My Prayer Closet

  At the end of November in 2020, I realized I wanted to do something proactive to deepen my relationship with Jesus. Right as I was thinking about strengthening my relationship with Jesus,  the Lord reminded me of the movie, War Room, where the main character essentially transforms her closet into her very own "war room" with her prayer life. After being reminded of this, I decided I wanted to take after that and create my very own intimate space to spend with the Lord. So immediately that night I found a corner in my closet and set aside my bible and a few devotional books to one side, found some colorful highlighters and pens to help me stay engaged as I read the Word, and added a light and a cute sign that says "You are Loved" to remind myself that Jesus always loves me no matter what. While this may be such a simple idea, it has allowed me to take my relationship with Jesus to another level. Creating this intimate space has allowed me to not only spend more time with Jesus daily but also has been a safe and encouraging space for me. I can't wait to continue fill up the walls in my closet as the Lord leads me to do so. I'm SO excited to see where this goes and even more excited that I get to share my journey with you all as I continue to fill up this entire page with specific details of what I do in my prayer closet! SO HAPPY YOU'RE HERE :)

To be honest, writing down my prayers is something I didn't even think of until I saw it on Pinterest. But one day, I came across the idea on Pinterest and realized this would not only be a great way to keep myself accountable for the things I pray for in my life but it would also serve as a reminder of how good and loving our God is as he answers all my prayers and I'll be able to visually see that since I'll be writing down all my prayers! Again, this idea by itself may seem so simple but its already helped me deepen my relationship with the Lord and I love doing the little things to remind me of God's goodness and favor.

A friend of mine gifted me this devotional book a while back but I had just put it aside and didn't really open it up until a month ago. But this devotional book is SOO good. Each day there's a real life story/example that the author provides for me to read along with, a real life spiritual application I can take from it, a self guided prayer, and scripture references that align with that day's reading and devotion. This has been so encouraging and I genuinely look forward to reading from this book daily. 

As I spend time in the word and my devotionals daily, there are certain scriptures or words of encouragement that stick out to me or that God is speaking to me through. In this moment, I instantly grab one of my highlighters or colorful pens and write down the scripture on a sticky note and pray over it and tape it onto my wall. It is truly beautiful to know that we serve a God that can speak to us in any way. I love that he's a God that speaks to us even while we're reading HIS word and so whenever he does, I never want to take it for granted and immediately write down the scripture and tape it on my walls. I am beyond excited to continue filling up my walls with his scripture so I can always be encouraged by HIS word and know that God is always speaking to me!

I was encouraged to start this Bible Plan at the start of 2020 along with the rest of my Bible Study group. This plan has me read from four different books of the Bible daily. Usually two of these books are from the Old Testament while the other two books are from the New Testament. Being able to read from different parts of the Bible has not only been a powerful and intriguing way to read the Bible but it also allows me to easily complete reading the Bible in one year! This plan allows me to skip five days of reading per month and still be able to successfully finish the plan! And I am on track to finish this plan for the first time as 2020 comes to an end. 

I AM SOOO EXCITED ABOUT MY NEW BIBLE!! ITS THE BEST! So its an NKJV Journaling Bible that I purchased on Amazon and I'll include the link at the bottom of this for anyone who wants it too! I highly recommend :)  But the picture above shows one of the pages from inside the bible and it essentially has extra space on the sides for you to take notes and journal your thoughts as you read which I think is just so perfect and amazing. So at the start of 2021, my biggest new year resolution was to read the entire bible again but to journal ALL my thoughts as I read every day. So my first step in accomplishing this goal was to buy an appropriate bible to help me do so which of course I did! After buying this bible, I've been picking two different colored highlighters and pens each day and I just take notes and highlight whatever stands out to me or speaks to me. And it has been such a blessing to do this; not only am I spending more time in the word but I also feel like I'm strengthening my relationship with Jesus as I do this. So once again highly recommend!!! here is the link to the bible: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0785218459/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1