One Sure-Fire Way to See the Hand of God (31 Days / Day 7)

When I began structured prayer journaling in 2001 I was not prepared to discover this. It only took a little a while, but then I saw It! When I would go back and review my entries and God’s responses, I could see His hand working in my life. Let me say it this way: Through structured prayer journaling, I can see the hand of God!

Because here is the deal – when we succinctly write down our prayers, it is like bringing things from the Spiritual realm into our visual presence where we can then physically see the hand of God! Truth!

When I go back through my structured prayer journal in review mode, I can see how He has weaved events, trials and joyful moments of my life into meaning. It is much too difficult to see this when journaling the traditional, free-handed way. With structured prayer journaling, all I have to do is flip back and within a glance, I can see what God has done. I don’t have to go back read pages upon pages in hopes of catching a glimpse.

Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”

And the LORD said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”

Then the LORD said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”

Exodus 33:18-23

Don’t we long to see God’s glory???

So many times when I am reviewing my structured prayer journal I feel like Moses in the cleft of the rock, and I realize that God has just passed by. I can see that He has been here, in this place with me, over this matter!

Years ago, I received a job offer to what I thought would be a great job. My husband was not happy with the particulars of the offer so he did not agree with me on accepting the offer. I was upset to say the least! I told him, “You are soooo missing God on this!” Regardless, he stood his ground, and I declined the offer.

Six months later, the same person came back to me with a different offer but a gazillion times better! I was offered more money to work part-time! And I had benefits, too!!! This offer was very acceptable to my husband and it also allowed me more time to do ministry work.

After thinking through what happened, I knew that God’s glory had passed by. My husband’s first No was God’s Yes! I believe because I honored my husband’s wishes, God was able to bless me the way He saw fit, and it all worked to His benefit as well as ours. That is how good God is!!!

The cool thing about God is that He want us to see Him! (vs. 19, 21-23)

Structured prayer journaling is the place where “all of [God’s] goodness” can “pass in front of you” (vs. 19).

If you think it is too difficult to get all of your words in the smaller sections, I am going to share why even that is important, not only to structured prayer journaling, but to your prayer life as well. Tune in tomorrow!

I am participating in The Nester’s 31 Days of Writing; you can go here to keep up with my 31 day feature on structured prayer journaling.

Happy Journaling!!!

~gina

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Award-winning author Gina Duke is a wife, mom and the Director of Women’s Ministry at her local church. With a B.S. in Organizational Leadership, she is able to bring a clear word for authentic Christian living. Through her book, “Organizing Your Prayer Closet: A New and Life-Changing Way to Pray” (Abingdon Press), she imparts 1 Peter 4:7 with the gift of structured prayer journaling. You may also follow her on Twitter and Instagram @TheGinaDuke.