s keep going – tomorrow, I will be sharing a Youtube tutorial of structured prayer journaling for creating a simple template to get you started.

Let’s have a prayer for our priorities:

Heavenly Father,

We come before You today with thanksgiving and praise, recognizing that You are the Master Planner. Help us to align our plans with Yours! May we use every good resource and tool available to us to insure that our plans are Your plans. More importantly, may we not forget to include time and reflection for discerning Your plans for our day, week, month and life! May we assess our days and make room for Your will.

We give You honor and glory by how we conduct our days. Thank You for Your wonderful Son, Jesus in whose name we pray,

Amen.

I am participating in The Nester’s 31 Days of Writing; you can go here to keep up with my 31 day feature on structured prayer journaling.

Happy Journaling!!!

~gina

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Award-winning author Gina Duke is a wife, mom and the Director of Women’s Ministry at her local church. With a B.S. in Organizational Leadership, she is able to bring a clear word for authentic Christian living. Through her book, “Organizing Your Prayer Closet: A New and Life-Changing Way to Pray” (Abingdon Press), she imparts 1 Peter 4:7 with the gift of structured prayer journaling. You may also follow her on Twitter and Instagram @TheGinaDuke.