Journaling
"OUR" Prayer Journal - A Journal of Our Journey of prayer.
How often have we heard these words "Write it down or you'll forget it"? If that is true for our daily efficiency, how much truer is it for the treasures of our experiences with God's Word?
One of the greatest heritages that you could pass on to your descendants is a written account of your walk with God. The struggles and trials that you experienced and the steps that you took to overcome them will be a tremendous resource to those who follow you.
You do not know what you are thinking until you write it down.
When you begin keeping a written record of your experiences, you will become much more alert to the people and events that affect your life. You will learn how to be precise with words and ideas. The result will be a greater ability to communicate truth with others, and this is an important foundation for daily success.
So, what should you include in your "daily success journal"? Here are some ideas:
-
How consistent were you able to be during this first week of meditation?
-
What hindered you from keeping Scripture before your mind?
-
What was your experience in meditating before going to sleep?
-
Did you have any unusual dreams?
-
How were you able to personalize the Scripture?
-
What practical applications have you applied from this command?
-
How has God blessed you or your family this week?
You might be encouraged to know that God is also writing a journal about you:
"Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name" (Malachi 3:16).
Through Christ our Lord,
Bill Gothard
How many of you know what it means to "journal" (a verb)?
– To "journal" means to write down various thoughts, feelings, memories, opinions.
– It used to be called "keeping a diary."
– Why the change from "keeping a diary" to keeping a journal (otherwise known as "journaling")? I don't know.
What I do know is that today in the internet, world wide web page, a popular thing is to "keep a diary" or to "journal," and to post your diary/journal entry onto the internet for others to see and to respond to.
Placing your diary/journal entry on the internet has a name; it's known as "blogging."
– If you're someone who likes to express themselves in writing and have others respond to your written expressions, then "blogging" is for you.
– As a "blogger," your writings are technically known as a "blog."
To Pray with a journal of "OUR" journey of intimacy with "OUR" Father keeps daily requests in focus in regards to "OUR" relationship with "OUR" Father and each other.
Our journal takes the guesswork out of what To Pray for. Lengthy lists help avoid forgetfulness. Pictures of remembrances, snapshots of memories, scrapbook of events capture time and space. Prayer lifts these to the Father not so much as the requested need at the time but in association with "OUR" Father's request. His Son says when you pray, "Pray like this. . . . . ." Reason for journaling!
Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer (C.S. Lewis, notes)
"The increasing list of people (places & events) to be prayed for is, nevertheless, one of the burdens of old age. I have a scruple about crossing anyone off the list. When I say a scruple. I mean precisely a scruple. I don't think that if one prays for a man at all it is a duty to pray for him all my life. But when it comes to dropping him now, this particular day, it somehow goes against the grain. And as the list lengthens, it is hard to make it more than just a string of names. But herein to some measure – a curious law comes into play. Don't you find that, if you keep your mind fixed upon God, you will automatically think of the person you are praying for; but that there is no tendency for it to work the other way around?"
Sometimes there may not even be a name of reference, as in this lengthy journal listing, only a mental picture of that person from memory, or a place or a event request. I don't think this is what Lewis refers to in "wordless" praying. However avoiding names and substituting mental images. "is best." Ready made prayers, keep in touch with sound doctrine, reminds one of "what to ask" (especially for others), keeps urgent in perspective with necessities, provides ceremony (agenda), corrective one sided view, reverence. A good reason for a secret place, journey in a Journal of Prayer. (R.C.)
Writing has the power to help you see the beauty of God at work in your life experiences. When you express your thoughts and feelings in a journal, you'll be surprised by how much you discover about God in the process – and God will use your journal as a tool to transform you.
http://cyberchurch.multiply.com/links/item/379
Join with us as we journey daily as PRAY-ers were taught To Pray.