TN69 Creative prayer diaries

First published on this website in October 2012 and last updated in August 2022

Synopsis

Many churches regularly produce printed prayer diaries. These notes on a communications theme provide three ideas for a more creative approach than is normal. The three are:

Start each entry with the word ‘Imagine’
The idea here is to help people imagine themselves into each context so that they can pray as if they were themselves in the position described.

‘Look’ into each situation
If the first appeals to readers’ minds, this one appeals to their eyes. The reader is asked to view a scenario and fill in the detail themselves.

Make it personal
In this third idea you tell the reader they are the person being prayed for (who can be real or imaginary). This is a variation on the first idea.

In each case there are examples of the same four topics to show how the approach works in practice. The four examples are to pray for the church's musicians at their weekly practice, for their young people in the exam season, for their local MP in a major debate, and for their mission partners in Zambia.

These notes were updated in August 2022 with minor alterations to the text.