Over the years I've struggled to find a way to keep track of the prayer requests of our military friends - deployments, reunions, marriages, as well as other prayer concerns relating to the military community. I recently stumbled across the concept of a Prayer Pot...perfect! Our family plans to use the Prayer Pots for prayers and praises beyond the military community as well - our friends, family, church, country...
How can you duplicate this for your family? I have a few suggestions listed below.
Benita Koeman
Operation We Are Here
_______________________________________________________________
Supplies
- 3 inch clay pots
- Glossy white spray paint
- Acrylic paints
- Paintbrushes
- Colored foil stars
- Popsicle sticks
- Fine point marker
Spray paint the pots as desired (inside, outside, or both). Once dry, decorate with acrylic paints.
Write the prayer need or praise on the popsicle stick. If the prayer need or praise relates to the military community, add a star. A blue star represents military families. A silver star represents Wounded Warrior families (remember, some wounds are not plainly visible, for example, PTSD and TBI). A gold star represents Gold Star families, families who have lost a military service member.
Other suggestions
- Names - For privacy purposes, the examples in the images above are generic. PLEASE, write names on yours. Pray for your loved ones by name....your friends, family members, etc.
- If you are praying for a Gold Star family, consider adding the individual's birth date and death date. Those dates, as well as holidays, are especially hard for Gold Star families. It might serve as a good reminder to call their family or send them a card.
_______________________________________________________________
Military Prayer PotI gave our Military Prayer Pot a patriotic theme. Here are some examples in what you can write on your popsicle sticks to be prayed for. This is not an exhaustive list.
- Deployment
- Reunion
- Marriages
- Hope
- Loneliness
- Strength
- Home front families
- Parents of military personnel
- Deployed military personnel (or geographically separated personnel - away from their families for training, etc., but not deployed)
- Gold Star families
- Wounded Warrior families
- Suicide
- Military ministries
- Military supportive agencies
- Military kids and teens
- Military chaplains
- Moving challenges
- Courage
- Unknown or unspoken concerns
- Veterans transitioning into the civilian community
- Names - specific people you are praying for!
If you would like to learn more about what to pray for the military community or if you would like to have a better understanding of the needs of the military community, please visit these links:
Additional prayer resources for the military community are found on this LINK.
_______________________________________________________________
Set of Three Prayer Pots- Praise and Thanks pot - God cares about our needs, but we want to make it our priority to praise Him for who He is...and to thank Him for all of our blessings, provisions, and answered prayers.
- We Prayed pot - This is where we put the sticks when we're done praying for that item.
- Prayer Requests pot - This contains all of our prayer needs and concerns, including the needs of the military community.
At our evening mealtime devotions, we each remove a stick from the Praise and Thanks pot and the Prayer Request pot. At the end of our prayer time, we place the sticks in the We Prayed pot. Eventually we'll cover all the items we want to be intentionally praying about, and we'll start over again.
"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people." Ephesians 6:18 (NIV)
Prayer pots
A practical way to remember the needs of the military community in prayer.
Perhaps you already have a method of prayertime that works great for your family. Then you might wish to create a Military Prayer Pot. Set it out to remind you to pray for the military community...and to remind you of some of the needs to be in prayer for.
Our family has adopted a method that includes three Prayer Pots:
Copyright 2008 - 2019 Benita Koeman, Operation We Are Here. All rights reserved.
Operation We Are Here is a HUB of RESOURCES for the military community and military supporters.
Military support is not a concept to embrace; military support is sacrificial action. Visit our military support TOOLKIT.
Resources for supporters of military and veteran families
- Practical insights in caring for
Military and veteran family resources
- Christian encouragement
- Deployment support for
- Downloads and printables
Operation We Are Here
Follow us on
resources
