WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:16.000 If it's fire, it's got to look like fire, feel like fire, smell like fire or something. 2 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:19.880 Welcome to another Raising Home Fire Secret Place Training Session. 3 00:00:19.880 --> 00:00:24.800 Those who dwell in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of 4 00:00:24.800 --> 00:00:26.320 the Almighty. 5 00:00:26.320 --> 00:00:31.000 And our prayer and our vision for this time is that you would be further equipped, that 6 00:00:31.000 --> 00:00:36.520 you would be taken into a deeper experience of the secret place, into a deeper personal 7 00:00:36.520 --> 00:00:41.640 connection with God, and that you would experience what it's like in a deeper way to come under 8 00:00:41.640 --> 00:00:43.240 the overshadowing of God. 9 00:00:43.240 --> 00:00:48.000 Bill Johnson says, whatever overshadows you will come out in your shadow. 10 00:00:48.000 --> 00:00:51.960 And you know, the book of Daniel, Daniel writes this, he says, those that know their God shall 11 00:00:51.960 --> 00:00:53.880 do great exploits. 12 00:00:53.880 --> 00:00:58.560 And so our prayer is that you would grow in your knowledge, not just your knowledge about 13 00:00:58.560 --> 00:01:04.000 God, but your intimate, personal, experiential knowledge of knowing God. 14 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:05.000 And so enjoy this session. 15 00:01:05.000 --> 00:01:06.000 God bless you. 16 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:16.240 Hey, welcome to this practical session, we're going to be talking about some of the practices 17 00:01:16.240 --> 00:01:23.000 of the secret place that have been so helpful, it's not the right word, but so life-giving 18 00:01:23.120 --> 00:01:24.560 to myself. 19 00:01:24.560 --> 00:01:28.400 And I'm sharing these because my prayer is they will be for you. 20 00:01:28.400 --> 00:01:32.440 Now in this one, I'm going to be talking about heart journaling. 21 00:01:32.440 --> 00:01:35.840 That's the term that I've coined, but I'm sure someone else has coined it and a whole 22 00:01:35.840 --> 00:01:41.800 bunch of people have coined it as well, where it's basically a way of laying your heart 23 00:01:41.800 --> 00:01:44.200 bare before the Lord. 24 00:01:44.200 --> 00:01:48.000 And the Lord loves intimacy. 25 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:52.760 Like the big deal of Christianity is not about rule keeping, and it's not this moral thing. 26 00:01:53.520 --> 00:01:58.440 It's so much more about relationship, and it's actually about intimacy with the Lord. 27 00:01:58.440 --> 00:02:05.120 And intimacy, a really simple way of thinking of it is, and to me, you see. 28 00:02:05.120 --> 00:02:12.240 Now Jesus, in the scriptures, he says, depart from me, I never knew you. 29 00:02:12.240 --> 00:02:18.080 The reason he's asking people to depart from him is because he never knew them. 30 00:02:18.080 --> 00:02:20.400 Now here's the crazy thing though. 31 00:02:21.000 --> 00:02:23.840 He's omniscient. 32 00:02:23.840 --> 00:02:24.840 He's great. 33 00:02:24.840 --> 00:02:27.120 His eyes see all things. 34 00:02:27.120 --> 00:02:30.040 He is the all-knowing one. 35 00:02:30.040 --> 00:02:32.320 So how can he say, I never knew you? 36 00:02:32.320 --> 00:02:38.120 And I believe so much of that is because on our side of the relationship, he, although 37 00:02:38.120 --> 00:02:46.320 he's all-knowing, wants us to let him in of our own choice so that we can have intimacy 38 00:02:46.320 --> 00:02:47.320 with him. 39 00:02:47.360 --> 00:02:52.240 So intimacy with him is really, really meaningful, and it's a big deal. 40 00:02:52.240 --> 00:02:58.280 And so I want to share how I came about the journey of heart journaling, and then obviously 41 00:02:58.280 --> 00:03:03.200 how we actually do it, how Andy Piggott does his heart journaling before the Lord in the 42 00:03:03.200 --> 00:03:05.280 mornings at my secret place time. 43 00:03:05.280 --> 00:03:10.440 And so a part of this journey was, I remember quite a few years ago now, I'm going to say 44 00:03:10.440 --> 00:03:14.480 about five years ago, I was feeling so ticked off. 45 00:03:14.640 --> 00:03:20.920 Something had happened at church, at work, and I was feeling so taken advantage of, and 46 00:03:20.920 --> 00:03:26.320 I was just feeling hurt, like I'm good-natured, I want to serve people, they're just taking 47 00:03:26.320 --> 00:03:31.320 advantage of my nature to want to serve, and I was actually feeling resentment. 