Journal entry for January 30, 2026

Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. James 5:13

Lord I think of the verse that says out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. So James says when our life is full of suffering and hardship and our hearts are dealing with the emotion and feelings of the hardship, that we should bring those to You. Share what is in our hearts with You. Likewise when our hearts are full of joy and happiness the words that come out of our mouth should be songs of joy, praise unto You.

So whether my heart is hurting, confused, frustrated, overwhelmed, or bubbling over with joy, I am to let those feelings be expressed by words in the form of prayer or praise unto You.

What I see from this verse is the intimacy that You desire with Your children. I know that to be true because as a parent, I love it when my children come and just want to talk about whatever is on their hearts. I remember the joy on my mother's face when I would just pop in and sit for five minutes and talk with her. I didn't do it nearly enough and I regret that. I get a sense of how You must feel when You see Your children so busy in life that they never come and sit down for a visit..

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your invitation for us to come. All you who are heavily burdened, come and I will give you rest. Thank you for the open invitation to come and just sit down for a visit. That would not be possible if it were not for my Lord Jesus Christ and the way that He provided unto You. Thank you in Jesus name. Amen.