Queue up Jesus Culture or Hillsong United on YouTube if you don't have it on your iPod. Let the music flood your room, or better yet your entire house. Swim in the beautiful truth of Jesus' love for you. Enjoy Him and soak.
2. Open the Word.
Read through a whole chapter, out loud. There is something very powerful about speaking out and proclaiming the truth to yourself. If the Holy Spirit illuminates anything, write it out on a piece of paper and blu-tack it on your wall, make it your memory verse for the next few days. If you journal, write it out in BIG font in your journal. Note down all the fresh revelations the Holy Spirit gives you.
Life Application Bibles, concordances, Bible dictionaries and internet resources are especially helpful during study. As a visual person I have found watching YouTube Bible movies of the Old Testament extremely helpful, as I can lack imagination simply reading! That said, know yourself and your learning style well, then plunge into deep studies of the Word of God. Sharpen that sword!
3. Treasure community.
Your church home is precious. It is the Body of Christ. Jesus is in love with her, read Song of Songs. Make the most of every morsel of time you spend with her. If you are having coffee with another believer, love on them with all you've got. If you feel comfortable sharing openly and honestly, praise God! There is nothing more beautiful than fellowship where you can do life together.
I have recently joined a new church home and am refreshed by how in love she is with the presence of God. Everyone there is open to talking about, basking in, walking in the Spirit. They live lifestyles of praise and worship and delight in deep study of the Word. We regularly sharpen each other with testimonies, and there is a culture of 'worship jamming' which I have a soft spot for! The people of God are your body as they are Christ's. You cannot do life without them, as messy as human relationships may become. Open, honest communication standing on a foundation of love for each other, as we are drenched in our Father's love for us is how we should roll!
4. Journal
According to D. Whitney, author of 'Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life', journalling is a spiritual discipline! And I completely agree. It is important to record every testimony, revelation, learning curve, inspirational meeting with another believer, vision, dream, prophecy, prayer meeting event, lyric --- for the sake of building up your own faith, which was credited to Abraham as righteousness! As your faith grows, and you pray for bigger mountains to move, you will stand on those testimonies confident in your God. You will remember the day when He gave you the words to say as you loved on your non-believing friend, and they asked you about Jesus. Or, the night you were delivered from the spirit of unforgiveness and how free your heart is now!!
A few believers have shared with me their anxiety with journalling - buying a beautiful leather bound notebook and feeling their handwriting to be unworthy of filling its pages. Nonsense! Your journal is for YOU. It's purpose is to serve the Lord through your writing in it. If one day drawing a picture does perfect justice to how you are feeling, by all means draw that picture! Or if you just want to mind map the contents of your mind then go ahead! The only rules in your journal are the ones you set, so it's just a matter of re-setting the rules for yourself!
I learned how best to journal when I was at university and would scribble in the backs of exercise books. When I didn't need them anymore I ripped out the subject pages and used the rest as my scribble journal. I learned a freedom like no other! I even wrote some of my best poetry doing that. Even as I continue to write songs, lyrical composition is never in my neatest handwriting, it is usually illegible scribble as my hand cannot keep up with what my brain is thinking, saying and eventually singing.
On a final note with journalling, it is for your eyes only, and you would want it to have a raw and brutal honesty. The aesthetic of that kind of accuracy is unpredictable.
5. Ask for prayer when you need it.
Don't be ashamed to ask for it. Be specific, and be strategic with whom you ask. I always ask people who are like-minded, stand on a foundation of all-or-nothing, and whom I am comfortable pouring my heart towards.
The body of Christ is just for this. Let your family help you up when you feel you're about to fall.
Finally,
I will not stop praying for you since I first heard about you. I will ask God to give you complete knowledge of His will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honour and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while you will grow as you get to know God better and better.
- Colossians 1:9-10
"The goal is not even fruitfulness, the goal is His face - the intimacy cultivated with Abba Father."
- Heidi Baker.