48 00:03:31.320 --> 00:03:37.200 It bled through into the weekend, and it was a Saturday, and I was struggling to be present 49 00:03:37.200 --> 00:03:42.040 with my kids and my wife because all this stuff was coming up from my heart, and I was 50 00:03:42.040 --> 00:03:46.280 trying to forgive, and I was trying to deal with it, but it wasn't working on the fly. 51 00:03:46.280 --> 00:03:50.000 So I said to Diana, hey, Diana, I need some time alone with the Lord. 52 00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:52.760 I need to go for a prayer walk. 53 00:03:52.760 --> 00:03:56.280 Can I go out for an hour? 54 00:03:56.280 --> 00:03:57.880 And she's an amazing wife. 55 00:03:57.880 --> 00:03:59.960 She said, yep, you can go for it. 56 00:03:59.960 --> 00:04:06.080 And so I drove to one of my favorite spots to pray in the woods, in the forest, and I 57 00:04:06.080 --> 00:04:07.960 began to pray. 58 00:04:07.960 --> 00:04:13.880 And I'm trying to, before the Lord, just get rid of this resentment, get rid of this pain 59 00:04:13.880 --> 00:04:18.480 that I was feeling in my heart, and come into His presence. 60 00:04:18.480 --> 00:04:23.680 So I was working through forgiveness, doing all that kind of stuff, and I'm doing my best 61 00:04:23.680 --> 00:04:30.000 forgiving that particular person, and then, Lord, here I am trying to worship Him. 62 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:31.840 I want to be in Your presence. 63 00:04:31.840 --> 00:04:38.600 And about 45 minutes into this, and I've only given an hour to this that I've talked to 64 00:04:38.600 --> 00:04:45.440 my wife about, I find myself saying something like this, because I just can't get into a 65 00:04:45.440 --> 00:04:51.560 sense of freedom of heart in the place of God's incredible presence. 66 00:04:51.560 --> 00:04:55.360 I say this, God, I'm so frustrated. 67 00:04:55.360 --> 00:04:59.880 I've come here to be with You and to be in Your presence. 68 00:04:59.880 --> 00:05:00.880 And I'm so frustrated. 69 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:04.940 Yet I'm struggling with my heart, with what's going on in my heart right now. 70 00:05:00.880 --> 00:05:00.880 71 00:05:04.940 --> 00:05:11.240 And so I would so much rather have spent all this time, instead of in resentment, God, 72 00:05:11.240 --> 00:05:15.280 I'd so much rather be spending my time in your presence. 73 00:05:15.280 --> 00:05:21.320 And I heard this voice respond, and it responded in a profound way, and it was almost like 74 00:05:21.320 --> 00:05:22.760 a laugh. 75 00:05:22.760 --> 00:05:32.700 And it was, oh, Andy, have you categorized my presence as only Western thought categorized 76 00:05:32.700 --> 00:05:34.640 nicey-nice emotions? 77 00:05:34.640 --> 00:05:36.200 Something like this, anyway. 78 00:05:36.200 --> 00:05:40.440 Sometimes the voice of the Lord isn't words, it's just boom, information that comes to 79 00:05:40.440 --> 00:05:41.440 us. 80 00:05:41.440 --> 00:05:50.180 Have you categorized my presence as only nice feelings as defined by your Western culture? 81 00:05:50.180 --> 00:05:53.540 And then he flooded me with Scripture verses. 82 00:05:53.540 --> 00:05:57.740 Let me read some of the Scripture verses that flooded with me. 83 00:05:57.740 --> 00:05:59.780 John 11, 35, Jesus wept. 84 00:05:59.780 --> 00:06:06.460 Matthew 14, verse 12 and 13, then John's disciples came and took John's body and buried it and 85 00:06:06.460 --> 00:06:09.300 they went and told Jesus. 86 00:06:09.300 --> 00:06:16.900 When Jesus heard about John, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. 87 00:06:16.900 --> 00:06:18.580 So Jesus went off to grieve. 