An Introduction to Strategic Prayer Worksheets

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:10-13 NIV)

Have you ever read a verse like this and gotten frustrated? Sometimes it sounds great that God has plans for me—but how do I find out what those plans are?

One of the tools I use are what I call “Strategic Prayer Worksheets.”

Strategic Prayer worksheets are based on three underlying principles:

• God knows the plans He has for us (Jeremiah 29:11-13)
• God already has good works prepared for us to do (Ephesians 2:10).
• God speaks to His children through a variety of means (John 10:14 & 27. See also, Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby).

Based on these Biblical truths, we can ask God what His plans for us are, and what works He has planned. We take the time to pay attention to what God is doing in and around us, and seek His wisdom and guidance in every area of our lives.

Strategic Prayer Worksheets are designed to help focus prayers on specific questions, issues, projects and problems. They grew out of my efforts to align my activities and business practices with what I believed God was calling me to do. I was familiar with several listening prayer modalities for trauma recovering, and inner healing prayer, which I used regularly in my counseling practice, as well as in her own life. After learning the practice of Immanuel Journaling, I began experimenting with using it in business consulting, coaching and speaking. I developed the first worksheet after being asked to deliver a keynote address for a local group of business people. I wanted to know what God wanted me to say to this audience. The questions I asked became the Speaking Engagement worksheet, which I still uses when asked to speak.

More Strategic Prayer worksheets followed. Some were developed for my own use; others for clients. All of them are designed to help users seek God for His purposes and plans for their activities.

Strategic Prayer Worksheets provide a way to have a written conversation with God. In some ways, conversation with God is like conversations with human beings. For one, each of you talks some and listens some. There’s a back-and-forth in conversation. For another, the relational context matters. Just like with people, the better we get to know God, the better we will understand and relate to what He is communicating to you.

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)

However, there are some ways that listening to God differs from listening to people. For one thing, we don’t listen to God with our ears; we listen with our spirits, or we could say, with our hearts. Listening with our spirits requires concentration and attention. Listening with our hearts is experienced differently for each of us. For some, God “speaks” to us visually. They “see” what God is saying to them in their mind’s eye, like a photograph or movie. Others “hear” words. Still others “get a sense” or have a “gut feeling” about what God is saying to them. Some “know” it when they read it or hear someone say something. For some, God speaks to them in scripture verses He brings to mind for specific situations.

At Deeper Walk, these are some of the ways that we have noticed how God makes Himself known to us and to the people that we have worked with. As Henry Blackaby noted, God speaks uniquely to each one of us. As far as scripture and history has recorded, the only person God spoke to through a burning bush was Moses. And aren’t we glad that God hasn’t used a whale to get our attention the way He did with Jonah!

So, if you are already comfortable with listening prayer, you will probably have no problem with Strategic Prayer. If you have never experienced listening prayer, you may want to start with prayer worksheets. I recommend starting with the Listening through Scripture worksheet.

“How do I know it’s God?”

Great question! Important question! There is no short answer. Each of us must learn to recognize the voice of God as He uniquely speaks to us. The good news is that as we seek to hear His voice in prayer, we will recognize it more and more. Just like we get to know the unique characteristics of our loved ones speech patterns, timbre, favorite expressions, and other quirks, we get to know God’s voice as well. We do need to be careful. We have an enemy who wants to lead us astray, and who sometimes “masquerades as an angel of light.” (2 Corinthians 11:14 NIV). So how do we learn to discern the voice of God from voices that could lead us astray? Here are some guidelines.

1. Know the scriptures. God has revealed Himself to us through His word, the Bible. The books of the Bible were carefully and prayerfully assembled by Godly people. The Bible is the standard, the measuring stick with which all other voices must be aligned.
   
   
2. Know the character of God. God will not tell you anything that is inconsistent with His character. He cannot do so. Any thought that is not aligned with the character of God was not given by God.
   
   
3. Listen with God’s people. The church is God’s family on earth. God is our Father, Jesus is our brother. If you want to get to know God, spend time with His family. Listen with other believers, especially with those who have been diligent in learning to listen to Him. Discuss what you are hearing and pursue a posture that allows for dialogue.
   
   
4. Look for fruit. Galatians 5:22-23 lists the fruit of the Spirit: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23 ESV) When we align our hearts with His, we experience increasing fruit. When God speaks, there is a deep peace that permeates the interaction. Even when He tells us something we do not want to hear, we experience a “rightness” in what is said. Sometimes this is a sense of conviction of our own wrongdoing, or an action that we need to take that we know will be hard. Sometimes He gives us compassion for someone who has hurt us, or an insight that would never have occurred to us on our own.
   
   
5. Practice humility and watch for confirmation. Even if what we hear in prayer aligns with God’s character and does not contradict scripture, it is wise to hold it with humility and tentativeness. As Paul wrote, “We know in part and prophesy in part” (1 Corinthians 13:9). Even in scripture, when God spoke to His people, they often only partially understood Him. The disciples walked with Jesus in the flesh, and even then did not always understand what He was telling them! It is wise to ask the Lord for confirmation and clarification, and to see prayer as one of multiple ways that God interacts with us.

We hope this short guide helps you as you seek to discern God’s voice and align your work with what He has planned for you. However, it is just a short guide. If you need further assistance, reach out to others who love God and are walking closely with Him.

You may also want to seek assistance from someone who has been trained in assisting people. The Deeper Walk School of Ministry trains Prayer Ministers to facilitate interactive prayer sessions for inner healing and spiritual warfare. You can find Deeper Walk Certified Prayer Ministers on the referrals page of our website.

Want to be trained to help others find healing and freedom through prayer ministry? Learn more about our Certification in Deeper Walk Prayer Ministry at deeperwalk.com/som.

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me … My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. (John 10:14, 27 NIV)

Additional Resources:

• Blackaby, Henry T. & Claude V. King. Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God. 1990.
• Warner, Marcus, A Deeper Walk. Moody Publishers, 2022.
• Warner, Marcus. REAL Prayer. Deeper Walk International.
• Whitestone, D.J. Strategic Business Prayer. Deeper Walk International, 2019.
• Wilder, E James, Anna Kang, John Loppnow, & Sungshim Loppnow. Joyful Journey: Listening to Immanuel. Life Model Works, 2015.