Have you always wanted to learn more about new ways to pray? What is a prayer notebook or prayer binder? How do they work, and why should you use one? Perhaps many questions flood your mind when it comes to prayer! This is totally normal.
Once you learn what a prayer notebook or prayer binder is, you will not find them nearly as intimidating. Basically, you are just writing down your prayers in different ways. When it comes to a prayer notebook or prayer binder, it is all up to the user in terms of design and appeal.
God will listen to your prayers, whether you say them out loud or have them written down in a prayer notebook or prayer binder. He loves communicating with us, so try to find new ways to communicate with Him – whatever they might be!
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. – Philippians 4:6 (NIV)
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What is a Prayer Notebook?
A prayer notebook is just a steno, bound notebook, or journal where you list out your prayer requests or your prayers themselves. You might enjoy having a spiral or steno notebook to write on since they are flexible and make writing neat a little easier!
You can purchase a regular steno notebook with dividers or use Bible tabs or other stickers to separate the notebook into sections. This can truly make your quiet time with God more enjoyable and help you build a spiritual habit that lasts!
Related: How to Start Your First Prayer Journal
What is a Prayer Binder?
A prayer binder is similar to a prayer notebook, but in this case, you keep your prayer requests or prayers in a binder, usually with divided sections. This is a very organized way of keeping things together, and you can often design the covers in various ways.
If you purchase a plain binder with room on the front for you to add a document, you might find your favorite spiritual artwork and add it to your prayer binder to make it really beautiful and inspiring! If prayer is a new spiritual habit for you, keep at it, and know a binder can help!
Related: How to Pray for the First Time
What is a War Binder?
A war binder can also be called a prayer notebook or prayer binder. Additionally, you might wish to put your Bible study or prayer printables in a war binder. Many people call a war binder a faith journal. It’s basically a place to keep all of your spiritual content.
The idea originated (from my understanding) from the movie War Room with Priscilla Shirer. In the movie, she takes time away from her stressors and such to pray to God in a private area, which for her, was a prayer closet. It was a war against the enemy – Satan!
Related: 5 Radical Spiritual Habits to Try
The Difference Between a Prayer Notebook and a Prayer Binder
The main difference between a prayer notebook and a prayer binder is the format. One is already put together with various blank note pages. The other is organized with dividers in a binder. It’s your preference how you wish to organize your prayers.
Of course, you can always use a prayer journal. Usually, a prayer journal is different because it has prayer prompts for you to use as you come up with what you want to say to God. This can be very useful. A prayer notebook or prayer binder is a little more flexible in terms of creativity.
Feel free to simply record things on your heart in a prayer journal notebook that you make yourself. The best prayers you can pray are from the heart and often spontaneous in nature.
Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld His love from me! – Psalm 66:20 (NIV)
Why Create a Prayer Notebook or Prayer Binder? (5 Benefits)
#1. Motivation
Have you ever noticed that when you are excited about something, you tend to keep it going? When you feel motivated to do something, you are more likely to do so with a glad heart. You won’t walk around with a chip on your shoulder about what you HAVE to do.
You’ll feel absolute joy as you look forward to your time with God! You will be truly motivated to share your thoughts, feelings, emotions, worries, and more with our Creator because you have a neat way to share with Him – your very own prayer notebook or prayer binder!
Let all who take refuge in You be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread Your protection over them, that those who love Your name may rejoice in You. – Psalm 5:11 (NIV)
#2. Inspiration
When you create a prayer notebook or binder, you’ll likely be very inspired spiritually. You might even dip your hat in a bit of Bible journaling, faith writing, or a deep dive into your Bible. This is an awesome thing! You should work on those things while you feel the inspiration to do so.
As Christians, we often have ebbs and flows in terms of our excitement about our faith. Creating a prayer notebook or prayer binder is a great way to get that spark back into your quiet time with God. You will grow in your relationship with Him when you find new ways to communicate!