88 00:06:18.580 --> 00:06:23.540 Matthew 27, verse 37 and 38, it says this, and Jesus took with him Peter and the two 89 00:06:23.540 --> 00:06:28.140 sons of Zebedee and began to be grieved and distressed. 90 00:06:28.140 --> 00:06:34.820 Then he said to them, my soul, this is Jesus speaking, my soul is deeply grieved to the 91 00:06:34.820 --> 00:06:36.660 point of death. 92 00:06:36.660 --> 00:06:38.180 Remain here and keep watch with me. 93 00:06:38.180 --> 00:06:45.020 One more Scripture, Matthew 23, verse 27, woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, 94 00:06:45.020 --> 00:06:50.140 for you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside 95 00:06:50.140 --> 00:06:53.100 they're full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. 96 00:06:53.100 --> 00:06:58.860 So you too outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you're full of hypocrisy and 97 00:06:58.860 --> 00:07:00.340 lawlessness. 98 00:07:00.340 --> 00:07:04.260 So there's a snapshot of the life of Jesus from four verses. 99 00:07:04.260 --> 00:07:09.620 We've got weeping, we've got grieving, we've got deeply distressed and deeply grieving, 100 00:07:09.620 --> 00:07:14.220 agonizing in spirit, and we've got anger. 101 00:07:14.220 --> 00:07:19.060 And the Lord challenged me that day in my prayer time, and he said, you've categorized 102 00:07:19.060 --> 00:07:24.060 my presence into those nice feelings on the mountaintops with me. 103 00:07:24.060 --> 00:07:31.660 But do you think that when Jesus was grieving the death of John, that he had stepped outside 104 00:07:31.660 --> 00:07:32.940 of my presence? 105 00:07:32.940 --> 00:07:38.780 Do you think, Andy, that when Jesus was filled with anger, pointing the finger saying, woe 106 00:07:38.780 --> 00:07:43.660 to you, Pharisees, even in the temple where he's turning over the tables, do you think 107 00:07:43.660 --> 00:07:47.220 in that moment of anger that he was outside of my presence? 108 00:07:47.220 --> 00:07:53.020 Do you think that when he was weeping that he was outside of my presence? 109 00:07:53.020 --> 00:07:57.540 And I realized, oh my goodness, Lord, I'm so sorry. 110 00:07:57.540 --> 00:08:02.580 I've put your presence into only those nice feelings, those good feelings. 111 00:08:02.580 --> 00:08:09.140 I didn't realize that all these other experiences are experiences that you have designed us 112 00:08:09.140 --> 00:08:15.540 to have, and that we're not outside of your presence as we experience these. 113 00:08:15.540 --> 00:08:21.380 Because intimacy is into me you see, and so we're to share a whole world with the Lord. 114 00:08:21.380 --> 00:08:27.540 And even in these places that we thought, that I thought, Andy thought, were not presence 115 00:08:27.540 --> 00:08:30.300 experiences, it's not true. 116 00:08:30.300 --> 00:08:35.980 We can be completely in his presence and experience these almost negative emotions. 117 00:08:35.980 --> 00:08:38.179 And so he taught me something. 118 00:08:38.179 --> 00:08:43.740 And one day I was feeling the pain again, and I drove out to Ocean's Beach, and I wanted 119 00:08:43.740 --> 00:08:47.260 to spend some time and space with the Lord. 120 00:08:47.260 --> 00:08:55.220 And before him, as I was processing some pain within my heart, and I found this little prayer 121 00:08:55.220 --> 00:09:01.620 cove at Ocean's Beach, which is this awesome, beautiful beach here in beautiful Northland 122 00:09:01.620 --> 00:09:05.700 that is a real sacred space for me. 123 00:09:06.420 --> 00:09:09.820 And I began to learn how to heart journal. 124 00:09:09.820 --> 00:09:15.660 The scriptures say, guard your heart or watch over your heart with all diligence, for out 125 00:09:15.660 --> 00:09:19.580 of it flows all of the issues of life. 126 00:09:19.580 --> 00:09:20.780 Watch over your heart. 