The Prayer Plan

PRAYER IS A KEY TO MAKING RIGHT CHOICES.

Bible Reading of the Day: Read 2 Thessalonians 1:3-4, 11-12.

Verse of the Day: “We pray that God, by his power, will fulfill all your good intentions and faithful deeds” (2 Thessalonians 1:11).

“What’s that?” Mika asked his friend Daniel. He pointed to a letter-sized piece of paper posted on the refrigerator door in the kitchen of Daniel’s house.

“What, that?” Daniel said. “That’s our prayer plan.” The paper consisted of two columns. On the left side of the sheet was a column of numbers, one to thirty-one; on the right side of the page, opposite each number, was a short word or phrase.

“What’s a prayer plan?” Mika asked.

Daniel shrugged. “It’s just something we do as a family.” He scratched his head; he wasn’t sure if Mika would understand, so he wanted to explain it as well as he could. “My parents want me and my sister to grow up to love God and make right choices. So they try to teach us, you know, what things are right and what things are wrong.”

Mika nodded.

“But if we’re really going to learn how to do right all the time, it’s going to take more than that. So every day me and my sister and my parents, we pray for each other, that God will make us good.” He pointed to number one on the prayer plan. “So, like, on the first of the month, we pray for each other that we’ll all be sure of our salvation.”

He moved his finger to number two on the list. “On the second day of every month, we pray for each other to be loving; on the third-” he moved his finger down to the next item on the prayer plan-“we pray for each other to show respect.”

“Oh, I get it,” Mika said. He looked at the last item on the sheet of paper. “And on the thirty-first of the month, you pray for each other to have a love for God’s Word.”

Daniel nodded. “So that’s our prayer plan.”

“It’s like a game!” Mika said.

Daniel had never thought of their prayer plan as a game before. “I guess it is,” he admitted. “Sort of. It is fun. But it’s serious, too.” “I like your prayer plan,” Mika said. “I do too,” Daniel agreed.

TO DO: Take a few minutes to brainstorm your own “prayer plan” to help you pray for each other as a family. You may wish to include the godly virtues discussed in this book, such as justice, mercy, purity, humility, generosity, and so on, as well as the fruits of the Spirit included in Galatians 5:22-23, and any other values or convictions you desire for each other.*

TO PRAY: “Lord, help us to be faithful in our prayer lives.”`