The Miller’s Prayer Template
Our prayer sheet has been compiled over the course of several years and has been modified to help us have an effective, organized prayer life. We have found that having a structured list, which we attempt to pray through each day (usually in the morning), sets a tone of prayer throughout the day. If we have spent time praising Him, confessing our sins, and praying for ourselves and others, it makes those quick prayers (arrow prayers) throughout the day more effective in our own hearts and lives. We have developed the categories together, as a couple, but each of us has a slightly different list under each category. The list is intended to bring to mind specific people or topics to focus on and pray about not just say, “I pray for so and so” and move on. For things that we pray for daily, we usually list a specific item to guide that prayer, otherwise it becomes redundant and not effective.
We, typically, do not update the sheet very frequently, maybe four to five times a year, but we write in or cross things off as the Lord puts them on our heart or answers. Each time it is updated we change the footer so we are aware of how long it’s been since it was updated. It takes quite a bit of time to think through the list and to revise the actual Word document and we have found that we are blessed, as much through the process of developing/modifying the list, as we are using it daily. We always look at it as a dynamic document and can always be improved. Since we write on the list and cross things off, it can easily be used as a journal and dates of, or specific answers, can be written in and then the sheets can be saved in a binder as a reminder of God’s work in our prayer life.
It is easy to become defeated if we miss a day or sometimes more, so instead of a Sunday through Saturday schedule, we have broken the list up into six days. At the end of each day we spend in prayer, we simply flip the page and that is where we start when we resume using the sheet again. This system also ensure each person or topic is prayed for regularly. We typically do not use the sheets on Sunday since we spend time corporately praying with our church family.
We have developed a list of set categories for each day: Praises, Personal, (Immediate) Family, Ministry, Frequent Offenders, Friends & Extended Family, Pastors & Board, Impact Group/Deacon Care/Missionaries, and Government. As of yet, we have not added to the categories but there certainly could be others. Under each category is a list of topics and the idea is, not just to read through them and move on, but to use it as a prompt and spend time thinking on them and how best to seek the Lord on their behalf. Many times as we think through the last conversation with someone on the list we can guide our prayer time more effectively.
The Lord has brought certain people into our lives and we feel that they are our little mission field and we have the privilege and responsibility to pray for them regularly. However, even that list can change as God moves people in and out of our lives and we give ourselves permission to omit and add to the list as we feel the Lord leads. It is important to remember that we, as individuals, cannot and do not need to pray for everyone we know and/or every possible circumstance in their lives. The list would become too long and burdensome and would cease to be do-able or useful. However, we have found that it is an incredibly fruitful ministry and telling someone that they are on our prayer list rather than just saying, “I’m praying for you” seems to translate more powerfully to them and builds a relationship that gives better opportunities to encourage, disciple or share the gospel.
Since God is constantly working in our hearts to grow us into His image our prayer life and system should be like other areas in our spiritual lives, a work in progress, with goals and open to ideas to improvement. Some of our future goals are praying Scripture and studying and incorporating the names and additional attributes of God to better praise and worship Him. One of the best ways we have found to gain ideas on growing our prayer life is to ask other believers what method they use.
Below is the template we use for our prayer sheets. Names have been removed for confidentiality sake and we have put brief explanations in parenthesis. Below are just a few notes on specific areas.
Confession: (Under Personal)
It may seem self-centered to start our prayer time off with a topic in our personal category but we actually begin with confession and double-back to praise. Having a pure heart to approach the Lord gives our communication with Him a fresh, unhindered foundation each day. It also helps us keep short accounts with Him. Obviously we should be in a state of submission to Christ throughout the day and seeking forgiveness immediately when a sin is committed or brought to our attention, but having a quiet, focused time for the Lord to search our heart almost always brings to light sins that have gone unnoticed. We spend time reviewing our lives, thoughts, words, interaction with others and confessing, repenting, and seeking forgiveness. As we continue through our prayer time, the Lord will also reveal areas of sin and we stop and confess those sins, also.
