Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.Daniel 6:10
The king had signed a law that nobody could pray to anyone but him for thirty days. Daniel knew it. He went home, opened his windows towards Jerusalem and prayed three times a day, exactly as he had always done. He was thrown to the lions for it and God shut their mouths (Daniel 6:16–22).
This compass gives you the same direction. Face it, and pray morning, afternoon and evening.
Write it down once, then read it and declare it every day.
And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.Habakkuk 2:2–3
A vision is written so it can be read, and read so it can be run with. Read it every day, at least once, until it comes to pass.
Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.Proverbs 18:21
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.Genesis 1:3
(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.Romans 4:17
In the beginning God spoke and it was created. We are made in his image, so we speak what he has promised and agree with it out loud.
And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.Mark 11:22–24
Say it, do not doubt, believe you receive, and keep saying it.
And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?Luke 18:1–8
The widow kept coming to the judge until she got justice. Jesus told this so that we would always pray and not give up. Pray your vision every single day, persistently, until it comes to pass.
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.Psalm 1:1–3
This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.Joshua 1:8
To meditate is not to empty your mind. It is to fill it with God’s word and stay with it. The Hebrew word used in both of these verses carries the idea of murmuring, speaking quietly to yourself. That is why Joshua is told that the word must not depart out of his mouth: you say it, again and again, and let it settle.
So meditating means going over a verse slowly, saying it aloud, turning it over, and then saying it again from memory until it lives in you. The man in Psalm 1 does it day and night, and he becomes like a tree by the water that bears fruit in its season. Joshua is told the same, so that he will observe to do what is written. Meditation leads to action, and action leads to a way that is good and prosperous.
Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.Psalm 119:11
The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.Psalm 37:31
You can only meditate on what you carry with you. A verse you have memorised is with you on the road, in the queue, in the dark at night and in the middle of a temptation. A verse you only know where to look up is not. Memorising puts God’s word in your heart, and then meditation has something to work on.
Add a verse below, or choose one in the Bible. Read it aloud morning, afternoon and evening. Come back here each day to review: say it from memory first, then check. The gaps get bigger as you learn it, until you can say the whole verse with nothing in front of you. Then keep saying it.
Alerts, vibration and calendar alarms are in Settings.
Days begin at sunset. The year has 12 months of 30, 30 and 31 days (364 days), and an extra week is added at the end when needed to stay in step with the seasons.
Used for sunrise and sunset, prayer times and the direction to Jerusalem.
A web app can only alert you while it is open. To be reminded with the app closed, add the times to your calendar and set the calendar alert to vibrate.
Sun-based times are added for the next 60 days, and fixed clock times repeat daily. Download again later to refresh.
This diary works better as an app on your phone. It opens full screen like any other app, keeps working without a signal and updates itself. Follow the steps for your device.
Do this before you write anything. On iPhone the Home Screen app keeps its own separate storage, so entries written in Safari first do not carry over. If you already have, save a backup below and restore it in the Home Screen app.
On your device only. Everything you write, your journal, prayer list, to-do list and settings, is saved inside this app on your phone, in the browser’s private storage for this app. There is no account, no online database and no server holding your entries.
Nothing is uploaded. The website only delivers the app itself. Like any website it can see that a page was opened, but it never receives what you write. There is no tracking or advertising.
Your location stays on your device. It is only used to work out sunrise, sunset and the direction to Jerusalem.
What this means for you. Your entries are as private as your phone. Anyone who can unlock it can open the diary. If you delete the app or clear this site’s data, the entries are removed, and they do not sync between devices. A backup protects you, and it is a file that only you hold.
Save a copy into your own iCloud Drive, Google Drive or OneDrive, or keep a Word document of your entries.
With a passphrase the backup is encrypted. If you forget it, the backup cannot be opened.
The auto-save file is plain text, so keep it in a private folder.
Tap the microphone, speak, tap again, and your words are typed into the box you were writing in. It runs on this device, so your voice is never sent anywhere.
The Sanctuary Diary. A calendar, a journal through the sanctuary, set times of prayer and a prayer list, kept private on your own device.