BV11: FIFTH STEP TO SUSTAIN VICTORY -REMEMBER

Spiritual Amnesia depletes PEE and is the greatest obstacle to sustained victory over fear and anxiety. Eugene Petersen points out that "A Christian with a defective memory has to start everything from scratch and spend far too much time backtracking, repairing and starting over". The problem is that we all have defective memories and they naturally get worse with age. Our brains are designed to remember what is dangerous, bad and fearful so we can avoid the same things in the future.  But they are not designed to remember the good things, the answers to prayers, the PEE that can be the power to sustain the victory we have achieved with the Lords help. So STEP FIVE IS TO REMEMBER. 

Lots of ways to do that. The 2 best are to keep a prayer journal and to start your prayers thankfully reciting when God has shown up and answered a prayer . Journaling your ponderings about faith and your emerging  discoveries as you study scripture is a marvelous exercise which I had very little time to do during the frantic years of practicing medicine and child rearing . But what I am talking about here is simple and takes little time. Just write down the prayer in abbreviated form. No deep thought or eloquence required. Then go back and review it every now and then putting a "A" by those that have been answered. There will always be a bunch that you are still waiting on that can be prayed again. Often a series of prayers become more focused and in the process the Lord will help us recognize what we really need and what He wants to deliver on. 

Hope is wonderful and essential but it must be based on something. People find all kinds of things in the world to base their hope on. It is absolutely astonishing where some people get their hope and how often they are disappointed. Scripture gives us lots of reasons to believe but unless we actually have PEE that God is faithful  and remember how and when and where He delivered on His promises our Hope is shallow and nearly worthless. 

Anyone who has given God a chance to show up over and over again becomes grateful if they only remember it. Grateful people are some of the happiest in the world. Cultivate a grateful heart by getting God involved, recognizing when He shows up and remembering it all. The best way to remember and be happy is to start your bedtime prayers by listing all your PEE. You will often fall asleep before you finish and if not you will finish your prayers with the confidence that He has heard you and is acting on your behalf already .