Using the Prayers of the People for intercessory prayer

My two oldest kids go to school every weekday now and recently I've been feeling more called to intercessory prayer.

Could there be a connection there? ;)

All kidding aside, I really have been feeling called to intercede more than I have in the past - or perhaps, a better way to put that would be that the Lord has been reminding me that this is something He has asked me to do and He still wants me to be doing it. (I first got the impression that I was really supposed to be doing this on my honeymoon, actually. I remember journaling then that I thought a big part of my job as a wife and a mother was going to be praying for my family.)

One of the things I did in response to this most recent reminder was to email my grandma and ask her about her prayer life. It only made sense, because she's one of the people I always ask to pray for me when I'm in need of prayer.

Her response was both generous and helpful. And as I read her list of the different people and groups of people that she prays for, I thought, Huh, that sounds a lot like the Prayers of the People.

So I've started using the Prayers of the People in my own prayer life. I'm using the version that's in the back of my St. James devotional, as I already have that with me during my Bible-reading time.

And that's it. That's all I've got for this blog. No great spiritual insight, just a passing-on of something I've found useful. If you're having trouble structuring your intercessory prayer life, try the Prayers of the People. Pray them and let them remind you of all the people you were planning to pray for anyway. I'm finding them immensely helpful, both in reminding me of people I meant to pray for and of reminding me of how I ought to be praying for them.

Praise God for his servant Thomas Cramner.

Peace of Christ to you,

Jessica Snell