127 00:09:20.780 --> 00:09:26.020 Well, I had grown up in a Christianity where when my heart was saying contrary to what 128 00:09:26.020 --> 00:09:30.180 I had thought was the presence of the Lord, just ignore it, just bottle it, just forget 129 00:09:30.180 --> 00:09:37.700 about it, just put it to the side and just go on by faith and just man up and go for 130 00:09:37.700 --> 00:09:38.700 it. 131 00:09:38.700 --> 00:09:44.300 But I didn't realize that my heart had a voice to me and that I was called, according to 132 00:09:44.300 --> 00:09:49.540 the scriptures, to watch over it with all diligence, to look at it, to listen to it, 133 00:09:49.540 --> 00:09:56.100 to hear it, my heart, with all diligence, for out of it flows all of the issues of life. 134 00:09:56.100 --> 00:09:58.740 And so I had to learn a new way of praying. 135 00:09:58.740 --> 00:09:59.860 And here's what happened. 136 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:06.480 I took my iPad out with me, actually, and I was on the sand with my iPad in this little 137 00:10:06.480 --> 00:10:13.960 grove of trees by the beach, and I just began to pour out my heart and just recognize my 138 00:10:13.960 --> 00:10:15.520 heart. 139 00:10:15.520 --> 00:10:22.120 And then it evolved into this, and here's how I do it, and I've been doing it almost 140 00:10:22.120 --> 00:10:28.640 every week ever since, and it's been years now, where there's a three-way conversation 141 00:10:28.640 --> 00:10:30.760 going on, so to speak. 142 00:10:30.760 --> 00:10:33.880 This may sound a little bit weird, but it works for me, and my prayer is it's going 143 00:10:33.880 --> 00:10:35.600 to work for you. 144 00:10:35.600 --> 00:10:40.560 This is not a religious formula or anything, it's just something practically that works 145 00:10:40.560 --> 00:10:44.800 for me that may work for you. 146 00:10:44.800 --> 00:10:50.680 But I have a three-way conversation, where there's my heart, where all I've done is I've 147 00:10:50.680 --> 00:10:54.120 just pulled out this part of me that is Andy's heart. 148 00:10:54.120 --> 00:10:55.720 Now I'm made up of more than my heart. 149 00:10:55.720 --> 00:11:01.520 I have a brain, I have intellect, I have will, I have emotions, I have my body that 150 00:11:01.520 --> 00:11:07.160 feels, but I just pluck out from me and focus in on heart. 151 00:11:07.160 --> 00:11:11.320 And then that's one person, so to speak, of in the conversation. 152 00:11:11.320 --> 00:11:18.120 The other person I have is my integrated self, like all of me, my mind, my heart, logic, 153 00:11:18.120 --> 00:11:20.080 all that kind of stuff. 154 00:11:20.080 --> 00:11:26.280 So that person, the integrated part of me, who I truly am, all of me, is in on the conversation. 155 00:11:26.280 --> 00:11:30.280 And the third person, of course, is the Lord. 156 00:11:30.280 --> 00:11:34.680 And the way the conversations and the journaling starts off is this. 157 00:11:34.680 --> 00:11:38.880 Often it's, hi, heart, how are you today? 158 00:11:38.880 --> 00:11:40.880 And then I have a tab. 159 00:11:40.880 --> 00:11:48.600 Now for me, I normally do this on my laptop, actually. 160 00:11:48.600 --> 00:11:50.640 You can do this in a journal. 161 00:11:50.640 --> 00:11:54.360 I often will do it in a journal, but more often it's on a laptop. 162 00:11:54.360 --> 00:11:59.920 And I push a tab, and that one tab in is my heart. 163 00:11:59.920 --> 00:12:02.800 And then two tabs in is the Father. 164 00:12:02.800 --> 00:12:07.400 So I can watch the three-way conversation happening that I'm a part of, massively a 165 00:12:07.400 --> 00:12:15.280 part of, and I'm typing it out, and we'll often start with the first line, right up 166 00:12:15.280 --> 00:12:19.360 against the margin, hi, heart, how are you? 167 00:12:19.360 --> 00:12:23.800 And then one tab in, I just allow my heart to speak. 168 00:12:23.800 --> 00:12:25.440 Now here's what I've learned. 169 00:12:25.440 --> 00:12:32.440 My heart doesn't know how it should be according to religion, according to Christianity, according 170 00:12:32.440 --> 00:12:35.120 to any—my heart just simply is. 171 00:12:35.120 --> 00:12:40.520 And I've come to this place because I know that God is safe and God is accepting, where 172 00:12:40.520 --> 00:12:42.400 I can just let my heart out. 173 00:12:42.400 --> 00:12:46.640 I believe that David was a man after God's own heart, and as you read the Psalms, he's 174 00:12:46.640 --> 00:12:48.520 just letting his heart out. 175 00:12:48.520 --> 00:12:52.680 And part of the reason why he's a man after God's own heart is he just lets it all out 176 00:12:52.680 --> 00:12:53.680 there. 