“Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” (Mark 1:38)

Continuing on a theme from a previos post “Why and When We Really Pray”  in the passage above, Jesus goes off in the early morning to seek the Father for His marching orders.  While there, He is told to move on to the next towns.  By the time the disciples find Him, a good sized crowd has gathered and the day of ministry is off to a great start, but Jesus knows that there are other plans and instead of going with the flow of the new day, He changes plan abruptly, packs up and heads down the road.

I have found in our personal ministry, this similar sense of marching orders is such a great asset.  I really think it is one of the joys of being sent as a missionary to another culture.  The assurance that you are where you are meant to be is of unexplainable encouragement.  Although months can pass when asking “why am I here?” I can go back to my journal entries, back to the underlined portions in my Bible, back to the nine page document on my iPad where I have written every word of encouragement and direction spoken to my spirit by the Holy Spirit through the years, every word prayed, every dream or vision, etc. that God has used to get me to this point, and there I find great comfort in confusing times.

Do you keep a daily log?

In preparation for another Sunday message, I went back to one of the first books given to me during a six month Discipleship Training School with YWAM which I attended in 1997.  Someone, gave me a copy of George Müller’s autobiography.  It was actually just a compilation of his daily writings.  He would write down His prayers, answered prayers, reflections on the Bible, personal challenges and breakthroughs.  This daily habit of this Prussian missionary and pastor sent to Bristol England, has served to be the inspiration for so many believers for now over one hundred and twenty years.  George Müller was known for his conviction that he would trust God, through prayer without asking directly for funding, for the provision for the ministry, which saw over 10,000 orphans feed, clothed, and raised in a God respecting way until adulthood. Listen to a great message on his life by John Piper by clicking here.

If you don’t have this habit of writing down your prayers, your victories, specific Scriptures or direction you have sensed from God, I would say now is the time to start. And, if you do have this habit, when was the last time that you went back and reviewed this document?  I asure you that you will be surprised, even amazed at how specific and in a timely manner God has been communicating with you.

Try it…