A danger we often have is promising to pray for people, but quickly forgetting or just letting the days slip by. One way I've seen many families try to remain faithful in this is through the use of prayer cards (not just exclusively for missionaries). We have a list of people that we pray for - one a day - at our breakfast table. When I was single, I had a notebook of names with a few prayer points next to them and I would pray for one or two names each day during my quiet time.

Most missionary update letters have a list of prayer points included that can help us to know how to pray. Otherwise, my top three prayers for people would probably be: 1. A steadfast walk with God, 2. Good relationships (family, cross-cultural, teammates, etc..) 3. Ministry specifics.

One goal I would like to reach is not only praying for the people on the card that turn up each day, but taking a couple minutes to jot them a quick email or facebook note to let them know that they are in our thoughts. Unfortunately, communication is not my forte, so this would be a real challenge until it became a habit.