Back in (high) school, I had a massive sheet of paper stuck to my wall, with some beautiful glittery gel pen writing titling it my ‘prayer wall’. I stuck neon post-its to the ‘wall’ beside the foot of my cabin bed, writing prayer requests, and reminding myself to pray every night for different things and people. Honestly, this time when I was 15 or 16 was one of the richest in terms of my prayer life, and was definitely a time when I was depending on God and trusting Him. Life looked very different to how it does now- I was a child, studying at school for my GCSEs, had no boyfriend to speak of and didn’t really know what the future held. I was about to get baptised, and my grandpa was really ill. I remember the New Year of 2005/6, sitting on my bunk bed, praying whilst I heard fireworks go off outside at midnight. It was honestly one of the best New Years’ Eves I can remember.
In that period I really remember being aware of the word trust. Trusting God, trusting His plan and His will in the big things and in the little. He sustained me through it all, brought my Grandpa home to Him, and guided me through every step of life. Intentionally praying meant that I was aligning my will with His, surrendering and trusting in His love, His goodness and His majesty.
That doesn’t mean that everything at that time was simple, that I didn’t have questions or doubts or times when it felt like I was talking to the ceiling (especially since it was only about a foot and a half above where I lay!). And since life, and faith, is a journey, my relationship with Him has had its ups and downs- but really all according to the time I have set aside for Him. As with any relationship, be that friendship, spouse, family member or God, if I don’t invest any time into talking or listening to them, it’s easy to drift and feel disconnected from them.
For some reason, when I moved from that room to another bedroom for my Sixth Form (17 and 18 year old) my prayer wall got put in a folder with artwork and I didn’t put up a similar thing. I did continue to write some of my prayers down in a notebook, and of course just praying at times through the day, but often I found that I ended up really focused on my own everyday worries and concerns, and didn’t pray much beyond that, or notice answered prayers.
So all that said- the prayer wall has made an appearance, about eight years later, four homes later, on a wall in our bedroom. You may remember back in October I was trying to pray more intentionally and with more faith in God’s ability to answer prayer- of course I always knew that God can, and does answer prayer, but often wondered why He would bother with helping my toddler potty train when He had bigger things on His plate. And of course, the answer to that is because He cares about everything, because He is King of everything and because when He does answer prayer, big or small, it increases my understanding of His love and faithfulness.
Having prayer requests visible, and out for me to see helps remind me to pray, and having it there makes me more intentional to pray for things other than my own concerns. I also have a prayer journal which I love- I write ongoing prayers for people and situations in there, and often things cross over a bit between the two. Because my prayer wall is in our room I don’t necessarily get prompted by it throughout the day, whereas my journal also reminds me to set aside a decent chunk of time. Perhaps sometime I should move my prayer wall into one of our more frequently used living spaces!)
I try to put measurable, specific prayer requests up there, so that once a prayer is answered (note: answered doesn’t necessarily mean getting the outcome I think is best, but God listening and responding in the way He knows is best) I can move it across to the answered prayer side. A new addition is that I’ve started writing ‘Thankyou, November 2014’, for example. It’s really nice to have a physical reminder of God’s faithfulness throughout the months, and care for all things, big and small. I wrote up silly-seeming things, like ‘blog design’, ‘potty training’, and helping the kids sleep better. And you know what, the potty training changed literally overnight, the sleep is basically sorted and I am so thankful for God’s grace to me.
katiekrongard says
I love this so so much! Such a wonderful thing. I try to write things down too, good things, bad things, hopeful things, and when I look back on them, I am always amazed at how things come together and God shows up.
Zoe Rose says
It is so wonderful to reflect on God’s goodness by remembering things I easily forget!
iwillbloom says
Thanks so much for posting about this. Very interesting.
Zoe Rose says
🙂
iwillbloom says
Thanks!!! I’ve been keeping a daily devotional journal and making prayer notes in there….I have to say it’s been helping me in so many ways…
Sabrina says
Your words are so poetic and seem like a prayer in themselves, this is truly inspiring Zoe & I look forward to hearing about all the prayers answered:) Xx
Zoe Rose says
Thankyou, Sabrina! Some things seem so ‘small’ or ‘silly’ but we have a God who cares about it all! 🙂