You know when you’ve learned some new information, or something you hadn’t seen before is pointed out to you, suddenly you start noticing it everywhere? It’s strange isn’t it?
There is a name for this phenomenon. It is called the Baader-Meinhof effect or frequency illusion.
Those things have been there all the time but only now they catch your attention.
I want to take this concept and use it for our prayer.
Over the next few weeks we are going to focus on some objects, not just to discover how many you notice as you go about your day, but to use them as Prayer Triggers.
The idea of Prayer Triggers comes from two friends, Lisa Allen and Wendy Blight, at Proverbs 31 Ministries. Wendy explains in her book, Living So That, how Lisa first made her aware of this way to pray. Lisa said things that remind you of a person are an opportunity to trigger a prayer for them. It is a way to be alert, as the Bible tells us to be, when we pray.
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We are going to combine our frequency phenomenon with prayer triggers.
I am going to point out certain things to you through photographs from my collection and my travels. (I’m looking forward to sharing these with you.) When you see that object in your day-to-day life, you will be prompted to pray for a certain thing or a particular person.
My hope is the phenomenon will come into effect and you will see the one thing everywhere, so the person or thing you connect with it will be prayed for with more frequency.
Each photograph will have a short paragraph with it telling you what it motivates me to pray about or who to pray for.
For example, when I see a photograph of the Painted Ladies in San Francisco – it makes me think of our friends who live there, and I am encouraged to pray for them.
You may wonder how often I see the Painted Ladies in my day-to-day life, but surprisingly, it is very often. Every time I open Google Docs, they are there. Who knows, maybe now I will see them in other places—on advertisements, the television, in a magazine.
I hope you will join me in this fun summer month of prayer on each Tuesday and Thursday.
What reminds you to pray for friends who live far away?
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Linking up with Kelly Balarie at #RaRaLinkup, with Holley Gerth at #CoffeeForYourHeart
I’d heard of prayer triggers from Kathryn Shirey, but her idea was different, to pray at red lights giving thanks to God, or for her family each time she walked out the door. I love this idea of lifting someone up in prayer each time you see a reminder of them. I have a cross-stick done by my daughter on my desk, so when I see it, I think I’ll pray for her.
Thanks Betsy for pointing out Kathryn’s prayer triggers. SO many things to remind us to pray. Yay.