177 00:12:53.680 --> 00:12:55.960 He just lets it all out there. 178 00:12:55.960 --> 00:13:02.760 And so all religious stuff, expectations, and all the shoulds of religion, how I should 179 00:13:02.760 --> 00:13:05.320 be feeling, forget about it. 180 00:13:05.320 --> 00:13:06.880 The heart just is. 181 00:13:06.880 --> 00:13:09.400 And I just write my heart's response. 182 00:13:09.400 --> 00:13:18.180 And sometimes, honestly sometimes, I want to let you know, it's got colorful language. 183 00:13:18.180 --> 00:13:22.720 My heart is in pain or it's angry, and I'm just expressing it. 184 00:13:22.720 --> 00:13:23.720 I'm just writing it down. 185 00:13:23.720 --> 00:13:28.760 Often it's just in capital letters, and it's got swear words in it. 186 00:13:28.760 --> 00:13:33.280 I've come to learn that the Father is safe. 187 00:13:33.280 --> 00:13:37.240 And then I will ask another question of my heart. 188 00:13:37.240 --> 00:13:42.720 I will sit with my heart, and then I'll allow the Father to speak with me on that. 189 00:13:42.720 --> 00:13:44.240 So how are you feeling? 190 00:13:44.240 --> 00:13:46.600 High heart, how are you is how I'll often start. 191 00:13:46.600 --> 00:13:49.240 High heart, how are you? 192 00:13:49.240 --> 00:13:56.760 I'll hold my hand over my heart, and I'll start typing. 193 00:13:56.760 --> 00:14:01.400 I'm feeling really angry, this and that. 194 00:14:01.400 --> 00:14:02.760 Often it can be really good things. 195 00:14:02.760 --> 00:14:03.760 I'm so excited. 196 00:14:03.760 --> 00:14:09.200 It doesn't just need to be painful and negative things, but I just pour my heart out and just 197 00:14:09.200 --> 00:14:12.000 pour it out without any religious filters. 198 00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:18.880 I'll ask other questions from my integrated self back to the heart, and it will just pour 199 00:14:18.880 --> 00:14:19.880 out. 200 00:14:19.880 --> 00:14:28.200 And then, it doesn't take very long, in that space of just pouring out my heart, I hear 201 00:14:28.200 --> 00:14:29.200 the voice of the Father. 202 00:14:29.200 --> 00:14:31.800 I hear the voice of Jesus, the voice of Holy Spirit. 203 00:14:31.840 --> 00:14:38.040 And I just type what this Father is saying back to me in response. 204 00:14:38.040 --> 00:14:43.520 And I have found so much healing and health in that. 205 00:14:43.520 --> 00:14:48.240 I have found so many lives have fallen to the ground. 206 00:14:48.240 --> 00:14:52.920 And one of the things I learned is that as I poured out my heart to the Lord, I was just 207 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:07.560 actually an unmet desire. The Lord gives us the desires of our heart. He's created 208 00:15:07.560 --> 00:15:14.280 us to desire in our heart, and when desire is fulfilled, we're happy, we're 209 00:15:14.280 --> 00:15:20.600 good. When desire is unfulfilled, we're unhappy, we're not good, we're angry, 210 00:15:20.600 --> 00:15:26.040 we're sad, we're in resentment, we're in bitterness. And so what I would often do 211 00:15:26.040 --> 00:15:31.200 is just hold my hand on my heart after it's vented out, and just sit there in 212 00:15:31.200 --> 00:15:38.760 that heart in motion, in the presence of the Lord. And together we would discover 213 00:15:38.760 --> 00:15:45.520 what that unmet desire is, what that unmet need or longing of my heart is. And 214 00:15:45.520 --> 00:15:53.800 when that need was discovered, I now know what I need to do before the Lord to 215 00:15:53.800 --> 00:16:00.280 enter into more of who I am, because I'm designed to live out my desires. Another 216 00:16:00.280 --> 00:16:08.000 question I would often ask right at the very start would be, heart, what is most 217 00:16:08.000 --> 00:16:13.920 alive in you right now? And I'd pull out that most alive thing, and I'd feel it. I 218 00:16:13.920 --> 00:16:21.040 just type it out. Anger, whatever it was, peace, hope, you name it. At the 219 00:16:21.040 --> 00:16:25.600 start of my process of doing this, I got to confess, there was far more like 