Zach Eswine, in his helpful book, Preaching to a Post-Everything World, ends with an appeal to the preacher to look after his own personal walk with God.  In the final chapter, “Clean the Dish and Light the Candle,” he encourages us to “intend to write your nothings down.”  He suggests four ways to organize a personal journal:

Section 1: Talk About God

Here you read sections of Scripture, asking yourself, and writing your answers down, “What does the passage teach me about the triune God?”

Section 2: Talk to God

Next “respond to God in light of what you have gathered from the first section.”  This is where we write down prayers of praise or thanksgiving or confession, or wherever else He might lead.

Section 3: Listen to God

This is more of a typical journal section.  Writes Eswine, “In light of what God says about himself in his Word, the circumstances of your life, and the prayers you are praying, watch and see how God is working.  Look and listen, and jot down what you see and hear.”

Section 4: Talk for God

This is the section where preachers write down thoughts about the sermon passage of the week.  This won’t apply to everyone, I guess, but most of have more opportunities to teach than we realize.  This could be translated, of course, into Bible studies you might lead, but it also might include passages or thoughts for that hurting friend you’ve planned to meet for lunch.

Journaling, if done consistently and with some organization, can be a great tool that can draw us nearer to our Lord.

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 1st, 2009 at 9:45 pm and is filed under Books.