Fertile Ground

Confession 1: I follow people on facebook that will add value to my life. I know that sounds selfish, but I'm not going to follow anyone that makes me want to yank out my hair, scream and complain, or lose my faith in humanity.

Confession 2: I am totally sharing something I read in a facebook post by Valerie Woerner (whom you should follow on facebook) the other day that was incredibly profound.

"How did I not think of this? My sister @nataliemetlewis shared this idea and I'll definitely be doing this next month in my prayer journal! Here's what she said: "A few years ago when I started to reading more (actually finishing) books I was so pumped and excited for all the knowledge I was getting! But last year I began to wonder how much of what I was reading was actually sinking in and transforming my life.  Because let's be honest....if it's not transforming me then the only thing I gain is check marks next to a "finished book". So one thing I started to do was put a section in my prayer journal (@valmariepaper) for the book I was reading at the moment and fill it in with requests as I came across truths that I wanted to remember and sink in." 

Um, genius! 

I was so completely blown away by this idea. I mean, what if you listened to the sermon at church and instead of just taking down information about what you hear, you turn it into a prayer to God to make that nugget of wisdom manifest itself in your life? What if instead of underlining all of the amazing content in a book you actually turn it into a prayer request? What if instead of just reading your Bible to learn, when God spoke to you about something, anything, you immediately wrote that prayer out so that you could continue to pray it? I mean DUH!

Every time I hear the parable about the seed sower, I seriously question how much fertile ground I have. I hear all kinds of good things I desperately want that speak to me so loudly in that moment, but I have never once considered writing out a prayer to ask God for it. I just always thought of those things as good ideas I should really pursue. #TooForgetfulToWork

So, yes, I am going to start doing this as I read my Bible (of course I'll still take notes but I have a feeling my notebook may end up looking more like a prayer journal). And I'm going to do this with the books I am reading, with Bible study videos and workbooks, sermons, anything where God speaks. Because chances are good that if he's speaking to me, he's probably giving me a clue of what he wants to give me that he needs me to ask for first. 

Lord, I can not thank you enough for the gift of social media. As much of a dark place as it can be, it can also be a place to share information that can impact the lives of others in countless, positive ways for you. Thank you for these godly sisters that seek you, serve you, and share the wisdom you impart with others. Help us to stop just thinking the things we hear are a good idea to do, but to turn them into the cries of our heart. We love you. Amen.