“I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.”
Psalm 9:1
Journaling is a means of consciously reflecting on the Word and work of God in our midst. This act of reflection has been a practice of followers of Jesus in one form or another throughout history to slow down and examine our thought life, to center ourselves on the presence of God and His Word, to better focus on our prayers (since it’s easy to get distracted praying silently or out loud), and to keep a record over time to look at where God has been faithful.
And while there’s no one right way to go about it, we would strongly recommend beginning with Scripture so as to allow God’s voice to take priority over our own, (check out our Bible reading plans for where to start).
From there, use Scripture as a launching pad to journal. The point is not so much in the method or approach - rather through journaling, the point is to get ourselves in a place where we are experiencing God’s love for us afresh as we approach Him in His Word and in prayer.
The following prompts are ways to get you started, after reading Scripture:
Paraphrase the passage in your own words
Study the passage on your own - What does the passage reveal about God and/or people? What is the passage calling you to do/pray for?
Write out your prayers, focusing on particular truths you need to be reminded of
Recount where you have seen God’s faithfulness recently - How have you seen Him at work?
Process your thought life - What are you wrestling with and what does God’s Word say in light of that?
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