Related: How to Listen to God
#3. Accountability
If you create a calendar, whether it’s weekly, daily, or even monthly, in your prayer notebook or prayer binder, you will be more apt to stay on track. You will KNOW when you miss a day because you already have your quiet time with God scheduled!
Stay on track with your spiritual goals by using a habit tracker or other means. You can add a tracker of sorts to your prayer notebook or prayer binder to show how many days in a row you have kept up with it. This is very motivating and rewarding!!
I pray to You, Lord, in the time of Your favor; in Your great love, O God, answer me with Your sure salvation. – Psalm 69:13 (NIV)
#4. Organization
As a previous accountant, I love organization! The dividers in my binder help me know what to pray about next. You could even add a cute pencil or pen pouch to store scripture cards, prayer cards, or writing utensils. Get creative in this area, and you’ll likely find great inspiration!
If you decide to use a pencil or pen pouch, you might add your Bible memory cards to your prayer notebook or prayer binder. This way, you can pray the verses to God and ask Him to help you remember the scriptures during key moments in your life. Application is everything!
Related: 25 Reasons to Memorize Scripture
#5. Reflection
Keeping your prayers organized or using a prayer tracking system will allow you the opportunity to review the prayers that have been answered. God answers all prayers, but He does this in His timing, not ours. It is so much fun to reflect back on what you prayed about long ago!
When you see how God impacted your life, you will be even more motivated to continue writing or praying by using your prayer notebook or prayer binder. You might even want to expand your quiet time with God by implementing a new Bible study method or including your kids!
Related: The SWORD Bible Study Method
How I Made My Personal Prayer System
Reflections on How I Started My Prayer Binder
I began using various war binders, prayer journals, and other spiritual notebooks about 15 years ago, but I couldn’t quite figure out how to combine everything I wanted to include in there. When my husband and I really changed our focus and embraced our individual spiritual callings, I knew that my prayer life was one area that needed some work. We are each a work-in-progress!
This year, I developed my war notebook, as I refer to it. It’s really just a five-subject spiral notebook, where I’ve added Bible tabs for categories. When I go to war against the enemy, this is what I turn to, and God meets me every time I do this! I also use prayer journals for those times when I really need to pour my heart out on something that is unplanned or sudden.
How I Created My Prayer Binder
So, what is my prayer binder like? There are MANY tabs included, as they make working through the prayer binder the easiest! Some tabs I do not refer to every day, as they are weekly topics, and other sections just do not apply to me every day, so they might go unused for a period of time.
Many would say my prayer binder is a bit complicated and overwhelming, but it works for me! I do tend to be very organized and systematic when I do things, but that is okay. We all have our special talents. My creative side often doesn’t want to follow a system, so I could write in my prayer journal or war binder that day! I typically follow the binder system daily – rain or shine!
For a bit, I kept a habit tracker in the front of my binder so that I could mark off each tab that I went through. I soon discovered that I’d use every tab, so I quit trying to bear fruit with a tool that was no longer useful for my binder. If you use a system like mine daily, I recommend a sturdy, quality binder or notebook, stickers, awesome printables, and pens you love!
In one of the upcoming parts of this series, I will include a partial walk-through of my prayer binder and instructions on how to set up a prayer binder. Of course, make your own system and just take the pieces from articles like this that most apply to you! That is how you make a truly original prayer binder – one that you will use each day as a chance to grow closer to God!
Related: Grow Your Relationship with God Today
Prayer Notebook Ideas
Many of the prayer notebook or prayer binder ideas have been mentioned in this article, but just in case you need to check them out now, here are a few great prayer notebook or prayer binder ideas to inspire you to create an awesome tool for your time with God!
A Pen or Pencil Pouch
Adding a pen or pencil pouch to your prayer notebook or prayer binder can be very useful. You might include highlighters and pens to check off the things you have done each day in your prayer notebook or prayer binder. Add bookmarks, paperclips, scripture cards, and more, too!
A Five Star Carrying Pouch or Case might be a great option if you have a lot of accessories.
