Peaceful Home Hack: Weekly Prayer Cards

“Mommy, wasn’t this morning the special morning you prayed for me?”

My youngest son asked that the other day as he ran off to play.

It took some trial and error to find a rhythm that worked for me, one that ensured I would schedule in time to pray for each of my family members the way I really wanted to. But a consistent pattern clicked into place a number of years ago and has worked well ever since.

You might feel like I have at times? The swirling concerns and to-do’s for each child…

The guilt of intending to pray for your spouse consistently but not actually taking much time to do it…

This might help.

During my time in scripture and prayer each morning (the top tip I would offer to any young mom), I added this rhythm:

I assigned each member of my family a day of the week. 

My husband is Monday, our oldest son Tuesday, and so on. It stays the same week after week.

During my morning quiet time I set aside a few minutes to pull out the assigned person’s card and pray for them. This is simply an index card with a list on the back of requests, concerns, and praises. (Though maybe soon I will switch the lists over to vintage postcards!)

I pray for that child in a detailed, focused way and then leave it all with the Lord.

Often the prayer leads to something else, like an appointment I need to schedule or a playdate they’ve been asking for, or a special plan to meet a need for them. I usually take a few minutes to follow up on scheduling those items when I’m through. 

We pray for our children every day at meals and as they are going to sleep, but this set-apart time allows for a little more depth and helps create space to listen to the Lord as well.

In all, this usually just takes 3-10 minutes but here’s all it accomplishes:

It relieves mental fatigue of carrying around long to-do’s for all my children. I know the day is coming each week when I will tend to that child’s needs and seek the Lord’s guidance.

It allows me to go deeper in prayer for all kinds of issues my child or husband might be facing or concerns for the future. 

It helps move me toward obedience in handing over burdens to the Lord consistently, creating peace.

It creates quiet space to not only to make my requests known to God, but to also listen to how He might guide me in parenting or marriage. 

It has deepened my appreciation for my husband and all the many balls he juggles as I consider them all in prayer.

It helps relinquish all the control I try to hold onto so tightly.

It helps shift focus to what matters.

It builds the ability to not always respond reactively, but proactively. 

So, if this sounds like your style, grab a few notecards and jot down your little lists. You’ll be ready to go by tomorrow morning!