And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Lord, I surrender my expectations to you. I surrender my best laid plans and ideas on how my life should be. I have concocted grand ideas on how I think the outcome of life issues should turn out, but Lord, I give these expectations to You.

Why do I continuously revisit this issue of mine–– my hangups with control and grand plans? I’m sure You are weary of me dragging up these thoughts and bringing them before Your throne.

I hear You saying to me: No, keep bringing them to me over and over until I work through it completely. Allow me to dig down to the root of your control issues and clean it out.

This takes time and constant focus through prayer, I know. But, Lord, I plead with You let your Holy Spirit work through my junk as I’m sick of constantly replaying them in my head.

Jesus I want to trust YOU and I want to see Your good in every situation, not what I expect to be “good.”

I love sharing my “pages” of my journal. After my last post on this subject, I had a few readers and friends pose these questions…

~How often do I journal?

~Do I have a specific format that I use?

Great questions. To be honest, I don’t LOVE to journal. I don’t sit and record my daily happenings and pour out my emotions onto  the pages of my little, cute spiral notebook. Oh how I wish I did given that I’m an author and I should love to scribble and work through my feelings on paper. I use journaling to keep me focused during my Bible study time with the Lord.

A pen in hand engages me with the Lord.

Writing out Scripture keeps me focused.

Journaling helps me dive deeper into how I process my daily Bible reading so I don’t end up checking the box for the day and moving on with my business unchanged.

I thought I would show you a literal peek into my journal.

Yesterday I felt the need to write out characteristics of Jesus — words that I would personally use to describe what He means to me. I love studying the names of God in the Greek and Hebrew. Yesterday I wanted to make my journaling a worship-full time where I reminded myself of how God has shown up in my life with very personal words and phrases.

For those of you feeling stuck and disengaged from the Lord, I challenge you to get out a pen and paper and start writing out a verse. Write it out several times if you feel like that would burn it into you heart. Then, pray through this verse. Tell God what it means to you. Tell Him how you need this verse to change your heart. I encourage you to get real and raw with this pen and pad — He can handle your candid scribbles.

I would love for you to join me in my journaling that I started with the picture above. Take sometime to write out you own personal list of how you would describe Jesus. Then, come back here and leave a comment with a few words or phrases to share.

Every now and then I share a glimpse into my personal journal writing. It’s not always perfectly polished or grammatically correct, but it is real and raw. My hope is that you will see yourself in my writing and find encouragement.

You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 16:11)

Lord, I want that fullness of joy when I’m bogged down with pressures of life. I so easily loose sight of You and Your ever available presence, Your ever ready peace for the taking.

Help me come into this fullness even when my brain is brimming with details of my day and tasks at hand.

Show me Your glory.

I WILL open my eyes expecting to see Your greatness. I WILL also put aside all notions of how I want You to show me Your glory. For when I come before Your throne today with out any preconceived ideas of how I think I need your glory, I trust that You will give me glimpses of Your greatness and might in measures that I need specifically today. I don’t want to miss out on the perfect expressions You have for me TODAY.

Jesus, clear away the muck-filled lens covering my eyes so I can clearly see You. Clear away the film that blinds my heart to experiencing You rather than what I think I need from You. You alone know what I need, when I need it. I’m excited to see Your greatness today.

I will open my eyes for a clear view of You.

Amen.

**Do you journal through your thoughts and prayers with the Lord? If you are willing, I’d love to read a page or a line from your journal. What is the Lord speaking over you these days?

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