Prayer Calendar
OVERVIEW
The Prayer Calendar is an amazing way to begin a daily prayer habit of praying for others. It was introduced by David and Paul Watson in their book Contagious Disciple Making. It only takes about five minutes a day, but can easily turn into a movement of prayer.
PREPARE
Use the template below, make your own from a sheet of paper, or use a calendar (electronic allows for reminders).
Write the name of a person on each numbered line, beginning with those closest to you, who would be most likely to answer a phone call or return a text. Include those who might join you in disciple-making efforts or might make their own prayer calendars in the future. Do not feel obligated to fill the entire calendar and feel free to repeat names.
PRAY
Each day, look at your list and call or text the person for that day (If it is the 2nd, call/text the person on line 2). A call will take ~5 minutes:
- Let them know you will be praying for them throughout the day―If they are someone who would like to join you, explain the Prayer Calendar to them.
- Ask them if there is anything specific that they need prayer for.
- Pray for them:
- If you are calling the person: ask if you can pray for them right now.
- If you are texting with them: write out your prayer or send a voice message.
MULTIPLY
After a few months, invite a few people on your list to start their own prayer calendars. Teach them how you set up your prayer calendar and as you come to them to pray on your list ask how they are doing with it. Also, ask if they have any great stories of how God is working. By sharing stories of what God is doing, we encourage and inspire one another.
If just three of the people on your calendar start their own calendars, and they each invite three more people who also start calendars, you move from 2.5 hours of prayer to 32.5 hours of prayer and from 30 to over 300 people being prayed for each month. Can you imagine how this increased prayer could transform a local church?
The discipline of a prayer calendar helps to create connections between people in the body of Christ. More people will be interested in starting a prayer calendar when they hear about answers to prayers. As relationships develop and answered prayers are shared, a prayer calendar can create more and more momentum for prayer.
The prayer calendar is a small habit to start, but it can have a profound impact over time. As people continue to reach out to others their hearts become more and more oriented toward impacting others for Christ. When this happens, you have the beginning of a prayer movement.
MORE CALENDARS
Create calendars for specific people groups in your life and add calendars if you are able:
- Extended Family Members
- Neighbors
- Co-workers
- Non-believers