Have you heard of SOAPing?

I recently read a book called, The Divine Mentor by Wayne Cordeiro.  The points in this book have the potential to change the way you personally hear from God through His Word, the Bible!

Mr. Cordeiro explains that God put the Bible together to instruct us, to help us, and to encourage us.

"For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope." - Romans 15:4

Expounding on this verse, he also suggests that as we read, we can consider the authors of each book of the Bible as "divine mentors"—ones whom God picked to teach us.

What Mr. Cordeiro recommends is reading a selected chunk of Scripture (perhaps one chapter or a section of a chapter—having a reading plan is helpful)... taking time to chew on it and consider it.  Then you take a verse that stuck out to you and write about it in a journal.  He came up with a method of journaling he calls SOAP (S- Scripture, O- Observation, A-Application, P- Prayer).  Read the book to learn more about it!

While to some it might sound like a lot of work, especially to a person who perhaps has never done any journaling—or doesn't care for it much—I can testify that God has a way of speaking to a person's heart through this method... insights you've never noticed before!

I plan to post a few of my journal entries... hopefully as an encouragement to anyone who may be reading this blog.  My life experience has shown me that hope is only found in the Lord, and I want to pass that on!