Simple "War Room" Daily Plan

There's a lot of different ideas out there for how to do a War Journal or War Room.  Here's an idea for a simplified daily plan (can be done in any order really):

1.  Quiet your mind.  Remind yourself that God is already there with you, that you are meeting with our great, holy, powerful, good God.  (You're in His presence all the time, but now you're consciously "meeting" with Him.)  Maybe start by playing a worship song that touches your heart, and singing along.  Worshipping God makes the devil crazy!  And it gets your heart and mind into the right place. 

2.  Pray that God speaks to you this morning.  Tell Him to open your ears to what He wants to tell you.

3.  Read the Bible, either following your normal daily reading plan, or praying about what God wants you to read that day.  Read until the Holy Spirit speaks to you about what you're reading or gives you some sort of insight.  Journal it.

4.  Write down verses you need to dwell on today, maybe related to things you are struggling with or characteristics of God you need to focus on or something He wants you to do.  Ask God to help you find the verses He wants you to focus on.  (If you want to, turn them into prayers and pray them back to God.  And write them down.  Write down what God is telling you through them.)

5.  Additionally, pick a verse to meditate on.  Write it in your journal or post it on your War Room wall.  And write it on a notecard to take with you today (or type it into your phone's notepad.)  It really does help to write it down - to go through the process of writing it out word for word.  It helps it stick more.  Then dwell on it throughout the day.  Ask God to teach you more about it.  Memorize it.

6.  Pray.  Honestly and humbly.  (Write it all down if you want to.)

     - Praise God for who He is and what He's done  

     - Thank Him for the blessings (Write them down!)

     - Admit your mistakes and ask for forgiveness  Ask God what you need to seek forgiveness for.  Ask Him who or what you need to forgive.  Bitterness is a poison that will eat away at your relationship with Him and others.

     - Pray about your needs and concerns.  Pray for your family.  Pray for others.  Pray for our country and leaders.  And write it all down on a list so you can see it and pray for these people and concerns daily.  Ask God which areas are yours to cover in prayer, which people He wants you to intercede for in prayer.  And ask Him which concerns you need to give to Him, which you need to stop taking responsibility for or stop trying to change yourself.  What are you responsible for and what is He responsible for?  Ask Him in prayer.
            [When you pray about your needs and requests and sins, be honest.  Even about the bad or uncomfortable stuff.  Talk it all over with God.  He already knows anyway, so don't try to hide your real parts from Him - your fears and doubts and struggles and sins and bad thoughts and bad feelings, etc..  In fact, ask Him if there are any parts of your heart or mind or life or past that you've closed off to Him.  Ask His help in opening those doors to His truth and healing and love.  He can't heal what we hide.  And ask Him for what you want honestly, but know that He might not give it to you.  So end your requests with "Not my will, but Yours be done."  If you can't pray that yet, talk to God about why.  Ask Him why you are having a hard time giving it over to Him.  Ask Him to reveal to you if and why you're having a hard time trusting Him.  This is where a lot of the struggle takes place, so go slow and be thoughtful and honest.  It takes time to get to the point of being able to give God the control we so desperately want.  It takes time to accept that God might be saying "No" or "Not yet."  It takes time to figure out what's blocking us from being able to do this.]

     - Ask Him if there's anything He wants you to know, do, or pray.  (But only if you're really willing to do it!)

7.  After praying, take some time to listen quietly, expectantly.  To remain in His presence without talking.  Be open to hearing what He might want to say.  Keep this receptive mindset throughout the day.  You never know when God will speak to you.  And write down what He does say to you, if you want.  

(If you want some specific questions to ask God, try my 250 Questions to Ask God post.  Or try this daily plan - The "Don't Be Such a Chicken" Challenge - which includes different tasks or questions or prayers each day for a year.  Or if you realize that there are walls up between you and God but you're not sure what to do about it, try this: Through the Refining Fire: Your "Sweetly Broken" Journey.  You never know what it might uncover.)