I wonder how many people have started or at least tried out SOAP Journaling after reading my post about SOAP Journaling? Most Christians are taught the importance of daily bible reading and prayer when they first believed in Jesus. However, most will find it difficult to do so daily. Many give up trying after a while. Did this happen to you?
How do we break out of this problem? I believe there are two things crucial to having a daily devotional life. The first thing is to realize the importance of spending time with Jesus everyday. Jesus said that spending time with him is the one thing worth being concerned about. Read what happened in Luke 10:38-42 (NLT):
38 As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39 Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. 40 But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.”41 But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! 42 There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”
The second thing is to have some practical means to help us spend our devotional time meaningfully. The SOAP Journaling method gives us very practical steps to journal our observations, applications and prayers as we read the Bible. Reading and writing down what we are receiving from the Bible makes us more focused and intentional in our devotional time compared to just reading alone.
I came across this video message by Wayne Cordeiro on the importance of receiving God’s wisdom for our lives daily during our devotional time. Wayne Cordeiro in his message, Make Us Wise gives us a crystal clear picture of why it’s so crucial to have a daily time with the Lord to receive God’s wisdom for our lives. He also provides very practical steps on how to do SOAP journaling. Wayne is the author of The Divine Mentor, a book on Growing Your Faith as You Sit at the Feet of the Savior.
You can get his video and audio message from http://mentoringleaders.com/video.php?id=9 or http://theaterchurch.com/media/message/make-us-wise/.
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