In the book “Overflow Of The Spirit”, Mark Virkler and others describe a way of tuning into God called “Two Way Journalling.” In Two Way Journalling, we write down a conversation, in which we ask God a question and then write what we believe He is saying back to us.
Virkler describes the constant stream of thoughts passing through our heads as a flow of ideas. Some of these thoughts are from our own head- “I am cold”, This is boring”, “I need to remember to buy milk”, and so on. Some of the thoughts are from satan: “You are no good”, “God would never talk to you”, etc. Then we have the voice of the Holy Spirit bringing revelation, exhortation and comfort. This flow is like the social media stream where all sorts of ideas just appear as we scroll through.
To hear God’s voice, we need to filter out what the other voices are saying to us and focus on God. Virkler describes a 4- step process to aid this.
1. Go to a quiet place and still your thoughts and emotions. Write down the things that might distract you and put them to one side. Breathe steadily and slow your body down.”Be still and know that I am God.”
2. Focus on Jesus. Play worship music, start to worship Jesus aloud with your words. Ask Him to reveal Himself to you.
3. Recognise that the voice of the Holy Spirit is heard in the spontaneous flow of thoughts. Having quieted your mind and focused on Jesus, the thoughts in your head are more likely to be the Holy Spirit speaking to you. Listen. Receive.
4. Write down your prayers and what it seems that God is saying to you. Let it be spontaneous and flowing. Don’t analyse anything. Listen and write.
Later, read over what you have written. Does it agree with Scripture? Does it sound like Jesus? Show trusted christians and ask their opinion.
We are not saying that this is the definitive way to listen to the Spirit of God. It is a way to sharpen our focus on the Holy Spirit and to learn to walk in a lifestyle of being led by the Spirit.
“Living by the Spirit means intentionally staying tuned to the flow within, which is the Spirit, the living water that flows from the throne of God.”
Jesus said that His sheep know His voice. God gives us His constant presence and regular guidance. All we need to do is learn to listen.
One thing that has revolutionised my personal Quiet Times has been journalling my Scripture reading. I regularly post these on my blog and social media with the title of “Reflection on [Bible Passage]”
Writing down my thoughts slows me down. It forces me to read the Bible passage slowly and carefully, and to think about what God has said in His word.
In addition, a framework called SOAP – Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer- helps me to listen to what God is saying to me now. This framework is a variant on the ancient practice of lectio divina.
Here is how I use journalling in my daily devotions.
Firstly it is important to settle my heart and to focus. I calm my thoughts and pray for the Holy Spirit to speak to me in the word.
Next, I read the passage, perhaps a chapter or half a chapter, to get a feel for what the passage is about. I used to let the Lectionary of the Uniting Church guide me in this, but in recent times I have been working through a book of the Bible.
Having read the passage, I look for a verse that is being highlighted by the Holy Spirit. Occasionally I will read the passage up to three times before I see the verse that is the one I need to think about.
I write the verse down under the heading “Scripture” then move on to “Observation”. Under this heading I summarise the passage so that I am understanding the verse in its context. Typically this section is about 2 to 4 paragraphs. I use a Study Bible in my devotions, so sometimes I might look at what the footnotes have to say.
Application is where I look at the Scripture verse and think about how to apply the verse. What is this verse saying to me today. How might I need to change my thinking or my actions in order to apply this verse?
Finally I pray about the verse, and anything else that God is showing me in this passage. I write down a short prayer of one or two sentences that summarises what I want to say to God about my reflection.
Our daily devotion time is meant to be rich as we encounter God in the Scriptures. Unfortunately, for many of us, it becomes a religious ritual in which we rush through a short passage, then a commentary such as Word For The Day, before a quick prayer and dashing out to work. Journalling invites us to slow down and meditate on God’s Word.
In the previous article I talked about using the process of Journalling to develop our ability to listen to the Holy Spirit.
It is important to test every thought and revelation against Scripture so that we understand whether we are just making stuff up or whether we really are hearing the Holy Spirit. When we come to Jesus and give our lives to Him, we receive the Holy Spirit inside us. We all have the capability to hear God. We also have the ability to deceive ourselves into believing that our own ideas are words from the Lord.
The answer to this conundrum is to test every revelation against God’s word. In 1 Thessalonians 5:19-21 Paul tells us:
Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. Do not scoff at prophecies, but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good.
The only true measure of what is consistent with God’s purpose is the Bible. Sometimes this is not a big issue. One time I felt that God was telling me to tell someone “God loves you.” This is a very simple thing to do, and is so obviously in agreement with the Bible that it takes no effort at all to believe it is from God.
Conversely, if you are communing with God and you feel that He is saying to leave your spouse or start a sexual relationship with someone, this is so obviously contrary to Scripture that we can instantly dismiss it as coming from anywhere but God.
