(and using technology to do it)
Updated 2 Jan 2022. Originally published 18 Oct 2011.
I’ve had these “pray for your husband (or children) every day of the month” lists for a while now. They’re great, but I ran into several issues with them.
1. They were separate lists. It is awkward for me to look at one list to pray for my husband, then a totally separate list to pray for my children.
2. I had too many. For my husband and for my children, I had multiple lists, from various sources. They are all good, but I can’t readily use them all at once!
3. My own weakness – I would misplace or just plain forget to use the lists.
I have created a new plan that seems to be working well, so far. First, I combined the lists. I made one master list that combined the content of all of them.
Then — and for me, this is the key! – I created reminders for them on my computer. I used a program called TimeLeft [no longer available]. It has multiple time-related features, including a countdown (which I just learned can be exported to a website!), a timer, a clock, and — germane to today’s post — reminders. You do have to purchase the full version ($24.95, unless you have a coupon code) to use more than one reminder, but it’s free to try it out and see if you like it. Of course, you can use something else to create these reminders, but I’ve tried a number of programs and really liked this one best.
Apparently Cortana can do this now, or Microsoft To-do from MS Office, if you’re on Windows. (If you’re on Mac, sorry; you’ll have to figure out a comparable option yourself.)
Setting Up Prayer Reminders
I just took my Text document and copied-and-pasted each day’s prayer (with references) into the reminder spot. I set each one to recur monthly, on the appropriate day of the month, and set the time. I’m never up at 6:45, but that’s the time I chose because it’s definitely earlier than any time I am getting up. I didn’t bother to set the seconds because my reminders aren’t that precise!
I don’t need any sound, or extra reminders, etc., because it isn’t an appointment. Each day when I get up and come to my computer, I have a reminder like this:
(The reminder always pops up on top, even if I already have other programs open.)
Of course most people use their phones so regularly now, that a reminder app on your phone might work just as effectively.
Get my list.
To make it easier for you if you’d like to do this, I’m making my prayer files available. Keep in mind, though, that these are very heavily drawn from the other prayer lists I already had. Personal use only please, and significant credit goes to the compilers of those lists! PDF and DOC formats.
Thank you! This looks awesome. Thanks for including your prayer lists. I have been wanting to find something just like this and haven’t had time to create my own. I may try the program you suggested, also. Great idea, and I need to focus more on praying for my family in a more structured way. I’m going to share your blog with a friend, also. I think she will like this post.
This is what I needed! I remember to pray for them, but not always Scripture.