Journaling as a Tool for Hearing God's Voice

Recently I have realised that I do not take enough time to ask God for His opinion.  I spend more time in prayer today than I ever have done, but when it comes to seeking God for specific answers to specific questions, I realize one of the reasons I don’t know God’s will is because I haven’t taken the time to ask. 

Now I am a bit cautious as I write this post to hold seeking God’s will in balance with ultimately seeking God.  Discovering God’s will is not meant to be another burden on the failing Christian’s to-do list.  But it is meant to be a natural consequence of seeking relationship with God and assuming He wants to lead us in our lives.

One of the ways I hear God most clearly and specifically is through journaling. Last week I brought all these questions I had to Him and I felt Him tell me that this week He wanted me to spend the majority of my quiet time, after reading Scripture, in journaling. 

Here is how I journal:

Firstly, I write to God.  I pour out my heart to Him.  I tell him my anxieties.  I ask Him questions.  I give thanks for specific things.  I tell Him how much my heart yearns for Him.  I confess my sin and cry out to Him to change my heart. 

Then, I still myself before the Lord.  I focus myself on Jesus, and I begin to write a letter back from God to me.  I don’t question everything I am writing at that point.  I simply write.  When I have finished, if there are specific directional things that have been written, I bring them to Mark or others in our leadership for accountability and to weigh them.  However, most of the time, God speaks to my heart issues.  He makes me see my insecurities, my judgments of others and my fears in His perspective.   He encourages me and speaks words of scripture to me. 

When I began the week, I was excited, thinking that I would now begin to hear answers to all my questions.  But instead, I have realized how many anxieties I have been sub-consciously carrying.  And as He addresses them, I have been totally drawn into His heart.  He has spoken to me about drawing close and leaning on Him and listening to His heartbeat.  I have had to slow down.  I have realized once again that much of my life and my quiet times are about doing – achieving.  Finishing a task or completing a prayer list or finishing a book.  And instead He wants me to just enjoy His presence. 

I am falling in love, all over again.

You do not have, because you do not ask God 

- James 4:2

Will you take some time to journal this week? 

(If this is your first time to journal, simply start by writing a love letter to God, and then writing a love letter back from Him.  Don't worry if it is God or not - just write and then go back and weigh it against Scripture and with accountability with a mature Christian afterwards.) 

Is this God's will?

In the last blogpost, I talked about the process of writing.  That post in itself has made me think about life and how often we take shortcuts when we are discerning God’s will for our lives…(If you haven’t read the last post, have a quick look now, it will make the later part of this post make a lot more sense!)

As I am growing in my relationship with God, I am learning how to discern His leading more and more.  And as I do, I keep asking, how can I go even deeper? How can I know what He wants me to do all the time and not just guess?

One of the things I have learned in the last few years is about patience and not making decisions under pressure.  There are few times since we moved to Peru five years ago when we have needed to make a rushed decision.  In fact, only one sticks out in my mind - that of moving out of our rented house and buying a new one.  It all happened in 13 days from idea conception to moving in, and God clearly guided the way.  He gave us hints, Bible passages, visions, total financial provision where there had been none, opened doors and miraculous happenings as confirmation that it was all Him. 

Other decisions we have to make are not so clear cut. 

Take travelling for example.  I always find it incredibly difficult to book flights because I never know when the right moment to book and the exact dates we should book. Mark is hoping to travel to the jungle every month next year, and we need to decide when he should travel on each trip.  Sometimes, perhaps it doesn’t matter, but on other occasions, it will.  Do we book earlier to get potentially cheaper prices, or do we wait?

What about logic? Of course, we can look at the calendar over the next year and look at key dates to avoid, we can see when it is most difficult for Mark to be away (over weekends), etc. But ultimately there are things we can’t foresee.  And, yes, I know there is grace for that, but I don’t want to just be limited to logic and grace! I want to live by relationship! Principles – trying to do the right thing, are good, but can become religious.  Relationship leads to life (and most definitely, an adventure!)

Bill Johnson says: “If you live by a principle, you will be right a lot.  If you live by the presence, you can be right all the time”.

I want to be right all the time! (And yes, not just because I was one of those kids at school who always wanted to be right, but because I actually want to have a relationship with God where I know His heart!)

This week Mark and I discussed visiting a jungle town I would love to visit again in January.  We both love the idea and had provisionally agreed to the idea with one another over the phone.  I then lay on the bed and started pondering the details of the trip and a voice came into my mind: ‘Have you actually asked Me if I want you to go on that trip? Have you asked My opinion?’.  

And no, we hadn’t.  What do you think? I asked, boldly.  It’s not my idea. Came the response.

Good idea? Maybe.  God idea? Nope.

And so I was reminded just how important it is for us to take time to ask God His opinion. (Didn’t the Israelites suffer from presumption too?) And for us to actively seek God’s will in our prayers.  To spend time (note the word ‘time’ here, not ‘a moment’) wrestling, thinking about, discussing, praying, and seeking confirmation for an idea. 

