Last week I said I would share my prayer bible set up and how I am using it.
But before we get into my set up let’s discuss what a prayer bible is.
As early as the 14th Century books called “Primers” were used for guided prayer. These devotional prayer books allowed laypeople an opportunity to study the Word. There are some who still use a variation of a “Primer” today.
Prayer Bibles are a simple way to focus your prayers on certain topics. What you are seeing all over YouTube are bibles with lots of tabs and each color or pattern is for a different topic. So say you want to pray on anger, then maybe all your red tabs are different passages of scripture on anger. The idea is that you are able to flip through the pages easier.
Note – There are a lot of examples out there about setting up your tabs. In the end, I encourage you to focus on what works for you and not do it just because everyone else is.
Tabs:
I love this concept but for me and my OCD, these bibles are a bit overwhelming. I have had a couple of tabs in my Thompson Chain that I received 24 years ago. You see how those tabs bend and the color wears off.
At the back of my Thompson Chain, I have this little book that is attached to my bible that in essence is what everyone is trying to do with the prayer bibles. It serves me well and I am comfortable using it.
Ribbons:
Ribbon is another option for marking passages. During the early 2000’s I was on staff at a week-long Bible Camp. One of our activities was to take the colors from the “Power Band” of “Salvation Bracelet” and mark the scripture with the coordinating ribbon.
I have selected a few colors of ribbon to add bookmarks and a few tabs in my bible. The ribbon I had on hand. I did add a couple of tabs at the back of my bible. I am not sure if I will keep them as the ribbon is a little heavy for the thin pages of the bible.
My Bible
I selected this pink and brown bible that was gifted to me by my in-laws. I love this Bible but do not reach for it when studying scripture so I thought I would turn it into my Prayer Bible.
As I was praying about my setup and what scriptures I wanted to highlight I felt the Lord saying to me to focus on the prayers already in the scripture. As I shared last week that is 650 prayers starting in Genesis all the way through Revelation.
As noted above there is no right or wrong way to go about this.
When it comes to the 650 prayers I do not have a plan yet for how I plan to study them. Some are short and can be studied in a day or two while others like the Lord’s Prayer need more time to really dig in.
To Ask:
I want to identify the who, what, where, when, why, and how of the passage. Simple prompts that I may ask to get me started are:
Who is speaking?
What is happening in this passage?
What instructions were given?
What do we learn about God/Christ/Holy Spirit in this passage?
Where did this passage take place?
When did it take place?
Why did this happen?
Why this individual?
How can I apply this to my life?
How is this or that to be done?
As this is a part of my prayer time I will take notes of any deeper questions that are raised so that I can look into them further. I know myself. If I open Google or get up to find a concordance I could easily get distracted.
Last week I shared Sisterita’s YouTube channel and one of her videos about setting up a prayer bible. In this post, I have shared Print Pray Slay’s video. In the video, she shares some of the things she would like to change now that she has used her bible for some time.
I am really excited about this journey and I have 1 million ideas on how this will work for me. And that is why I also know that over the next 650 prayers, I will be tweaking this process to simplify it. In the end, I like a structured and simple routine. This helps me create a habit and stick to it.
I will be sharing here my journey so if you would like to join me on this journey, be on the lookout each month for an update. Also, be on the lookout at the end of each month for the new list of Prayers. You can find Genesis here.
Today let us focus our prayer on creating a routine that involves daily prayer and bible time.
“Lord today, We will praise your name with singing and honor you with thanksgiving as we strive to make this our lifestyle Lord we want to create routines that reflect our desire to be in communication with you. As we study the prayers in scripture help us focus our hearts on you and open our eyes to the lessons we are to learn from each prayer. Amen”
I would love to hear how you spend your prayer time. Do you use a prayer bible? What other resources do you use? Share in the comments down below.
Simply ~ Jess
Interesting set-up. Do what works for you.
A good passage of our Ancestry: Romans 5:12-21 – The New Living Translation
Adam and Christ Contrasted…
12 When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. 13 Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break. 14 Still, everyone died—from the time of Adam to the time of Moses—even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did. Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ, who was yet to come. 15 But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ. 16 And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. 17 For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.
18 Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. 19 Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.
20 God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant. 21 So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.