220 00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:31.560 negative, unmet, like painful emotions that were coming forth. But each time I 221 00:16:31.560 --> 00:16:35.880 would do it in the presence of the Lord, the voice of the Father would come. And 222 00:16:35.880 --> 00:16:44.080 as I'd hold onto those emotions in my heart, I'd discover the unmet desire that 223 00:16:44.080 --> 00:16:50.920 was under it. And every time it was pure, every time it was godly, our heart is 224 00:16:50.960 --> 00:16:59.040 born again. David said that, I am fearfully and wonderfully made. This my 225 00:16:59.040 --> 00:17:05.040 soul knows very well. I began to very well know that the Lord had created me 226 00:17:05.040 --> 00:17:10.560 wonderfully and fearfully, because every negative emotion I was feeling was a 227 00:17:10.560 --> 00:17:18.440 pure desire that was not being met within myself. So you can do this too. I 228 00:17:18.440 --> 00:17:23.800 encourage you to give this a go. Just sit with your heart in the presence of 229 00:17:23.800 --> 00:17:28.800 the Lord and allow yourself to ask questions of it. So my journal looks like 230 00:17:28.800 --> 00:17:33.800 the first tab is myself, my integrated self. The second tab is just my heart 231 00:17:33.800 --> 00:17:38.600 speaking. The third tab is God's response, and it's just this 232 00:17:38.600 --> 00:17:44.840 flow. Sometimes I'll be heart journaling for an hour or more, and every single time 233 00:17:44.840 --> 00:17:50.400 I come out of that space feeling a hundred bucks, because the Lord has 234 00:17:50.400 --> 00:17:56.280 spoken to me, and I've led him into my world, and he knows me. 235 00:18:06.280 --> 00:18:11.200 Alright guys, welcome to the activation, where we're going to take this and we're 236 00:18:11.200 --> 00:18:15.360 going to apply it into our own world. And I believe in the same way this has 237 00:18:15.360 --> 00:18:21.760 been life-changing for me, this can be life-changing for you if you apply it 238 00:18:21.760 --> 00:18:25.440 into your world. So here we go. What you're going to need for this is either, 239 00:18:25.440 --> 00:18:28.760 if you're like me, it took me a little while to get used to prayer through a 240 00:18:28.760 --> 00:18:32.400 laptop, because I'm like a bit more of an old-school guy. I'd rather have a journal. 241 00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:38.240 But for me, I type way faster than I write. And so you can choose to either 242 00:18:38.240 --> 00:18:43.920 have a laptop open, and I have a Google Drive where I have a private 243 00:18:43.920 --> 00:18:49.320 folder where only my eyes can see it. I don't want anyone else's eyes to 244 00:18:49.320 --> 00:18:52.560 see it. I don't even want to think that someone else could look at this, because 245 00:18:52.560 --> 00:18:56.280 I'm about to bare my heart, and it's about to unleash, and I don't want anyone 246 00:18:56.280 --> 00:19:00.360 to read that. I want to feel safe. Or in my journal, I need to make sure that no 247 00:19:00.360 --> 00:19:04.400 one's going to see that journal. So if you're a journal, you need to have a pen. 248 00:19:04.400 --> 00:19:09.680 If you have a laptop, you can use an iPad if you want to. On a laptop, the 249 00:19:09.680 --> 00:19:15.440 first tab is just your integrated self, who you are, all of you. And here's what I 250 00:19:15.440 --> 00:19:24.920 want you to do. I want you to type out or write out this. Hi, heart. How are you? 251 00:19:24.920 --> 00:19:29.920 And I want you to close your eyes, be aware that you're in the 252 00:19:29.920 --> 00:19:36.320 presence of the Lord. Just place a hand on your heart, and now to the best of 253 00:19:36.320 --> 00:19:41.120 your ability, just allow what's in there. And don't worry about the religious 254 00:19:41.120 --> 00:19:44.800 shorts, how you're meant to be as a Christian, a follower of Jesus, and all 255 00:19:44.800 --> 00:19:50.960 that kind of stuff. Just be raw. Just be real. This is just between you and your 256 00:19:50.960 --> 00:20:00.960 heart and God. And just go for it. Hi, heart. How are you? Feel it. 257 00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:05.040 just to the best of your ability, articulate whatever comes back to you from your heart. 