This Old Prayer Request Card

¹There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under heaven:

²a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

³a time to kill and a time, to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

⁴a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance…”  Eccl 3:1-4 (NIV)

I have an 8 ½ x 11” piece of paper I use for recording my prayer requests and the names of people I for whom I want to pray. My memory isn’t very good and especially with the condition I’ve had for many months, I forget even easier. This prayer request card is dog-eared, has cross-outs, has places where I used white out, has smudges, and is generally getting very crowded. Yet, I keep adding more requests onto it. Sometimes, when I’m very tired, I pray a general prayer for the needs of those on the card. Other times, I name each person on it. What God has me realizing about this prayer request card and my life is that, just like the verse from Ecclesiastes, there’s a time in my life and the lives of others for everything. My prayers are always heard and fill God’s ears, yet He always has room to hear more.

I’ve wanted to rewrite the prayer request card, since it’s quite messy, but God keeps telling me that it’s still good enough. Just like His heart being full of requests from me and many others, there’s still room for more requests in his heart and on my prayer request card for more. So, once again each morning and during the day, my prayers go out to those on this only prayer request card.