Sometimes, though, it isn’t that clear cut. We need to ask questions such as this:
What does the Bible teach about this?
Is this something Jesus would say, or the apostle Paul?
In what way is God being glorified through this?
This is what the Bible means by testing prophecy. We get our thoughts ordered and written down so we can see them clearly, and then we ask, “Is this really from God?”
Having done that, we can lay it all before the Lord again in prayer, asking Him to direct our thoughts and show us more of His love. In this sense, journalling is a circular process. We start with praying and listening, and end up in the same posture before the Lord.
The good news is that even when we get it wrong or make mistakes, the process leads us back to listening to the Holy Spirit and reading the Bible, which is never a bad thing.
For years, I have been preaching about hearing the Holy Spirit. It seems very straight forward to me that God gives us the Holy Spirit in order to guide, direct and teach us, but often we fail to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit.
People are often afraid to minister in the power of the Holy Spirit out of fear that they will get it wrong. We fear being the person who delivers a false prophecy (which is not the same as being a false prophet) or messing up a word of knowledge. Some fear being led by an evil spirit rather than the Holy Spirit.
In John 10:27 we read “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” The New Testament teaches over and over that we are meant to hear the voice of God, Yet many christians do not.
Many years ago I learned the power of journalling as a means of strategically listening to the “still small voice” of the Holy Spirit. Journalling does three things for us:
It slows down our hyperactive inner voices, so that we can listen to the Voice
It focuses our attention
It separates the act of listening from the act of testing
Journalling slows down our hyperactive inner voices
We live in a crazy age of hyper information. We are always being bombarded with data from our phones, computers, televisions, bill boards etc. The data comes in so fast that our brains cannot process it properly.
I read once that in the seventeenth century the average person would absorb in their whole lives the amount of information in a daily metropolitan newspaper. In the last decade this has accelerated out of control, so that people now have trouble sleeping, high blood pressure and other symptoms of information overload.
The Holy Spirit is wanting to talk to us, but there is so much happening in our brains that we can’t hear Him.
Journalling focuses our attention By choosing to tune out all the other voices and focusing on the voice of the Holy Spirit we put the Holy Spirit at the front of our thinking. We make a choice to focus on the Holy Spirit in order to write down what we believe the Spirit is saying to us. It is like taking notes in a sermon or class, or even in a TV program- the very act of writing down what we are hearing closes out other thoughts.
Journalling separates the act of testing from the act of listening. One big fear that many christians have is that they might be listening to the devil or their own thoughts rather than God’s thoughts. So, for fear of being deceived, they avoid listening to God altogether.
We are told to “test the spirits” (1 John 4:1) and test every prophecy, holding onto what is good (1 Thessalonians 5:21).
When we journal we write down what we believe that God is saying, and then we test it. We measure it against Scripture; we see if it makes sense; we test if it is consistent with our knowledge of ourselves or other people. We can even give our writing to a trusted friend, and ask “Does this sound like God to you, or am I just making it up?”
How to Journal
Find a comfortable, quiet space where you know you won’t be interrupted. Have your Bible, your journal and a pen ready. You may need a notebook also.
Quieten your heart. Many of us live in a state of high stress. We are always thinking either about the things we just did, or the things we need to do when we finish up here. Part of releasing the stress is to steady our breathing so that our whole body is released from the fight or flight reaction.
One of my favourite activities is the Jesus Prayer. The prayer is very simple: Jesus Christ Son of God Have mercy on me A sinner.
As you say each line, breathe in or out Breathing in: Jesus Christ Breathing out: Son of God Breathing in: Have mercy on me Breathing out: A sinner
Repeat this several times until you are breathing slowly and your body is resting.
Open your journal, start a new page and write the date. Ask God a specific question, for example, How can I represent you in this conflict at work? Now listen and write down the thoughts that come into your mind, that sound like they are not your own thoughts. Don’t over-analyse, just get the thoughts onto paper.
By getting your thoughts onto paper, I don’t mean just words. Sometimes I use mind maps; other people who are more visual sketch, or even paint, their thoughts.
You may find your mind is going back to other topics. If this is the case, write them down in the other notebook. Usually it is our anxieties and worries about things that need to be done that get in the way of hearing the Holy Spirit. If you write these things down it is a promise to yourself that they will not get forgotten. If the thoughts persist, tell yourself you have written them down and you will get to them.
At the end of the process, read what you have written. Now is the time to ask questions like: Is this God or me? Does this agree with the teaching of the Bible? Would Jesus say this?
Spend time asking for wisdom and grace to discern what God would have you do next.
Like anything, this will seem difficult at first. If you persevere and make journalling a part of our spiritual discipline you will grow in your walk with the Lord. You will learn to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, and not just when you are intentionally listening.
New Life Narrabri 