Writing Down Prayers, Answers and Insights

In review of Habakkuk 2:2 it says, “The LORD gave me this answer: ‘Write down clearly on tablets what I reveal to you.’

Bottom Line:

Then the Lord told me to write down clearly what he reveals.

What this means to me:

When the Lord provides answers, insights, or instructions, I am to write it down clearly.

It was because Habakkuk had written down what the Lord said to him, we have the book called Habakkuk. Because David wrote down what God spoke to him, we have the book of Psalms. They both had asked God a question, God gave them an answer, and they wrote it down.

What I’m learning is that one of the best things I can do is to write down my own prayers and requests. Writing them out will make them more specific, and help me to be more serious about what I’m praying about.

The process of writing prayers, answers, insights and instructions out is called spiritual journaling. It’s important to not make this process too complicated! I’m am to simply write down what I’m saying to God, and then write down what God’s saying to in reply.

Here is one format that Rick Warren suggests for journaling. “In your notebook, first, put a vertical line down the center of the page. On one side, write what you say to God. On the other side, write what God says to you. As you write down what you say to God, don’t expect him to always say something to you immediately. Sometimes he’ll answer later in the day, or he may even wake you up in the middle of the night. Then, on the same sheet of paper, draw a horizontal line, and above the line, write “Yesterday” and record the events of your day. Underneath the line, write “Life Lessons.” The next day, look back on the events of the day before and ask, “What lesson was God trying to teach me through those events?” God is trying to teach us lessons through the everyday events of our lives, but we miss them all the time. When you take time to write them out in this way, it will help you focus on hearing God’s voice and what he wants you to learn from him.”

Personally, I’ve been doing my own journaling a little bit differently, however, I should consider how I can incorporate in the portion of “What lesson was God trying to teach me through the events of the day.”

I know from experience that journaling has been a very powerful habit for me. It has helped me focus my thoughts. It has helped me to remember what I’ve read and what God said.  As I consider recording the events of the day in my journal, I can see where it can help point out patterns of what God is could be saying or teaching me. I can take what my conclusions are and discuss them with other mature christians to see if I’m interpreting them correctly. So often, I go through life repeating the same mistakes over and over again. Adopting this added steps will help keep me from missing the lessons God is trying to teach me.

The Spiritual Act of Journaling

In review of Habakkuk 2:2 it says, “The LORD gave me this answer: ‘Write down clearly on tablets what I reveal to you, so that it can be read at a glance.’”

Bottom Line:

Then the Lord said, write down clearly what I reveal to you so that it can be read at a glance.

What this means to me:

When the Lord speaks to me, I am to write it down clearly so that it can be viewed over and over again.

If I want to hear God speak and answer me, I need to withdraw to a quiet place, wait patiently and expectantly, and ask God make it clear to me what he wants to say. When he does, I am to write it down or record it.

In the book of Habakkuk, the Lord commands the author to “write down clearly on tablets what I reveal to you, so that it can be read at a glance” (Habakkuk 2:2 TEV). I pretty sure this how the book of Habakkuk came to be. In chapter one, Habakkuk wrote down what he said to God. And in chapter two, he wrote down what God said back to him.

This is also likely how we got the book of Psalms; which was David’s quiet times. David meditated on the first five books of the Bible, the Torah, and then he wrote down his thoughts, which are called psalms. In many of the psalms, he starts out with what he’s feeling and then ends up with what God says.

I’m finding it's helpful to write out my prayers and requests. Writing them down can be the same as saying them in a prayer and God can hear my thoughts. What I write down can also be read back to God.

Writing down prayers and God’s responses are all part of a spiritual habit called journaling. A journal is not a diary. A diary is about the things you did. A journal is about the lessons I’ve learned or learning and the mistakes I've made and how I've learned from them.

I know from my own life that I’m not good with physical writing. My handwriting is not good and being left handed, I end up smearing the ink or markings with my hand as I write.  I have found that I am much more comfortable typing things out on my computer.  So I use Google docs to record my quiet time thoughts and leanings. Using Google docs allows me to get to them from any computer that has access to the Internet. It also makes it easier to store, search and find them later.