Journalling and the Holy Spirit

Image: Photo by Carolyn V on Unsplash

 

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:

1. It slows down our hyperactive inner voices, so that we can listen to the Voice

2. It focuses our attention

3. 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

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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?

6. 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.