How to Use Your Computer to Organize Your Prayer Time

My husband recently thought of an incredible way to use your computer to organize your prayer time while watching a slideshow of family photos on his monitor. There are so many groups of people that we want to pray for on a regular basis: immediate and extended family members, pastors, missionaries, our church family, government officials, unsaved loved ones, the sick or dying or grieving, those going through personal trials... the list goes on and on.

It is difficult to remember to include everyone's in our prayer lives. Using my husband's idea, however, you can simply use your computer to organize your prayer time.

Make a list of the different categories that you would like to pray for on an ongoing and regular basis. You can use my list of examples above or come up with your own (please share your prayer ideas with us in the comments section). Then divide your prayer list into separate days of the week: pray for church members on Mondays, pray for family members on Tuesdays, pray for government on Wednesdays, etc. You may even have a group of especially close folks that you want to mention in prayer daily, such as your spouse and children.

Once you have a detailed list of your prayer requests for each day, you will implement the use of your computer to organize your prayer time. In order to do this, you will first need to locate a digital (or scanned) photo of each person that you wish to pray for. Start e-mailing your loved ones for submissions. I'm sure they won't mind sharing, if they know that you are going to be saying a prayer for them on a regular basis. You can seek internet photos for government officials and some missionaries. You could also scan in missionary prayer cards that your church may have on file.

As you gather your photos, organize them into folders on your computer labeled with the days of the week and the types of prayer requests: "Monday ~ Church Members; Tuesday ~ Family Members," etc.

Once your photos are filed, you can immediately begin using your computer to organize your prayer time. Don't procrastinate until you have absolutely everyone's photo or until you think it's utterly perfect; you can continue to add them on an ongoing basis. We as Christians are so bad about putting off our prayer time. Prayer is very important, and we need to make it a priority NOW.

Now all you have to do is set aside some time for prayer each day, using the corresponding photo folder. Set the folder up as a slideshow, and begin praying for your loved ones as their photo flashes across your computer monitor. You will likely find that you will be more consistent with your prayer life when you begin using your computer to organize your prayer time. Most people, while lazy about setting aside time for prayer, certainly don't mind staring at a computer monitor for hours each day!

My husband came up with the idea last night of using your computer to organize your prayer time, and I plan to begin today. Will you join me? Please leave your feedback in the comments section.