30-Day Prayer Calendar
Overview
A 30-Day Prayer Calendar is one of the best Prayer Tools for developing a daily
habit of praying for others. Using a prayer calendar only takes about five minutes a
day, but as we invite others to join us, it can turn into a cascading movement of
prayer that grows into hundreds of hours of prayer each month. Introduced by
David and Paul Watson in their book Contagious Disciple Making, the 30-Day Prayer
Calendar has proven to be a very effective tool for developing and multiplying
prayer within Disciple Making Movements around the world.
How It Works
1. Number each line on a piece of paper to correspond with the days of a
month.
2. 3. 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 sometime in the future.
Each day, look at your list or calendar and pray for the person noted for the
day. For example, if it is the 12th, call the person on your list whose name is
on line 12.
You can say something like, “I have a prayer calendar, and I pray for you on
the 12th day of every month. I am going to be praying for you throughout
the day today. Is there anything specific that I can pray about?”
Once they share their requests, ask them, “May I pray for you right now?”
@ 2021 New Generations (feel free to copy)
End by asking them, “When God answers your prayer, would you please let me
know?” The whole exchange could take less than 5 minutes.
If you cannot reach the person by phone, text them and ask the same
question. Once you get a response, you can text them your prayer or
send them a voice message.
How It Can Multiply
After a few months, invite three or more of the people on your list to start their
own prayer calendars. Teach them how you set your prayer calendar up, and follow
up periodically by asking them how it is going. Don’t forget to 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 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 prayers are
answered and shared, using a prayer calendar creates 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, ordinary miracles will begin
to happen. Their hearts become more and more oriented toward impacting others
for Christ. When this happens, you have the beginning of a prayer movement!