Are you a journaller?
The practice of spiritual journaling is universally regarded as an essential way to grow deeper in your relationship with God. Maybe it’s a discipline you have built into your life and have benefited from, I certainly have. I’ve journaled for years and looking back I can easily see how God has used this simple discipline to train me to have ears to hear and eyes to see what God is doing. Connecting with what God is doing and saying is vital if we want to grow deeper in relationship with Him.
But sadly, I’ve run into many people who have given journaling a try, yet found it became a chore— another one of those “I should’s” like going to the gym or visiting your grandparents more frequently. I wonder if what sabotaged their journaling was that they were trying to do too much.
If you are not a journaller, but want to grow in knowing God’s voice and becoming more attuned to His activity in your life, perhaps journaling is worth another try. Let me share with you what has worked for me and maybe this can get you started.
FIND A FOCUS
People journal for different reasons. Knowing what you are seeking to accomplish with your practice will give it purpose and focus. Without this, your journal becomes a catch-all for anything and everything. Choose focus instead, it means there will be many things you don’t bother recording, because they are outside your purpose. This refines your journaling, keeping it from ballooning into something time consuming and unsustainable.
Some journal to have a place for creativity, art, poems, and meandering thoughts. Others journal as a way to boost self-development and growth, so a place to define goals and then track progress in any/all areas of life. Still others journal as a way to record the events of their life, like a diary. Finally, prayer journaling is very popular, where people record what they ask God for and track prayers that have been answered— a great way to make sure you stay aware of how God is answering your prayers.
While all these are good, I have a different focus. I journal specifically to grow in hearing God and to heighten my awareness of his presence and activity in my life. So this tighter, more defined focus, means I don’t journal every day (but most days). Because it’s specific and purposeful, it’s a light and easy yoke and it serves me, I don’t serve my journal.
LET YOUR JOURNAL SERVE YOU
If this is an approach that you are interested in, let me map out for you what it looks like and how I do it. Of course you can take or leave any of my suggestions as you find your own way to grow in hearing God’s voice, but perhaps these will help you.
Buy a new blank journal that is beautiful. It’s going to be a depository for the voice and activity of God in your life which is worthy of honour, so beauty is appropriate. Use it only for this dedicated purpose, not as a scratch pad for your shopping list or a place to doodle when you’re bored. Maybe even buy a special pen, or if you are like me and enjoy colour, a pack of different coloured pens can both brighten up the pages or be useful as a colour coding system.
Don’t treat journaling as a duty or a task to be fulfilled, but rather as an opportunity to get clarity, sort out emotions, discern how to respond, notice the blessings and hand of God at work, and to faithfully steward even the smallest whispers of the Spirit.
As you do your daily reading and a scripture strikes you, record it. You may not fully understand what it means, but if it has caught your eye, that was because of the Spirit’s activity. It’s a moment to be like Mary who gathered things up that were said about Jesus and pondered them (Lu 2:19). Writing out the verse or portion of verse is a form or meditation and it actually uses a different part of your brain, this takes it deeper. Remember way back when kids were punished at school by writing out what they should or shouldn’t do a hundred times on the blackboard? That was effective because writing something out helps it stick. We can use this in a positive way.
Record associations that come to mind. For example, when I read about the testing of Jesus in the wilderness, I associate that with Israel’s journey through the wilderness, which might lead me to also think about Israel’s time of exile in Babylon. As I sit in these thoughts I might ponder themes of testing or feelings of being in a foreign land and and then look at my story through that lens to get a greater sense of clarity. This may give me understanding for undefined longings in my heart that I can now identify the sense of homesickness for the kingdom I feel, or the disconnection from the surrounding culture. These feelings that, unprocessed could just lead to sadness, in light of the story of God, are fitting and draw me closer to Christ.
Record prayers that seem weighty. I’d never recommend writing down everything you pray, that would be way too onerous, but do record the prayers that you feel led to spend considerable time on, or feel a great sense of burden for. Don’t forget to record prophetic experiences that you have while you are praying, such as: words, pictures, revelations, encounters, and surges of faith.
Record events that impact you and how you feel about them. Eg. You just found out you are likely going to laid off. In the safe place of your journal you don’t have to moderate or filter your reactions for the sake of others so be utterly raw and honest. Are you afraid, or angry? Get real, you don’t have to impress anyone. In another situation, perhaps the events in your life have triggered jealousy, or a desire for revenge? As a Christian we often don’t want to admit we are working thought these types of emotions that may not seem very spiritual or even could be sinful. But seeing them for what they are enables you to see the root and repent or ask the Lord for help to draw close to Him in those places.
Just burying or denying the emotion doesn’t help.
Processing your feelings in a journal is a fantastic way to get some distance from them and it gives you the capacity to see them more objectively. From this vantage you can often identify if there is a lie that you are believing and through repentance you can do a one-eighty to receive and embrace the truth of the gospel.Beyond what you receive during prayer times, record prophetic inklings. Coincidences, dreams, repeated symbols, ideas and senses that you keep being drawn to… you may not have the fully formed “word of the Lord” but the beginning wisps of something that the Lord is over time, starting to show you. Moses noticed the burning bush. He drew aside and examined it more closely, that proved to be exactly the right response.
Record important prophetic words you get from others. I wouldn’t recommend recording every word you receive, as most will just be confirming and encouraging you. However, if there are significant ones, your journal is a perfect place to write that out and keep it in alongside of the other ways God has been speaking to you.
Write out what seems to be troubling you rather than brushing it off. It could be that your discernment is right and the Lord is warning you not to hire that individual or not to pursue that contract. Listen to those places of disquiet in your heart and write them out so you can discern if it’s the Lord or just your own struggle with anxiety.
Make space for grief. While we expect a season of grief if we have lost a loved one, there are other kinds of significant losses that we also have to grieve. Loss of close friends moving away or being alienated because they are deconstructing their faith, loss of loving church fellowship when it has splintered through strife and division. Loss of a role, a job, or a ministry function, loss of physical abilities through disease or aging— all these may need to be grieved. Engage in the healthy process of grief while you, at the same time, discipline yourself not to sour and indulge in self-pity. Journaling will help greatly when you are in these places. Listen to what God says about your loss.
As you write, use a special colour or symbol to highlight when something is a word of the Lord to you. These are the golden nuggets that you want to always steward. If you highlight them, it will give you the ability to flip though your journal pages quickly and track words that you might otherwise forget.
Always date your entries. When did God say that? When did that happen? When did you feel that way? Our memories can distort our stories, having an accurate, consistent date stamp is super helpful.
For those highlighted words that God has spoken to you, set up a simple index in the front or back of your journal. I write a list of the dates and a word or two that remind me of the gist of the word. Then I can scan this list and quickly find the exact word that God gave me, along with it’s context. These indexes in each of my journals enable me to see the patterns in His promises. I notice that He has promised me the same thing but using different metaphors in different seasons. Recording it all enables me to steward each promise and notice the overarching ones that have become promises for my life and calling.
When I was a kid in school, one of the things I loved about September was the new back-to-school stationary. Everything fresh and clean, a new beginning full of new possibilities. That might resonate with you. Maybe this is a good season to head to your local stationary store and explore the journal section. Perhaps it’s time for all of us to lean in to hearing and stewarding God’s voice in a more focused way.
Photo by Ashlyn Ciara on Unsplash
Thank you Sara. This is great counsel and it's practical steps and insights are very helpful.
Thanks Sara, I used to journal regularly. You have encouraged me to return to the practice with your very practical suggestions. Thanks for your faithfulness.