Do You Keep a Journal?

Why Keep a Prayer Journal?

Any inexpensive notebook will work great as a journal.

For years I have kept a prayer journal and I have listed specific prayers and specific people to remember while praying. I think it’s important and it’s nice to be able to go back and see where and how prayers have been answered.  I had kind of gotten out of the habit of journaling and keeping up with those prayer lists.

 I have recently recommitted to journaling.  (There are some instagram friends that I think deserve some credit for my recommitment to journaling;  Rachel Schmoyer, Sarah Bramme @thiswifelife, Heather Kaufman @hmkstories, two of these ladies are writers and have reminded me of the importance of writing and Sarah reminded me that I should be praying for my husband daily). I think it’s important that we remember to pray for others daily and not just ourselves.  And I for one, sometimes need to be reminded!  We all get busy and consumed with our own lives, but God commands us to: 

 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.  Galations 6:2 

 Keeping a prayer journal and writing down all of those people that you promise to pray for ensures that you will actually remember to pray for them and it’s one way to help to fulfill God’s command to carry each other’s burdens.  Don’t just give those requests lip service; I think it’s easy to tell people on social media that you will pray for them and then just forget about it.  Journaling is an easy way to remind yourself.  If they are personal friends or neighbors in your area, you can do even more to ease their burdens such as:

 Cooking a meal for them

Babysitting or taking their kids to a practice or an appointment

Washing a load of clothes for them

Running an errand for them

Inviting them over for coffee and listening and be a friend (show that you care)

 There are all sorts of inexpensive ways that you can help to carry one another’s burdens, but I truly believe it begins with prayer and journaling is just my way of keeping up with that prayer list. Start your own prayer journal today!

Do You Struggle to Find Time to Spend With God?

I have this love hate relationship with exercise.  I love that I look and feel better after consistently working out, but I still DON’T love working out.    They say that it takes doing something consistently for 2 months or more for it to become a habit.  I’ve been working out on a regular basis for 2 years and I’m still not sure it’s a habit for me, (or if it is, it’s a habit I could easily give up!) 

Exercise for me is something that I have to schedule into my week and try to plan around when at all possible because I know that it is good for me. There are physical and mental rewards to be had and still I struggle with doing what I know is good for me.

I think it is the same way for me when it comes to spending time in God’s word and in prayer.  I know how good it is for me; I have experienced the rewards again and again and yet I still struggle to make it a habit, even after many, many years. 

Just like exercise I have to schedule time to spend with God. The payoff is beyond measure.  I reap benefits that far outweigh the few minutes that I spend with him each day. 

Do you struggle to find the time to spend with God?  Pencil that time into your calendar, turn off your phone, get out your Bible and spend a few minutes reading and talking to Him.   If you give Him your time, He will give you time and so much more.  Start today! 

Read Psalms 1:1- 

1 Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
 

Does it Seem Like God Isn't Answering Your Prayers?

What Do I Do Now?

I am writing this devotional more for myself than anyone else, but I am praying that it will encourage others, as well.  We have a financial situation in our family that is affecting us negatively and this is something that we have been praying about for quite a while with no clear answer.  If anything, the situation just seems to be wrought with problem after problem and no clear solutions. 

 I have become discouraged and disheartened.  Last Sunday during our morning church service it became very clear to me that I might be praying for my will in this situation, not
God’s will.  Also, God’s timing is not always the same as our timing.

“3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”

— James 4:3

I have decided to begin praying about this problem with a new approach.

1. I am going to start seeking God’s will and God’s solution to this problem, not what I think the solution should be.

2. I am going to strive to be more obedient in my daily walk with him.

3. I am going to be more patient and trust that he will solve this problem and it will be in his time and until that time he will continue to provide.

Think about praying unselfishly and aligning your prayers with God’s will. I am making that pledge today. After all, the Bible promises us that God will give us good gifts when we seek him.

Read Matthew 7: 7 -11 today and trust in Him!

“Jesus said, “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him.” ”

— Matthew 7:11

Is Worrying Stealing Your Joy?

I have always been a worrier and as a Christian I know that we are not supposed to worry.  God promises to take care of us.  I will often give my problems to him in prayer, only to continue worrying about them.  That’s really telling God that I don’t trust him to handle things, or that I think I can control problems better than him.  We all know that is not the case!

I often let worrying steal the peace and joy that the Bible promises Christians.  This is an area of my walk with Christ that is a daily struggle. I don’t really want to be a glass half empty kind of girl.  I don’t want to be negative and consumed with worry.  God doesn’t want that for us! 

Matthew 6:26-27, 31-34  (NIV)

26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Spending time in prayer and in God’s word helps me to combat my own negative thoughts and it always helps me to be able to share my concerns with a Christian friend that I know will pray for me, as well.   It also helps me to count my many blessings and praise him for those blessings! It's hard to be despondent when you are being thankful.

Try it!  Stop letting worry steal your joy!  Start by reading Matthew 6:25-34 today.

Do You Need Answers

Are you searching for answers?  Most of us are… we are constantly questioning our decisions in life and looking for confirmation regarding decisions that we have made and guidance regarding those decisions we have yet to make. 

Right now there are some areas in my life where I need some clear directions.  I know what I want, but I also know that if it is not what God wants for me, it's not going to happen and I am just spinning my wheels.  I want to go in the direction that God has laid out for me, but what direction is that? 

I just recently, at the end of this school year decided to retire.  I loved my job and the people that I worked with, so retirement was a big decision for me.   But,  what's next and how do I get to there? Who do you turn to when you have a big decision to make?  I need God's guidance.  I am searching God's Word  and seeking his wisdom through prayer.

If you need answers or direction seek Him.  

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Philippians 4:6

Be a Doer

Get Started Today

Ecclesiates 11

I had a difficult time putting pen to paper when it came writing a devotional for this week.  Everything I read in the Bible applied directly to me and I was all over the place, (which means it should be easy to come up with several ideas for future devotionals because there are a lot of areas in my life that need work).  I finally decided to share one of my immediate concerns with you.

I decided to retire at the end of the school year in June.  I loved my job, but I drove a far distance, had to get up at 5 am everyday and I was just tired.  I have some things that I would like to do, dreams I would like to chase and hobbies that I would like to pursue.  One of my fears about retirement is that I seem to be able to waste a whole day and not accomplish much, so I have started trying to keep a day planner and actually plan out my days and get some of my want to's penciled in and scheduled on my calendar.  I am trying to make productivity a habit. I am also trying to make reading my Bible a habit and writing these short devotions helps.  I know that I need to get up fairly early in the morning and get my day started and I have scriptural proof!  

I've been reading in Ecclesiates and there it was in verse 11.  I think God is telling me to get up every morning and get started; chase my dreams, make plans, schedule classes and trips!  I know I can't be the only one that struggles with actually getting started.  He wants us to spend time in The Word and spend time with Him.

Start today by getting up early and reading Ecclesiates 11 and spending some time with Him and then make a plan and get busy!

“The secret of getting started is getting started.”

— Mark Twain

Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let not your hands be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, and whether both will do equally well. Light is sweet, and it pleases the eyes to see the sun.    Ecclesiates 11:6-7