Many years ago, I went through a particularly rough season.  My oldest daughter & I were having some struggles. I didn’t agree with some of the choices she was making and she asserted her independence and decided to move out.

She was 19 at the time so legally I couldn’t do anything to stop her. Although I do confess that I thought about capturing her and holding her hostage.  Now, before you judge me on that confession consider…..

1. I didn’t capture her and hold her hostage.
2.  I believe in free will and as much as it hurt, I let her go.

After she left I came across a LIFE JOURNAL  in her room that she had received while attending a high school youth group retreat with our church. She had put one entry in the journal and the rest was blank.

I knew it was hers but I was desperate.  I felt like I needed the journal.  I was struggling. I needed answers that I just couldn’t find. I knew that if I drew close to God he would draw close to me, and the LIFE JOURNAL  introduced a new way for me to draw close.

At that point our house was really crowded and I had converted my backyard shed into an office space to read, write & be close to God. Sometimes you just need to get away.

I took the journal and my new found hope and settled myself in my shed. 

Right at the beginning it stated how it could help me capture lessons God teaches that would help me to grow. It promised to encourage me and remind me each day that God would meet me right where I was. I read that my faith would grow as a result of using the journal and lastly I learned that I would be blessed if I did the things I learned from God.

I couldn’t wait to get started.

The journal is designed to be used daily. Each day you start by turning to a prayer list where you log a request and the date it was made.

Next,  you turn to your bible reading plan. This plan tells you what to read on each day of the year and is designed to get you through the whole bible in a year.

After you have done the reading you practice something called S.O.A.P. journaling. A very simplified explanation is this:

1. SCRIPTURE: write down a main scripture
2. OBSERVATION: write down what you see in the scripture
3. APPLICATION: how you will be different today because of what you have just read.
4. PRAYER: write out your prayer

Do you see it? You take your dirt to God….all your prayers and grime. Then you wash yourself in His word.

Using the LIFE JOURNAL  was a turning point for me. This one discipline has changed my life. I spend time with God, laying my troubles before him and then he answers me with his word.

I started to experience inner peace despite the fact that my outer circumstances were not changing.  Over the years my prayer list has turned into a list of God’s faithfulness.  Prayer works! God’s word has changed me from the inside out.  

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.  The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 2 Corinthians 10:3-4