Reflective Words
One Word for One Month.
Reflect on a single word each month. Surrender your expectations, seek God’s guidance, notice your emotions, wrestle with difficulties, and discover greater depths of God’s mercy and peace.
REFLECT ON ONE WORD FOR ONE MONTH
The unfolding of your words gives light … (Psalm 119:130)
Reflecting on one word is an opportunity to pray over, wrestle with, think about, and consider a single word for thirty days. Interestingly, when we focus on just one word, we notice it in all kinds of unexpected ways.
1. The first step is to surrender our expectations:
- what we think we should discover,
- how we think we should feel, and
- what we think we should learn.
This is an opportunity to meet with God and be open to His leading in His time and His way.
2. Next is an invitation to be curious each time we encounter the word, noticing how we feel and what we’re thinking.
- Does the word stir up a memory?
- Does it carry a specific emotion?
- Does it make us apprehensive?
- Does it fill us with joy?
As we experience the reflective word, what do we learn about God’s mercy and peace? Have we been challenged by a new idea or a shift in perspective? What has shifted in us?
3. Each month, we will share a devotional post focusing on a single reflective word, giving us time to:
- surrender our expectations.
- notice the emotions, thoughts, and pain stirred up by this word.
- ponder what these mean and how they affect us.
- encounter God in new ways.
- embrace new ideas or fresh ways of thinking.
- discover greater depths of God’s mercy and peace.
GROWING THROUGH REFLECTIVE WORDS
- Bookmark the post so you can add your comments throughout the month.
- Write this month’s word on a Post-it and place it where you’ll see it often. Pause each time you see it and notice where your mind goes.
- Print the devotional and jot down any thoughts that come to mind.
- Listen to the audio recording.
- Choose a time each day to pray about the word.
- Invite one person to join you on this journey. Set a regular time(s) to discuss your reflections.
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
- Did you discover or remember an old quote?
- Did a Scripture verse touch your heart?
- How did God meet you?
- What did you learn about Jesus?
- What caught your eye in creation?
- What nugget did you glean about God’s mercy, love, or peace?
Share your insights to these questions in the post comments throughout the month.
Read the comments from others and reply with a kind word of encouragement.
PRAYER
Lord, help me surrender my thoughts and simply be present with You, listening for Your still, small voice. You have a purpose for everything; I don’t want to miss a word. Guide me, Lord. Show me what You want me to notice, learn, and experience. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Reflective Words Devotional
Where is God in My (Disappointment)?
What to do when you end up where you don’t want to be and you don’t know the way out. Disappointment means I lean on Jesus.
FREE PRINTABLES
Devotional Guide
Chronic Joy® devotionals are an invitation to take one gentle step, to pray in a comforting and familiar or perhaps new-to-you way, or to cry out on behalf of one precious life today … maybe even yours.
Show Me, Lord Prayer
Are you overwhelmed, weary, discouraged, or unsure of how to live this life you’ve been given? You’re not alone. It is at the point of surrender that we finally begin to hear God speak.
19 Reflective Questions & Verses
We are invited by the One who is the Word to be inspired by the Word—to savor it, treasure it, learn from it, and hide it in our hearts. Let these verses and questions draw you into God’s presence, where He can quench your thirst and nourish your weary soul.