If you’ve been following my blog, you know that I’ve done a Journal Challenge every January of each new year! The purpose was to encourage women to get back to a place of prayer and focus on the Lord to start their new year. I believe that the Lord is pouring out His spirit on His daughters to accomplish their purpose. I also believe that distractions and the temptation to quit will also be present. It’s so important that we stay focused on the Lord, refuse to quit and to keep TRUSTING Him no matter what.
I started this journal challenge because I realize that at times, we have a hard time spending time with God daily. BUT if we had a flight to Hawaii every morning at 5am that was an all expense paid trip, we would be at the airport on time. We would MAKE time to pack and check in on time.
Let’s make SPENDING time with GOD a priority. Many of us want God’s power but we aren’t willing to pay the cost of spending time with Him for it.
How amazing is it that thousands of us will journal and write our “day” that we’re on. So, January 1st will be “Day 1” and you will continue to note what day you are on. (Example, January 15th will be Day 15) and it’s not for show- it’s us spending time with God daily and letting Him change us from the inside out. Writing the day on your journal is ONLY for accountability.
So, what will you need?
1. A Journal! (I must add that the Pinky Promise Store has some fabulous journals – but find one that works for you!)
2. Notecards! I swear by notecards! I use these often as it does something to your brain as you write down the scriptures. Then, I meditate on them throughout the day. So write out the scriptures longhand– based on what God places on your heart to study and to meditate on.
Here’s an example of how you’ll start your journal. I always start mine with “Dear Daddy”– and be sure to write the CONSISTENT day. The point of this journal challenge is to get you to be consistent in spending time with God daily. So day 1, day 2, day 50, day 56.. etc.
3. Your favorite bible. I like to study with a few bibles. I love The Life Application Bible- NLT version. I purchased it from a Lifeway Christian store. It’s a GREAT study bible that breaks stuff down and also love the Dakes King James Version Bible.
4. A time and place set ASIDE to spend time with God. Make sure its when you are at your best. Don’t wait until bedtime every night if you aren’t your best then and just fall asleep.
ALSO, we are going to add a few things this year:
1. Read 1 Christian based book for the month of January
2. Keep your phone in another room so you aren’t tempted to reach for it first thing!
3. Download the Bible App or an a Christian based app and when you do reach for your phone in the morning, open the app vs. instagram/social media.
How do you sign up?
Simply go to www.pinkypromisemovement.com and then click “Join a Group” – when you sign up, you automatically subscribe to receive updates and emails! I will be sending emails throughout the 21 days.
This will be a precious time of pouring your heart out to Jesus, staying focused, getting rid of distractions and prioritizing what the Lord is telling you to do!
AND
Join our Pinky Promise Sisterhood Facebook Group by clicking HERE.
How do I journal?!
Ok, so now that you have all of the materials, you may ask, “how do I journal?” What do I say?! As I blogged before with “How to Spend Time With God” – so be sure to read that entire blog if you’re joining this challenge. But to answer your question – I look at my journal like my diary to God. I just pour out what is in my heart. I thank Him for being God, I tell Him I love Him and what is going on in my life & my struggles.
Prior to journaling my heart out to the Lord – I like to put on worship music (like Bethel, Hillsong, Upper Room worship etc) and dance to him, sing, cry out, pray in the Holy Spirit, pray in English and this helps to soften my heart and unclutter my spirit. I don’t want to go into the presence of the Lord, meditating on worries and fears. After that, I sit down/lay down and I begin to write, I start with “Dear Daddy” and I pour my heart out. Then, I sit and wait for Him to respond and He typically starts out speaking to me by saying, “My beautiful daughter, or I love you so much Heather.” Then, He begins to speak into my heart about my life and I write everything down. Then, there are times where I don’t hear anything directly from Him – but I still just sit there and rest in Him while worshipping Him with my words.
Then, I open my bible to spend time with Him. My husband taught a GREAT study on “How to Study the Bible” – you can watch it before the challenge starts if you find yourself stuck in how to study the bible. I study my bible based on what is going on in my life or whatever the Lord leads me to study. Most times, He tells me to go to certain books in the bible and I study from there.
So the challenge starts WHENEVER you read these words if it’s after January 1, 2019. (You can of course start now as we should be spending time with the Lord daily but the Day 1 will be January 1st so we are all doing it together!) You could be reading this a month after todays date but I challenge you to get started in TODAY. The beautiful thing about this time is that you don’t have to only do 30 days – instead, you can do 60, 100 or 300 days.
Before I close out – know that satan is gonna attack you. You’ll be sleepy, too busy, or whatever else. Remember that you’ll desire WHAT you give your attention too. So shut your phone off, Facebook & the TV. No distractions.
You can subscribe via www.pinkypromisemovement.com under “connect” to stay in the loop! ?
Let’s go!! It starts on January 1st!
God loves YOU like CRAZY!
Heather Lindsey
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