258 00:20:16.160 --> 00:20:21.920 All right, welcome back. You've had time to just heart journal, just pour out your heart before 259 00:20:21.920 --> 00:20:29.360 the Lord. And as you've done that, your heart has been heard by you. It's been heard by the Father. 260 00:20:29.360 --> 00:20:35.280 There's something about a heart that is heard. There's just relief. There's just healing in that. 261 00:20:35.280 --> 00:20:38.880 Now, here's what I would like you to do. Continue to hold your hand on your heart 262 00:20:39.600 --> 00:20:46.000 and you've articulated and your heart is heard. And now I want you just to stay with that feeling 263 00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:52.400 in your heart that you are feeling and experiencing in the presence and just hold it there. And don't 264 00:20:52.400 --> 00:20:58.160 try and change it. Don't try and shift it. Don't do what you think that you should do according 265 00:20:58.160 --> 00:21:07.520 to Christianity. Just hold it in the presence of the Lord. And as you do, I believe the Lord 266 00:21:07.520 --> 00:21:13.600 will begin to speak to you. And as he speaks to you, you can either do one of two things. I'm 267 00:21:13.600 --> 00:21:19.600 going to ask of you either a begin to on your journal, three tabs in or two tabs in this time, 268 00:21:19.600 --> 00:21:24.480 type what the Father is saying on your laptop or in your journal, write out what the Father is saying 269 00:21:25.440 --> 00:21:37.360 or discover with the Lord the unmet desire. It is right that you as a human being have desire. 270 00:21:38.240 --> 00:21:44.240 You're designed to have desire and that desire is designed to be fulfilled. 271 00:21:45.840 --> 00:21:52.400 I want you to begin to sit with the Lord and either hear his voice back on it or discover 272 00:21:52.400 --> 00:22:01.360 with him the unmet desire. What is that desire that you're longing for? And begin to write that 273 00:22:01.360 --> 00:22:06.640 out. I'm longing for this. My heart is longing for this. Write that out. I'll give you some time to 274 00:22:06.640 --> 00:22:14.240 do that. So push pause and hear from the Father. Figure out the desire with him. 275 00:22:23.280 --> 00:22:28.480 All right, this has been amazing. I've got one more activation I'd like for you to do. 276 00:22:28.480 --> 00:22:34.480 This is super helpful for me in my prayer time. I love that sense of deep connection with the Lord. 277 00:22:34.480 --> 00:22:40.320 If any bigot has that, I'm a happy camper. All hell could be breaking loose around me if I have 278 00:22:40.320 --> 00:22:46.320 connection with the Lord. Yee-haw. And so one of the questions I ask as part of the heart journaling 279 00:22:47.200 --> 00:22:57.200 process is this. What has moved my heart in any way over the last few days? It could be anything. 280 00:22:57.200 --> 00:23:01.840 It could be words from a movie. It could be a conversation you had. It could be a dream that 281 00:23:01.840 --> 00:23:07.360 you had, a conversation with God that you had, a conversation with a friend. But what has moved my 282 00:23:08.320 --> 00:23:20.320 heart in the last few days? I want you to go and think about that and heart journal on that 283 00:23:20.320 --> 00:23:23.280 and begin to discover why with the Father. 284 00:23:24.160 --> 00:23:29.760 All right, it's homework time, guys. We've got one week, and so my challenge for you is give this a 285 00:23:29.760 --> 00:23:38.640 crack. I want you in your prayer times this week, every day, to open up your laptop or open up your 286 00:23:38.640 --> 00:23:45.840 journal and do this. You might want to just start every morning with, Hi, heart. How are you? 287 00:23:46.000 --> 00:23:51.120 Or open up your journal and do this. You might want to just start every morning with, 288 00:23:51.120 --> 00:23:58.880 Hi, heart. How are you today? How are you right now? Or, heart, what is most alive in you? 289 00:23:58.880 --> 00:24:15.920 Or, what has moved you heart lately? And heart journal with the Lord. Go for it.