Is it just me, or does it seem like gift-giving occasions come around every other week?
Valentine’s Day. Birthdays. Easter. Anniversaries. First communions. Wedding showers. Baby showers. Baptisms. More birthdays. And, of course, the pinnacle of the gift-giving year: Christmas.
You want to give meaningful gifts to those you love. But finding the perfect gift for every occasion and every loved one can be hard. What if, this year, you determined to give the gift of prayer?
How to Give the Gift of Prayer
- Purchase a blank journal and write a short prayer for the recipient at the top of each page before presenting it as a gift.
- Text a brief prayer for your loved one’s special occasion.
- In a greeting card, list 10 things you will pray for on their special day.
- Create two “prayer baskets” or bowls stuffed with rolled, ribbon-tied slips of paper. Each slip contains a prayer you have written for the recipient and prayed over as you wrote. Give one basket to your loved one and keep the other. Each day pick a prayer for reading and meditation.
- Leave a voicemail on your loved one’s special day, praying a blessing such as Numbers 6:24-26 or Ephesians 3:14-21.
- Buy or bake a cake or large cookie and instead of “Happy Birthday” or similar message, write your prayer for the recipient on it. One example: “May God give you the desire of your heart. Psalm 20:4.”
These are just a few ideas, of course, but maybe they’ll inspire others and suggest more unique and meaningful ways to give the gift of prayer to those you love.