Praises:
This category consists of broad topics used as a jumping off point for praising the Lord. We usually pick about four things to praise the Lord for each day. Looking up specific words in the dictionary and Bible dictionary is very helpful so that the words have more meaning and our prayers will be fuller. Attributes or praises can also be written in from Scripture reading. We change these or add to them when we update our prayer sheet. Our time of praise is not limited to this section. As we see God working in other categories, we spend time praising Him there as well. This is the area that a study of the names and attributes of God can be fruitful. There can never be an end to the reasons we praise God so this category is very dynamic.
Personal:
After our time of praise we come back to personal issue and seek the Lord in specific areas. One area that has been a particular blessing, and we’ve seen clear answers, is in decision-making wisdom. We pray for specific areas such as our children’s education, medical treatment, ministry decisions, financial wisdom, etc. and we’ve felt a sense of peace when we make decisions that we’ve prayed over and truly sought the Lord’s will. We pray for stewardship areas in our lives that require discipline and we seek the Lord’s help and guidance those areas, currently we pray for our finances, marriage, parenting, healthy eating, exercise and sleep. Each area is prayed about daily and has a focus.
Frequent Offenders:
The Frequent Offender category is the area that we would place topics that we feel called to pray for more frequently. In the beginning these were daily requests but over time we adjusted them to every other day because the list became too long. This is an area that has definitely received the most “tweeking” and it is usually the area that we give ourselves permission to change or omit. Under this category we also pray daily for our church congregation, both spiritually (holiness, unity, etc.) and also for ministry areas.
Government:
We pray for our Government and include names of our elected officials from the president down to the mayor of Greenville. This area is a little harder to pray for specifics because we don’t know them or their spiritual conditions, but we mainly ask for salvation/spiritual growth, wisdom to make godly decisions in their realm of influence and also for our country to be God-honoring.
DAY 1
Praises
Salvation
Sanctification
Your Righteousness
Promise-Keeper
Our Church Family
Personal
Confession – (We start here)
Spiritual Growth
Decision Making Wisdom (List specifics areas, ministries, work, children)
Finances - Budget
Marriage -Unity
Parenting
Healthy Eating/Exercise/Sleep
Family
Spouse – Spiritual Growth
Unsaved Children - Salvation
Saved Children – Spiritual Growth
Ministry (Our specific ministry areas)
Individuals in our discipleship ministry
Impact Groups
Frequent Offenders (This list repeats every other day)
Salvation/Spiritual Needs: Only 1 or 2 specific people
Health Issues: Specific people – 2 to 3
Pregnancies: Specific women in our family/church
Seeking Jobs: Specific people
Military: Specific servicemen and families - 2 to 3
Family Issues: Specific families - 2 to 3
Church: Spiritual Growth, Caraway Street, Counseling Ministry, Budget (Each Day has a different list of areas)
Friends & Extended Family
Parents – Specific Needs/Salvation
Close Friend 1 - Marriage
Close Friend 2 – Parenting
Close Friend 3 - Ministry
(Close Friends are on every day with a different focus for each)
Young Children - salvation/attentiveness to parents (6 that are close to our family)
Pastors & Board
Senior Pastor and wife - Encouragement
Worship Pastor and wife - Wisdom
Board Member and Wife/Family – 2 deacons each day
Impact/Care Group/Missionaries
Two or three people each day
Financial Support
Government
President Obama
Vice-President Biden
DAY 2
Praises
Your Word
Your Goodness
Spiritual Growth
Prayer – Answered Prayer
Personal
Confession
Spiritual Growth
Decision Making Wisdom (List specifics areas, ministries, work, children)
Finances – Faithful Stewardship
Marriage - Communication
Parenting
Healthy Eating/Exercise/Sleep
Family
Spouse – Leadership
Unsaved Children - Salvation
Saved Children - Purity
Ministry (specific to us)
Individuals in our discipleship ministry
