The art of remembrance | Three practical disciplines to start today

There is something that happens when we set our eyes on truth. Hope is stirred within us, our gaze is lifted from our problems to the answer, it transforms our despair into hope, it gently reminds us our weakness was never the determining factor in whether we fail.
The act of remembrance when done on a weekly basis can become a weapon in how we defeat fear, hopelessness, and doubt. When we focus on what God has done and spoken in our lives we let God re-write our story.
The word remember is in the bible 148 times. When we forget who God is, what God has spoken over our lives we leave ourselves open to the worlds depiction of whether or not our lives our successful, we allow other voices to determine how we should spend our time and money.
As I was reading through the bible I began taking note about how often the Lord spoke about His people forgetting. So I have taken it as a reminder to be proactive to meditate on these three things:
– WHO God is
– WHAT God has done
– WHAT God has declared

Here are three super practicals ways that I do this on a daily/weekly/monthly basis.

Night Dreaming Journal

Have you ever woken up from a dream in the middle of the night so aware of it you decide to go back to sleep without writing it down becuase you are just so sure you’ll remember it because in the moment its so fresh only to wake up and completely forget it or only remember one or two details from it? I use to think if I didn’t remember it in the morning then it must not be important. Not true. If I woke up from my dream I believe that right there is the sign I need that I need to take note (literally).

One of the most important things for me to do is to document my dreams/visions with times and dates. What time I wake you wake up a dream can have significance, what day it is. All these things play a role in dreams. Typically what time it is, is corresponding with a bible verse for me. Over the last ten years there is a certain time of the night that the Lord typically gives me dreams so I am aware of that time frame and especially make sure to document anything that happens during those early morning hours.
I try make sure and have my laptop of phone within reach so that I can type it out immediately whatever details I remember from dream or encounter and then I let myself go back to sleep. In the morning I will go back over dream, fix any spelling errors and start researching.

I go back over my night dreams frequently. For me they are a compass of sorts. I trust the dreams the Lord has given me as they have helped direct me and given me insight into things in my life and those around me.

There are some great resources out there on the internet for interpreting dreams and the symbolism of certain things in your dream. (Lets stay away from all the tarot stuff though 😉

Journaling

There is RARELY a day that goes by that I have not journaled. This is my sanity. While I am a verbal processor I find the act of journaling to be one of the most therapeutic. I will sit down at my computer and just begin to write. Asking myself questions, dialoguing with myself and holy spirit. Most of the time I will have worship music playing the background, sometimes a podcast on a topic that I am trying to access in my heart. Journaling though has been on the safest ways for me to figure out how I am feeling about a situation. There are so many thoughts and emotions within me, this is the easiest way for me to get them out and sort through them without judgement or shame or fear.

Remembrance Journal/Provision Journal

This is the one that I have to be diligent about recording things down. It’s the easiest one to forget but man does it make a difference. This is where gratitude is cultivated. In this journal I will document anytime that there was an unexpected gift/blessing that occurred in my life So I can look back in the seasons of so called lack, or where I have a need and say LOOK He did it then, He can do it again. If FAITH activates the promise (Heb 13) then I wanna build my faith so that I can step into the promise. How do I do that? By remembering all the times before when He did it. By looking back at how God has provided for me so extravagantly I can stand firm and trust God when He says “there is more”.

I would love to hear, how do you practice the art of remembrance?