Encourage yourself...

I was talking with a friend the other day about a book that she had just finished by Bill Johnson called Strengthen yourself. It's concept that Bill speaks about often - remembering the things the Lord has told you, the promises and how He thinks of you. This is a practice that David modeled and consistently and consciously engaged in. When the people around him began to trash him or to doubt him, he turned his thoughts and his heart to what God had told him.

Today, I read John Paul's October eletter, yes, I'm a bit behind in my reading, and he addresses the same subject. You can read it for yourself here. When we teach The Art of Hearing God, I like to have the album I Am: 365 Names, Attributes and Characteristics of God playing. This album is John Paul reading 365 names, attributes and characteristics of God. There is power in this album. Not only does it set the mood for the class, but it turns our hearts and minds toward God and enables our Spirits to catch what the Spirit is saying and how He's moving. For several years this album or the instrumental version, The breath of I AM, have been part of my 24/7 soaking music. BTW - if you're interested, you can find the album here .

Back to my point... this practice of remembering the things that God has said to me has become so important that I have added scripture and promises to some of the photography I have taken and used them as book marks and as reminders hanging on the walls. There are no less than a dozen promises surrounding me at my desk. One of the things I have done is to take scripture and pray it over myself, and several years later I am seeing the fruits of that scripture in my life. This concept of encouraging myself has become so important to me that I make it a conscious effort to place reminders everywhere.

Take my new phone for instance. Chris bought me a My Touch, it's an android phone very smiler to an iPhone. I love it. I've set up the wallpaper to show a photograph of Antelope cave. I believe it's in Arizona somewhere. What strikes me about this picture is that there is a shaft of light that comes down from the roof and illuminates the entire cave. This is a visual prayer that reminds me that this is my prayer about God illuminating me, every part of me, as well as a prayer that this is what I do when I walk into a room or a situation. When I selected my new ring tone, I selected a song that impacted me the first time I heard it and expressed the cry of my heart - Where You go I'll go. I needed to get a shell for my phone, and rather than pick one off the shelf, I designed my own. It has promises on it as well as the scripture that I've been praying over myself for several years. The colors are purple and green, reminding me of my royal heritage and inheritance and the growth that I have achieved and the growth yet to come.

So, do you encourage yourself? If so, how do you encourage yourself? How do you remember what the Lord has told you and promised you?