Specific Ministry
Frequent Offenders (This list repeats every other day)
Salvation/Spiritual Needs: 1-2 Different people from day one
Health Issues: 1-2 Different people from day one
Desiring Babies: Specific people – usually some with miscarriage or infertility histories
Decision Making Wisdom: Those needing guidance for decisions
Job Situations: Specific people
College Students: Specific students – This is a very important time for a young person
Marriage: Specific people with marital issues
Church: Unity, Krash, Sunday School, Budget
Friends & Extended Family
Spouse’s Parents – Specific Needs/Salvation
Friend 1 - Ministry
Friend 2 - Marriage
Friend 3 – Spiritual Growth
Pastors & Board
Senior Pastor and wife - Wisdom
Worship Pastor and wife – Time Management
Board Member and Wife/Family – 2 deacons each day
Impact/Care Group/Missionaries
Two or three people each day
Language
Government
Representative John Boehner
Day 3
Praises
Your Grace
Your Love
Your Provision
Our Close Friends
Personal
Confession
Spiritual Growth
Decision Making Wisdom (List specifics areas, ministries, work, children)
Finances – Disciple Children
Marriage - Love
Parenting
Healthy Eating/Exercise/Sleep
Family
Spouse - Ministry
Unsaved Children - Salvation
Saved Children - Testimony
Ministry
Discipleship Opportunities
Counseling Team
Frequent Offenders (Same as day 1)
Salvation/Spiritual Needs: 1 or 2 specific people
Health Issues: Specific people – 2 to 3
Pregnancies: Specific women in our family/church
Seeking Jobs: Specific people
Military: Specific servicemen and families - 2 to 3
Family Issues: Specific families - 2 to 3
Church: Outreach, One Way, Worship Service
Friends & Extended Family
Other Family Members
Friend 1- Homeschooling
Friend 2 – Spiritual Growth
Friend 3 - Work
Pastors & Board
Senior Pastor and wife - Counseling
Worship Pastor and wife - Encouragement
Board Member and Wife/Family – 2 deacons per day
Impact/Care Group/Missionaries
Family
Two or three people each day
Government
Senator Sherrod Brown
Senator Rob Portman
DAY 4
Praises
Your Power
Your Presence
Your Justice
Our Relationship
Personal
Confession
Spiritual Growth
Decision Making Wisdom (List specifics areas, ministries, work, children)
Finances – Proper Focus
Marriage - Protection
Parenting
Healthy Eating/Exercise/Sleep
Family
Spouse - Protection
Unsaved Children - Salvation
Saved Children - Protection
Ministry
Mentoring/Discipleship Opportunities
Individuals in our discipleship ministry
Frequent Offenders (Same as day 2)
Salvation/Spiritual Needs: 1-2 specific people
Health Issues: 1-2 specific people
Desiring Babies: Specific people – usually some with miscarriage or infertility histories
Decision Making Wisdom: Those needing guidance for decisions
Job Situations: Specific people
College Students: Specific students – This is a very important time for a young person
Marriage: Specific people with marital issues
Church: Submission to Christ, AMPED, Impact Groups Friends & Extended Family
Other family members
Friend 1 – Healthy Habits
Friend 2 – Work
Friend 3 - Marriage
Pastors & Board
Senior Pastor and Wife – Spiritual Protection
Worship Pastor and wife - Counseling
Board Member and Wife/Family – 2 deacons each day
Impact/Care Group/Missionaries
Two or three people each day
Wisdom
Government
State Rep. Jim Buchy
State Rep. Richard Adams
DAY 5
Praises
Your Mercy
Our Family
Your Perfect Plan
Forgiveness
Personal
Confession
Spiritual Growth
Decision Making Wisdom (List specifics areas, ministries, work, children)
Finances – Protection from Materialism
Marriage - Testimony
Parenting
Healthy Eating/Exercise/Sleep
Family
Spouse – Time Management
Unsaved Child - Salvation
Saved Child – Guidance for Future
Ministry
Individuals in our discipleship ministry
Mercy House
Frequent Offenders (Same as day 1)
Salvation/Spiritual Needs: 1 or 2 specific people
Health Issues: Specific people – 2 to 3
Pregnancies: Specific women in our family/church
Seeking Jobs: Specific people
Military: Specific servicemen and families - 2 to 3
Family Issues: Specific families - 2 to 3
Church: Finances, Men’s Ministry, Missions
Friends & Extended Family
Other family members
Friend 1 – Spiritual Growth
Friend 2 – Healthy Habits
Friend 3 - Family
Pastors & Board
Senior Pastor and wife - Guidance
Worship Pastor and wife – Spiritual Protection