It’s been a while since I posted anything really crafty. I’ve been a little too busy for much crafting and what I have been doing has been very last minute. But here’s something I’m very excited about finishing–my prayer journal!

The pictures don't do this Stampin' Up! paper justice. It's glittery!

My goal for this year, 2012, is intentional prayer and scripture. Not just to pray for a year, or read for a year, but to use this year to create a regular, intentional daily habit and routine of prayer time and scripture time. I do pray. A lot.  But mostly I’m talking to God, not listening. Not waiting on Him. Not approaching his throne with reverence and awe. {I tend to chat with Him while I’m driving a lot–so clearly I’m not giving it my full time and attention.} The times when I have prayed with a fully open and committed heart, the rewards have been huge!

Prayer changes things–usually starting with yourself! I have found that it’s true that you can’t pray for someone and stay mad at them at the same time. I have also found that it’s much easier to discard the world’s relative morality when you spend time in prayer. When your heart is open and listening, God tells you what is right and wrong very clearly–and usually why too.

I put some favorite old hymns on it and inside the covers as reminders.

Plus, there’s something to be said for a little organization. I don’t go to the grocery store without a list because I’ll inevitably forget something. Well the Holy Spirit has been tugging on my heart a lot lately about what I haven’t been praying about, who I haven’t been praying for, and how randomly I commit to pray for something and then end up forgetting about it after the first day.

There’s a couple at our church that are true Prayer Warriors. If they say they’re praying for you, you can have no doubt they are. If you make a prayer request, you can be sure it’s on their list and they are taking it to God until you tell them otherwise! They told a story in church that he was praying for an expectant mother once until he mentioned it to his wife one day and she said, “that baby’s 2 months old!” He said that no one told him, so he just kept praying for a safe delivery. What an inspiration!

"This is my story, this is my song--praising my Savior all the day long!"

So I’ll be keeping my prayer requests and commitments in this lovely, inspirational journal I made. I’m also excited to snip out and glue quotes and hymns and pictures and anything else that moves me on this journey. But most of all, I’m excited to start recording my blessings, my thanksgiving, my answered prayers, so that I can page through it and find joy and hope when I’m discouraged. Reminders of God’s love. Direction. Purpose. Just like paging through pictures of my family soothes my heart when it gets frustrated and out of sorts.

And I’m so excited to be joining Aurie over at Our Good Life for the Bible in 90 Days in February!

Yep, we’re going to read the whole Bible in 3 months.

I love how the back cover turned out with those 3 hearts!

It’s not an in-depth Bible study. It’s just reading the whole thing, from start to finish. But I think it’s going to be a great kick-off to creating a regular reading habit. I tend to read my favorite parts over and over again (I do the same thing with other books!) rather than knowing God’s Word as a complete picture.

Let me tell you, I’m just a babe in Christ, but there’s one thing I’ve learned over the last couple years–Christianity is not for the faint of heart. True Christianity is a life of self-discipline, study, and denial. God calls us to do hard things for His good purpose–not ours. But I’m convinced that the rewards are going to be even greater than our sacrifices!