Over these last few months, I have been pressing deeper into my relationship with the Lord. I have found myself clinging to prayer, calling out to Him more, and not holding back as I grow deeper with Him. He has been teaching me how necessary it is to yield to Him and follow His lead. And as I have been digging, I have discovered some questions that help me engage with the Lord in my daily pursuit.
How can we cultivate our walk with Him, press in, and have a fire burning to know Him more? When I think about the daily pursuit, it’s active, it’s growing, it’s alive. And as I’ve been going to Him daily, these five questions have helped me to engage the Lord in such a way that ultimately lead to walking obediently in Him and having the tools that we need, to live from a place of victory and in the abundance He has set apart for us.
Perhaps you are feeling stuck, or stagnant in your walk with Him, or maybe you want to connect with Him on a more intimate level. I pray that these five ideas would equip you to pursue the Lord day in and day out. Journaling through these each day has really helped shift the atmosphere around me, and to declare His truth over my life. I hope they will do the same for you!
You ready?! Let’s break down these five ideas that will help us walk with the Lord, and pursue Him with a burning passion-- just as He constantly desires us.
Let’s journal through your daily pursuit of the Lord!
Idea 1. What does your daily pursuit of the Lord look like? List out things that you can do each day to be centered in the Lord.
I think it is important to start here and reflect. I have found that when I have this conversation with Him and invite Him in, He reveals things I was not really thinking about. As I took a deep dive into what my day to day life looked like, it was important for me to make sure I was starting and ending my day with Him. He also made it clear to me that the daily pursuit was just that-- all-day co-laboring with Him.
Idea 2. Examine your heart posture, what are some areas you need a transformation in? What areas do you need to surrender and depend on Him?
This next question here is something that I examine every single day-- and if I am being totally honest with you, I often come back to it throughout the day. If my heart posture is not fully aligned with Him, I can feel the off-kilter ripple effect throughout my day. Things can quickly shift where the enemy is ready to take over, and it is here that I have to stand firm in Him. When I first started journaling this question, I realized there were things I needed to surrender in order to flourish in my pursuit. There were things I needed to give Him control over so that He could show me what He needed to do instead.
Idea 3. Read James 5:7-8. What does it mean to establish your heart?
When I think about these verses here and what it means to establish my heart, I think about what it means to be an image-bearer. Establishing our hearts is very similar to the farmer that is waiting for his crops to bear fruit, that we read about in these verses. After looking at our heart posture, we now work on establishing our hearts in the Lord. It is so easy to look at the things of the world, but He is very faithful in showing us that when we look to be established in Him, that is where the real fruit dwells. Here we can grab hold of the abundance that He is.
Idea 4. Write out the Fruits of the Spirit and corresponding verse on each. Spend some time journaling how you live each one out in your daily life.
This next step here is alive and active in us. He wants us to access Him, and through examining the Fruits of the Spirit we gain an eternal perspective. He gives us the path and He shows us the way. In times when I have felt stuck, unsteady, and unsure, the Fruit of the Spirit aligns my flesh. It is here that we live according to His will for our lives. The Fruit of the Spirit takes time to grow, and the greater we are in our pursuit of Him, the more alive the Spirit is inside of us. When we live from the Spirit, He overflows out of our daily lives.
Idea 5. It is important for us to suit up with the Armor of God every single day. Write out Ephesians 6:10-18. Underline each piece of armor and journal out how you will practically use each one.
Keep this one handy. This armor is what we need to be putting on every single day. The Armor of God makes the way for us to live from a place of victory. We are never alone, the ultimate battle is already won, and He is with us in all of the ordinary and mundane. As I write about each piece of armor, I pray through them, asking Him to equip me in all the ways He needs me. Something that is very evident in my daily pursuit is that the bigger the fire in my heart for Him gets, the more the enemy tries to attack-- he will try to do everything in his power to derail me, to bring me down. The armor of God is our weapon, we have to pick it up and use it.
So, are you ready? I invite you to press into Him, He loves you, and He is seeking you each and everyday friend. I am praying for you as you grow deeper in your pursuit. These journaling ideas are just a small glimpse into further navigating my walk with the Lord. They have helped me to really live in Him, to depend on Him, and to proclaim all of His goodness no matter the circumstances in my life. I hope they bring you some clarity as you have these conversations with Him.
For more journaling ideas, check out our two volumes of journaling prompts in the resource section.