Why?

I have been praying to God for more out of my prayer life and I prayed for my boys to have a guide to use for their prayer lives.  Our lives are full of activities and work and these schedules are crazy. They are quite frankly overwhelming at times.  Like many, I am not always sure what and who to pray for in their lives. Writing out a plan with pen and paper is therapeutic for me.  The act of writing is prayerful for me. God led me to this guide and I am grateful He called me to create it.

How?

I write out my prayers in a color code on my parent sheet so I can pray for both boys each day. Weekly, I sit with each son alone so we have one on one prayer time.

One son sits with me while I write out my prayers and we talk through why I am listing the recipients of my prayers.  He then takes his empty guide and uses it daily based on his experience that day – more spontaneous and less formal.

My other son tends to talk more about God and the weekly scripture. He tells me stories about his week. Through his stories we laugh and learn so much about each other. He tells me who he is going to pray for and jots it down quickly. I feel like he runs through it too quick but at least he is doing it! Because each week has its own scripture guidance, we are praying for things we would not have thought of without it. It is comforting to let God’s words and message be the focal point of my prayers.

Like everything else, we aren’t perfect – there are weeks we forget to carve out time. We aren’t as diligent as we should be with our prayers. There are certainly days I don’t look at my guide and I am sure that is the case for my boys too. I am no expert in prayer, scriptures or daily devotionals. I wanted to start somewhere and I am most passionate about raising these boys so why not?

What’s Next?

There are a few other prayer guides I am working on and will be release over time. Please consider ordering a 12 week guide, check it out on my blog in the Shop Section: http://amyshackelford.com/product/weekly-teen-prayer-calendar/

I look forward to hearing more about the changes you see in you and your teenagers’ prayer lives.

In Him,

Amy