If you are able to keep your writing utensils separate and want to hold them all in a different pouch, I recommend a pull-down one. These types of pouches hold many pens, pencils, highlighters, colored pencils, crayons, or whatever your heart desires! Plus, they’re adorable!
A Prayer Journal
A paper prayer journal can be very motivating as you add it to your prayer notebook or prayer binder. It will prompt you to pray on the things mentioned on that day. If you find a great prayer journal, it might even have devotional content to inspire you throughout the day.
You can learn more about how to start a prayer journal or pick up one of our FREE prayer journals in our shop! Learn more about how to track your prayers, or grab a prayer journal for sale!
Learn more about prayer journals as you Build Your Bible Library!
Grab this Printable Prayer Planner or Daily Prayer Journal for FREE. Remember that the best prayer you can pray is from the heart. Just use prayer prompts or speak whatever is on your mind. God will always listen; you just need to take a moment to be still to hear Him!
The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still. – Exodus 14:14 (NIV)
Bookmarks or Paperclips
A bookmark or pretty paperclip can be extremely helpful when you want to know where you left off the day before in your prayer notebook or prayer binder.
Maybe you prayed for your neighbors yesterday. Today (if you have divided sections), maybe you need to pray for your church.
Using the right dividing tools can help you see what you need to pray for on the current day.
A Binder
Having the right binder for your prayer binder is essential. I prefer D-ring binders because they open and close a bit easier, but really, if you have a binder sitting around that is not used, it will work! You can always adapt to your needs at a later date if you need to expand your prayer binder.
A Prayer Notebook
You can use any kind of notebook as your prayer notebook. What truly matters is what is on your heart. You might want a steno or spiral notebook as they tend to be easier to open and close without tearing the pages, but it is entirely up to you!
Dividers or Tabs
For my prayer binder, I use dividers. Any dividers would work for this. Just add a place for all the sections you plan to pray. You might even include an area for each day of the week. Do this if you are planning on praying for different people or groups on different days.
Like dividers, tabs can be very handy in a prayer notebook or prayer binder. You can mark where you last prayed for your husband, for example. Maybe yesterday, you prayed for his health, so next, you need to pray for his relationships. It all depends on how you set it up!
Related: Praying for Your Husband Prayer Cards (FREE)
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you use a prayer notebook?
What’s great about a prayer notebook or war binder is that you have the free will to design and maintain it in whatever way is easiest to use for you. You can manually write out prayers, list dates and people to pray for, or create a full binder with dividers and pages. What appeals most to you?
Is it good to write down your prayers?
Writing down your prayers is actually a pretty bold move. Some people might want to keep locks on their journals if they contain privileged or private information. Otherwise, pour out your heart to God; let Him know the ups and downs that you’ve been going through! It’s therapeutic and glorifying to our Creator!!
How do you organize a prayer notebook?
I’ve seen prayer notebooks or war binders organized in dozens of different ways. You can have tabs for each member of your family, one for each day of the week with someone different to pray for each day, or make a combination that includes both systems – like I have with my prayer binder!
Can you pray in a notebook?
You can certainly pray in a prayer notebook. You can manually write out all of your prayers, add some artwork to your prayer notebook, or copy and paste prayers you find online. Taking the Serenity Prayer and adding it to the basic cover of a notebook is a wonderful idea! Each day, you’ll have one prayer already written out for you to say and start your prayer time.
Does God listen to written prayers?
Yes, God does listen to written prayers. If you feel a disconnect from God when writing out your prayers, you might try tracking your prayers to see how He is answering you! Also, if you write out what you want to say and then verbally say it, you will likely feel as moved as if you said the whole thing out loud before you wrote it down.
Conclusion
Do you use a prayer notebook or prayer binder? What is your favorite way to pray? Maybe you have found a new way to communicate with God!
We’d love to hear all about it. Be sure to reach out and tell us how you pray!
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I call on You, my God, for You will answer me; turn Your ear to me and hear my prayer. – Psalm 17:6 (NIV)