And so here is where the relationship to the last post comes in – how often do we include God in making our decisions? How often do we specifically acknowledge thinking and praying time (and actively engage in it) before we ‘write’ the plan? Or do we just do our research and then begin writing?

And God is reminding me too, that it isn’t my responsibility to find our His will – it’s His responsibility to show me.  My responsibility is to seek Him.   And to leave anxiety to one side.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

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Other blogposts on discerning God's will: 

1. When Doubt Means Wait

On enjoying the journey:

2. When I can't feel Him (Stop being a baby!)

3. An Unhurried Path

4. Selah   

Inspiration: thoughts on writing a blogpost...

The most helpful and inspiring workshop I ever went to at University was a voluntary one.  

Only 6 or so students turned up, all seeking the answer to the same question: How can we get top marks in our essays with this teacher? (From what I remember the class was on French existentialism!) 

I think we all expected to be pointed to key academic texts we could discover the answers to the varied essay questions in, or to be given a secret or two by the teacher. But as far as I recall, there was none of that.

Instead, the teacher told us that what distinguished a good essay from an excellent essay was inspiration.  She told us that too many students looked at an essay question, researched as much as they could and collected the information together into a fluid piece of writing.  Perhaps they spent hours doing this and then came back disappointed that the highest mark they could ever achieve was a 2:1. (a ‘B’ on the University marking scale).

She told us that if we wanted to write interesting 1^st grade essays then we needed to divide our essay writing into three parts:

1. Research,

2. Thinking time,  

3. Writing. 

She told us Starbucks was essential to essay writing. 

She told us that as much time should be spent thinking about the research we had done, with a notebook to jot down thoughts and questions, than should be spent with our head in our books.

Perhaps to others it had been obvious (although due to the lack of first grade essays, I doubt it!), but I had NEVER seen the importance of thinking time before.  Surely that was just procrastination?

That semester I wrote the first essay I enjoyed writing.  Sure, some of the delving through books was a bit monotonous, but interacting with the research and exploring my own ideas led me to really engage with the subject. For a week or two I pondered on and grappled with the different ideas; questioned the research I had read and put forward my own ideas and opinions. It was the easiest essay I wrote at University and it just flowed.  It was also the first essay I received a ‘first’ in.

And today, essentially, that is how I write:

1. Spending time with God and engaging with His word, reading and life experience (Research)

2. Pondering, questioning, praying and taking notes often over a week or two (Thinking time)

3. Bringing the thoughts together (Writing).

And that is how a blogpost usually comes together, generally over a week or two. 

First comes the living, then the resting in Him and then the writing. 

How do you engage with creativity in your life?

Do you have time to put in thinking time?

Blessed is the one…who meditates on his law day and night.

That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,

    which yields its fruit in season

and whose leaf does not wither –

    whatever they do prospers.

Psalm 1: 1-3 

Three ways to send your roots deep

Let me tell you a story…

Once there was an eagle who planted a shoot in fertile ground next to a river.  The shoot let its roots grow out towards the river, grew strong and became a fruitful vine, unmoved by any strong winds.  

Another eagle planted a shoot in land that was equally fertile, next to an equally abundant river.  This time however, the shoot sent its roots up towards the eagle, shallow and towards the top soil.  The plant soon withered and failed to grow, being lifted off when the winds came.  

( You might be surprised to find that this parable is actually in the Bible, in Ezekiel 17, and is a parable about what happens when a nation focuses on a strong, arrogant leader instead of God.) 

How I need to intentionally set my roots deep into Him!

How easy it is to let the distractions or strong winds of this life try to carry me away rather than stand against them.

How I need that manure-clad soil of experience of His faithfulness to nourish and encourage my soul in the face of a mocking Goliath.

I know I need deep roots, but what does that actually look like? 

I asked God to show me practically how to  keep my roots focused on Him and He graciously led me to Phillippians 4:6-7:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Three life-giving steps to having my mind and heart enveloped in Jesus:

1. Do not be anxious about anything

The temptation comes to be worried.  This week the temptation to accept fear at night with Mark being away. The devil trying to remind me of the robbery now over a year ago.  I choose to remember His faithfulness in the last few times Mark has been away – nights of peace and communion with Him.

2. by prayer and petition… present your requests to God

Reminded of the power of specific prayers.

Today praying for a week filled with Him, our family in good health all week, days filled with peace and His Spirit whispering the reminder 'I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.’

3. with thanksgiving 

Thanksgiving, thanksgiving, thanksgiving.

Thank you for this opportunity to spend more focused time with the children whilst half the team are away.  Thank you for the opportunity for Mark and the other half of the team to go and share God’s love in the jungle.  Thank you for your peace, and reminder once again of your protection and closeness in all.

Oh, Lord, that my roots would go deep into you this week!

And you reply so boldly!:

“whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14)

Oh, let it be in me! 

Fruitful Tree image