So… have you tried it yet? No peer pressure on this, just checking in to see if you’ve given journaling a try yet. I know journaling is not for everyone and if it’s not for you, seriously, it’s not a problem. Those who journal are NOT more ‘spiritual’ than those that do… not at all.
But I will say this… if you fall into the camp of those who do not journal, here’s my encouragement for you:
FIGURE OUT A WAY TO REMEMBER ALL THAT GOD IS TALKING TO YOU ABOUT.
I’m convinced that God is ALWAYS speaking to us. Sometimes it’s as simple as a reminder as to who He is or what He is like. Whereas other times, it’s an invitation for us to be part of His work in the moment that He has us in. There are times where God’s voice is like a gentle whisper and then there are moments where His voice sounds louder than the announcer’s voice at the Boston Garden.
My point is simply this… God is ALWAYS speaking and if we don’t have a way to remember ALL that He’s saying, well, in time we’ll start living life as if He has nothing to say, and that’s just not true.
For me, this past Monday, here’s what I wrote in my journal…
GOD ANSWERS PRAYERS EVEN WHEN I STOPPED PRAYING PRAYERS THAT I THOUGHT HE WOULD NEVER ANSWER.
As way of context for that journal entry, I was reading Luke 1… the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth, the parents of John the Baptist. The scene that caught my attention… the scene that led me to write that in my journal was when Zechariah encountered an angel of the LORD.
“Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you a son, and you are to name him John.”
Luke 1:13 (NLT)
At first glance, so cool to read a story about God hearing someone’s prayer and answering the prayer they had been praying. But as I sat a little longer in this story, I began to wonder…
‘Was this an answer to a recent prayer or a prayer that had not been prayed in over 30 years?’
Now, I could be very wrong in this but I’m not sure Zechariah had prayed prayers for his wife to get pregnant in a really long time. Again, I don’t know this for sure, but I do know this, Luke makes one thing super clear about Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth:
“they were both very old.”
Luke 1:7 (NLT)
When Luke says, ‘they were both very old’, well, that’s a really nice way of saying that they are well beyond 80 years of age. And if you’re an 80+ year old couple, would you still be praying to get pregnant?
Again, I could be wrong, but I’m guessing that once Zechariah and Elizabeth celebrated their 50th birthday, prayers to get pregnant were no longer prayed.
Maybe Zechariah kept praying passed 50, but I am guessing at some point when he watched his wife celebrate her 60th, then her 70th and then her 80th, he stopped praying prayers for pregnancy because it was clear that this prayer would never be answered.
I’m not sure if you stopped praying prayers a long time ago for something or someone because you concluded that God was not going to answer those prayers, well if that’s you, let me just encourage you as the LORD encouraged me in Luke 1 this past week…
GOD ANSWERS PRAYERS EVEN WHEN WE STOPPED PRAYING PRAYERS THAT WE THOUGHT HE WOULD NEVER ANSWER.
If you’ve grown tired or weary or discouraged and disheartened along the way because you’ve not seen the LORD move in response to your prayers, please remember that the LORD hears ALL prayers prayed, even if it was just a prayer prayed once. And more than that, God in His way and in His PERFECT TIMING will move in response to our prayers prayed.
If there is anything that I can join you in praying for, let me know… I’d LOVE the opportunity to pray with you, especially if it’s something that you haven’t prayed in over 30 years:).
