Building Your Personal Prayer and Devotion Study System with Logos
In this training webinar, Dr. John Fallahee walks through a practical way to set up a personal prayer and devotion system using Logos Bible Software. The goal is to help you move from scattered notes to a cohesive workflow that connects Scripture, prayer, and memory in a way that supports spiritual growth.
Why Build a System?
Prayer is a humble response to God’s faithfulness. Whether you are facing difficulty or walking in peace, intentional prayer helps you stay connected to God’s Word and his promises. The webinar emphasizes that a well‑organized system makes it easier to keep prayer consistent without feeling overwhelmed.
Creating a Prayer List
One of the first steps is to create a Prayer List (Document → New → Prayer List). Give the list a clear title and add a date so you can find it among many documents. The list has two main areas:
- Notes: Write the specific prayer request or topic.
- Answer box: Record how God answers the prayer, preventing forgetfulness.
At the bottom‑right you can set a reminder with a frequency (daily, weekly, monthly, yearly) or a limited start‑end date for time‑sensitive prayers (for example, a hospital stay). Tags can be added for searchable organization, and the list can be made public or shared with a Faithlife group for collaborative prayer.
Integrating a Reading Plan
After the prayer list is set up, the webinar shows how to create a Reading Plan (Documents → New → Reading Plan). Choose the Bible as the source and select “Specific Passages” so you can enter the books you want to study — such as Psalms, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes — separated by semicolons. Set a start date and schedule the plan for weekdays only, and be sure to check the “One chapter per session” option. This forces the plan to move book‑by‑book, which makes reflection and prayer on each passage more manageable. Once created, you can drag the plan onto your dashboard for quick access.
Memorization Tool
The Passage List feature (Documents → New → Passage List) is useful for memorizing key verses that will shape your prayer life. Name the list meaningfully, add the verses you want to learn, and use the Memorize button to switch between Practice and Quiz modes. Options let you hide whole letters, hide all but the first letter, or randomize the order, with progressive order recommended for steady progress.
Organizing Searches in Favorites
Dr. Fallahee demonstrates creating a Favorites folder (Tools → Favorites → New Folder) called “seven prayer searches.” After running each search — such as “remembers the glories of God” or “examine your motives and manner” — he drags the results into the folder. The folder is saved in a personal book, so you can reuse it anytime. These specialized searches, drawn from his book *Reflect the Glory of God in Prayer*, help you locate passages that speak to particular prayer themes without sifting through large corpora.
Using Preaching Themes and the Bible Browser
Four additional methods for finding prayer‑related passages are shown:
- Confession: Search “preaching theme = confession” to see examples like Pharaoh’s insincere confession in Exodus 9:27.
- Intercession: Search “preaching theme = intercession” to find Abraham’s plea for Lot in Genesis 18.
- Petitionary prayer: Matthew 7:7 (“ask and be given”) serves as a model for specific requests.
- Bible Browser: Searching for the word “pray” (not “prayer”) captures variations such as “prayed,” “praying,” and “prayer” across more than 100 passages, including Matthew 7:8 and Luke 11:9‑10.
Scriptural Foundations
The training repeatedly ties these practices to Scripture. James 4:2‑3 reminds believers to learn how to pray properly. Psalm 1 is used as a memorization example, while Psalm 51:1 appears in a search for “loving God and loving people.” Additional references include Psalm 18:1, Psalm 18:49‑50, and Psalm 22:8, which highlight God’s glory, justice, and sovereignty — themes that shape the content of our prayers.
Group Prayer and Shared Notebooks
For those who want to pray with others, the webinar explains how to create a Faithlife group (small group type) and then share a Logos notebook with that group. The notebook can be set up with a simple template: include the contributor’s name, a date, and a title such as “Prayer Requests.” You can copy the previous week’s note as a template, update the date, and adjust the requests. Sharing both the group and the notebook enables accountability and makes it easy to see how God answers each request.
Practical Tips for Consistency
- Start with a dated prayer list and use its note/answer boxes to track requests and answers.
- Set realistic reminder frequencies — weekly on a specific day works well for many people.
- Integrate a reading plan that covers devotional wisdom literature and align it with your prayer list so Scripture informs prayer and prayer deepens Scripture reflection.
- Use the memorization tool to embed key verses into your prayer rhythm, enhancing meditation.
- Leverage the specialized topic searches to quickly find passages that speak to particular prayer themes.
Saving a Custom Layout
At the end of the demonstration, Dr. Fallahee creates a “Prayer Devotional” layout that combines the Bible reading (Psalm 1), the prayer journal, a speaking‑to‑God section, memorization, and passage lists. He saves the layout as “zero‑prayer devotional,” adds it to the shortcut toolbar with a candle icon, and notes that this setup lets you open the entire devotion system with one click.
By following these steps — organizing prayers, aligning a reading plan, memorizing key verses, and using specialized searches — you can build a personal system that nurtures a deeper, more scripturally grounded prayer life. The webinar’s resources, including the personal book with Dr. Fallahee’s notes and the linked print materials, provide further helps for continued growth.