Write What You See

There is incredible potential and value in the spiritual discipline of journaling.  Some, when they hear the term “journaling” they are immediately turned off.  Why would I want to write?  I am not a writer.  I don’t have anything to say.  Praying is hard enough, writing to God, that is just out of my comfort zone.  Well, these may be statements you have thought during this 90-day devo challenge, but the simplicity of it is often overlooked because we are overwhelmed by what we assume journaling is.

God told Habakkuk to simply write what you see. He was communicating that it is simply putting down on paper what is already revealed to you by Him!  I made the statement in my message on devotions that journaling is writing your thoughts about God and His thoughts about you.  God is speaking to you.  He is always speaking to you.  Taking the time to journal your thoughts is a form of prayer.  Taking the time to write what He says to you is a form of listening in prayer.  As disciples, we must be hearers.  We have to listen!  We often talk in times of prayer a lot more that we take time to listen.

In a recent time of prayer and reflection with a small group, we began an exercise of listening to what the Holy Spirit was speaking at that moment.  We were instructed by the leader to then speak what we heard and to speak in in first person as if I was Jesus saying it to me.  It sounds strange, but it is an amazing exercise.  I heard the Spirit say, “You can make it, I believe in you!” and so I voiced that out in the small group.  When I did, I burst into tears as the Holy Spirit overwhelmed me with that truth because it was a true statement, Jesus was saying those words to me! His presence was incredibly manifested in that moment to reinforce the reality that HE BELIEVED IN ME!  Whoa! Come on!  What a revelation!  I heard His words of affirmation and it was like a cool drink of water in the desert!  When you hear Jesus speak to you like that in prayer, write it down so that you can enjoy His affirmation.  Sometimes He will give correction, some times instruction and sometimes He will simply tell you He loves you.  Writing it out becomes your memoir of His thoughts toward you!

You can listen and hear the voice of the Lord in your times of prayer.  One of the most rewarding parts of spiritual journaling is writing what you hear Him say to you.  Habakkuk said to “Write this. Write what you see. Write it out in big block letters so that it can be read on the run.”  The words “Write This” means the Lord gave him SPECIFICS.  “Write what you see,” tells us that the Lord put it a way that Habakkuk could understand.  God continued to instruct him by saying, what I have showed you specifically and made clear to you, make clear to others.  Now, when it comes to journaling friends, you are writing it down to keep it clear for yourself so you can reflect on what God has spoken to you and what He says about you.  This is a personal, spiritual journal that you keep as a part of your devotional life; this is so that you can look back and remind yourself what He is saying about you, saying to you, and eventually these things that He is speaking will be said through you!

Today, let’s make a change in our prayer life in the area of listening.  One cannot journal unless one listens.  Listening to God, hearing His word, and writing what we hear is critical to our spiritual formation.  Writing what we hear is essential because we do not have perfect memories and we will forget more of what God says to us than what we will ever remember.  Journaling is a discipline that declares to God, I value what You say to me so much, that I don’t want to forget a single word of what You say!  Write what you see!