Once again, I want to continue today to explore a very critical spiritual disciple that we call Going on a God Hunt. What we’re doing is learning how to begin to look for evidences of God making His presence known in our everyday worlds. Specifically, we’re exploring evidence of God at work in our lives through unusual linkage or timing.
I’ve tried to underscore how important it is that you get into the habit of daily writing down these special sightings:
- Any obvious answer to prayer.
- Any unexpected evidence of God’s care.
- Any help to do God’s work in the world.
- Any evidence of unusual linkage and timing.
Making a written record of these God Hunt “Sightings” needs to be a part of your everyday routine. There’s a regular time you do it, and also a designated notebook you write them in. If that doesn’t become a part of your fixed schedule, before long you’ll just forget about doing it, and then, sooner than you expect, you’ll not even remember there was a time when I was writing blog posts on this topic and you went on a daily God Hunt.
That’s why I’ve been so insistent that you get a notebook and mark it as your God Hunt Diary. If you’ve already done so, good for you. If you haven’t, then get one and start writing in it today.
You may also benefit from reading blog posts from an experienced “Hunter.” My wife, Karen, posts her God Hunt“Sightings” on her blog. You can read those blog posts by clicking here.
Let me share some selected paragraphs about the value of written prayers or journaling from Karen’s book The God Hunt: The Delightful Chase and the Wonder of Being Found:
Keeping a record of God’s daily work over a lifetime is a powerful way to know him. Have you tried journaling before and failed? Why not try again? Experiment with a different format this time. Ask yourself the question, What kind of journal works best for me? If for a while you don’t keep up with this discipline, pick up your neglected prayer journal without self-chastisement and begin again. Nudging any kind of an exercise toward discipline always includes stops and starts.
Be assured that the whys and hows of journaling are up to the diarist. Some people work better in their journals in the morning. I am an early morning person, and I love to start my day ordering my soul before the Lord, examining yesterday’s evidence of God. My husband, on the other hand, is a night person, so before he prepares for bed, he looks back over his day and records the work of God in his journal. No matter whether you thrive in the morning, midday or night, you must find the formula that is personal for you. In the book English Diaries, editor Arthur Poson by verifies this individuality: “Diarists need only consult their own convenience and mood, they need obey no rules, they may follow their own inclination to write regularly, irregularly, fully or briefly.”
You don’t have to be a literary giant to keep a good journal. In an article on the topic, Psychology Today noted, “Last year, thousands of Americans with no literary pretensions whatsoever started producing stories of surpassing interest that will probably never be published. They were writing their own, often eye-popping, tear-evoking journals, not because they felt they needed therapy, but because they wanted to put their lives into perspective and find in them some deeper meaning.”
In fact, it is important not to give into the pretensions that urge us to leave behind a record that is publishable. An acquaintance I once knew explained that she had sworn a friend to promise to burn all her journals should anything tragic happen. “I couldn’t write freely if I thought someone would be reading what I wrote after I died,” she explained.
An imperative rule to follow when writing a prayer journal is to avoid editing. Your writing does not have to be grammatically correct (or politically correct); what you are trying to capture are those instant impressions of your soul in a state of being awakened to your God. You need to be free to be frank, honest with your emotions and self-revealing.
Look at this enchanting entry from the diary of Elizabeth Fry, the one-day Quaker prison reformer, “I went to town feeling very close to God, but being seen and admired by some officers sent me home as filled with the world as I went to town filled with Heaven.” She was sixteen. *Later on as an adult she wrote again about keeping records, “That is the advantage of a true journal. It leads the mind to look inwards.”
I’m going to stop for today. But, after you’ve enjoyed a most pleasant weekend—including a time of worship with your church family—I respectfully suggest that you return to my blog on Monday. I will continue writing more about this pertinent topic.
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Sunday’s coming. Do you have your sermon ready? Is it relevant? Will it effectively motivate your congregation to walk more in step with the Master? What about that Sermon Series you’ve been thinking about?
Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?
David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help. We offer a wide variety of Sermon Starters and Full Sermons that will give you Sermon Ideas to help you prepare for regular Saturday or Sunday sermons, Mid-week Bible Sermons, and Sermons for special occasions.
We also offer assistance as you create Topical Sermons, Sermons Series, and sermons for special times of the year. We have resources available to help you with Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermons, Easter Sunday Sermons, Patriotic Sermons, and more.
For more information on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons, please click here to visit David Mains’ website.
You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.
