A number of years ago, I desired to join a group of moms that prayed for our preschool (like Moms in Touch).  The problem was, how would I fit that into my already busy schedule?  I just couldn’t add one more meeting to attend!  Nevertheless, I knew that I needed some accountability to pray for my family.  Why is it that I’m great at remembering to pray for a friend’s surgery or an extended family member in crisis?  But, I forget to regularly lift up the needs of those under my own roof?!  Please tell me I’m not the only one!

I was discussing this conundrum with a dear childhood friend, Amy, and we came up with a solution!  Prayer partners!  She had similar desires so we agreed to pray by phone weekly, most often on Wednesdays.  We e-mail each other our “praises and prayer requests” before our call.  We’ve found that preparing those ahead helps us have the time we need to prayerfully contemplate our family’s joys and concerns before being on the spot during the conversation.  Sometimes we enjoy catching up before we pray.  Other times we keep it short and sweet and run through the lists because of our time constraints.  We’ve been going for over 6 years now and what a joy it has been to pray through all the highs and lows.  It would be veeeeeeeery easy to have let this time slip away through the years as life tries to push it out of the way.  However, I know that both Amy and I are grateful to this time for not only our friendship, but also the incredible ways we’ve seen God work in our families through illness, job loss, unemployment, births, deaths, issues with our children, career changes, maaaaaaany decisions, and so forth.  Looking back through these years of praying, we can both say with certainty that in the good AND the bad, “God is good, all the time.  All the time, God is good!”

If this strikes a chord in your heart, maybe finding a prayer partner is a new beginning for you this year!

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor:  If either of them falls down, one can help the other up.  But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.  Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.  A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.  Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, 12

Helpful Tips for avoiding burn-out or it regularly turning into chat time:

• Write out your purpose.
  Is this just for our families or for any prayer need we know of?
• Write out guidelines
  How much will the total time be?
  How much time will each person share?
  How much time will be allow for prayer?
  Will we allow time for catch up or be careful to stick to prayer?

  This may sound too formal, especially if you are doing this with a good friend.  However, it simply helps everyone get on the same page and sets the stage for gentle reminders to be made if things are getting off track.

• E-mail ahead the concise list of praises and prayer requests.  Thinking through things ahead allows for more prayer time.
• Focus on praise as much as prayer.