What Is Prayer Journalling? Benefits, Ideas, and How to Start

Let's explore prayer journalling. What is it, what are the benefits, and how do we do it? I will also share some ideas to get you started.

I have written prayers in some form for decades. I love to write, so journalling came fairly naturally, though learning to write reflectively developed over time. As a child and into my teens, I kept a diary. Over the years, I have flicked through old diaries and reminisced, smiled, and cringed at the content. Although interesting, I think I have thrown them all out bit by bit because ultimately they were of little long-term value. This is not something I could imagine doing with most of my prayer journals and quiet time journals! They chart my walk with the Lord. Even the gaps sometimes tell a story.

So, though I don't know everything about prayer journalling, I would like to share my thoughts and experiences with you. I hope you find them useful. You can share your questions or thoughts on prayer journalling in the comments.

What Is Prayer Journalling?

Prayer journalling (or journaling) is something anyone can do. It simply requires you to be able to express yourself in writing. Eloquence is not a requirement; just honesty. Prayer journalling can be done in a range of ways, so I would think there is a way to prayer journal to suit everyone. But what exactly is prayer journalling?

Simply put, prayer journalling involves writing your prayers, reflections, burdens, thanksgiving, answers to prayer, and what you sense God highlighting. Yes, what you hear from God, because prayer is not only about us talking to (or at) God. Prayer involves receiving from God. When we pray, we can receive His peace, His direction, HIs correction, and much more. That's why prayer journalling often goes well with silence and solitude.

Creative Prayer Journalling

You can use prayer journalling to express your God-given creativity, but you do not have to. You can creatively add Scriptures and quotes, drawings and doodles, or stickers and washi tape to your prayer journal if you desire. But this is absolutely not essential. Don't be put off by someone else's beautifully ornate calligraphy, creative collages, or expressive watercolour paintings. Come to God as the authentic you.

Even if you do not think you are creative, I would suggest including some artistic expression in your prayer journal, even just once to see what it is like. Just like I encourage myself and others to try different ways of speaking and listening to God. God welcomes you as you are. However, sometimes, we shy away from things because we believe something about ourselves that God does not say. We might think we are not creative, but God is, so there is something creative in each of us. We might think what we create will not be any good, but God delights in our attempts to commune with Him creatively even more than a parent appreciates a drawing or craft made for them by their child. And better still, He can speak to us through our creativity, no matter what it looks like.

Similarly, if you are comfortable expressing yourself creatively in prayer journalling, don't rely on that all the time. Sometimes, try writing only. Not because your artistry is wrong, but because sometimes there is a benefit in coming to God in our weakness rather than our strength.

Why Prayer Journalling Can Be So Helpful

Journalling prayers has many benefits. Here are just a few ways prayer journalling can be beneficial.

1. Prayer journalling helps us remember our prayers

   Prayer journalling creates a record of our prayers for us to look back on. This becomes a concrete way to track answered prayers, remember God's faithfulness with thanksgiving, and notice how our prayers have changed over time.

   
   

   I know that I have prayed about things and then forgotten all about them. Through reviewing my written prayers, I could find that God has answered in one way or another. Or I might notice that I have been distracted from persisting in prayer about something. I can then repent and actively commit to praying about it until I see the change I am believing for.

   
   

2. Prayer journalling helps us to tell God how we feel

   Prayer journalling is an excellent way to pour out our hearts to the Lord. Writing can help us process our internal world: our thoughts, feelings, needs, and desires. When we do this with and towards God, it's prayer. Rather than "Dear Diary", prayer journalling can be "Dear God..." And because we are directing our thoughts towards God, we are not sharing with a lifeless page. Instead, we are inviting the Living God to lead us beyond mere introspection to asking for His help, seeking His guidance and intervention, confession and repentance, intercession, and so much more.

   
   

3. Prayer journalling helps us listen to God

   Prayer journalling is also an opportunity to sit in silence with a blank page and wait for the Holy Spirit to speak to us or lead our prayers. Coming before the Lord with a blank page is a beautiful way to say, like Samuel, "Speak, Lord, for your servant hears" (see 1 Samuel 3:1-10). It may take practice to discern God's voice, and that's okay. Like a time capsule, your prayer journals will hold your prayer journey with the Lord. Progress in prayer is not about becoming more eloquent, but becoming more intimate with God.

   
   

   

   
   

4. Prayer journalling helps us to focus when praying

   Writing down our prayers can help us to pray with purpose. We might list what we want to cover before we start, and then write prayers for each point. Writing our prayers can help us clarify our requests and then present them to the Lord, rather than focusing solely on telling God our problems.

   
   

5. Prayer journalling helps us to slow down

   Prayer journalling is a great way to press pause on a busy life. It invites us to disconnect from distractions and reflect on what needs prayer. It gives us space to focus on communion with God.

   
   

6. Prayer journalling creates space for Scripture-based reflection

   Writing down prayers creates space to look up Scriptures we want to pray or stand on in prayer. Looking for God's promises and connections to our prayer points in Scripture becomes part of our prayer practice. We can write these down in our prayer journals and turn them into prayers. We can come back to these same Scriptures whenever we want to pray about the area.

   
   

7. Prayer journalling can help us practice different types of prayers

   There are lots of ways to pray or types of prayer. Depending on our Christian tradition or cultural background, some may be more familiar to or comfortable for us than others. Through prayer journalling we can intentionally and safely explore and experiment with different styles of prayer. Even if it is just a few sentences.

   
   

8. Prayer journalling can help identify how we pray and what we pray about

   Regular prayer journalling can reveal patterns in prayer and help us notice what things prompt us to pray. For example:

   • We might identify cycles of prayer. Perhaps times of year or particular events trigger certain types of prayer, or certain needs in prayers. Once patterns are noticed, we can take a closer look and ask God for insight.

   • We might notice that we often ask God for something God has already given us. This could lead us to consider whether we need to move from making the same request to deepening our understanding of Scripture in that area and standing on God's Word in faith.

   • We might notice that we often pray certain kinds of prayers or for certain areas. For example, we might often pray for sick people to be made well, and might decide that we need to look more deeply into what Scripture says about healing to help us pray with increased understanding. Or, we might notice a people group, industry sector, or part of the world regularly comes up in prayer. This might prompt us to pray about this area more often or more strategically. We might begin to ask whether God is calling us to take some action.

9. Prayer journalling encourages thanksgiving

   We have already seen that reviewing prayer journals can lead us to see God's faithfulness. Hopefully, this will lead us to the important prayer of thanksgiving.

What Can You Write in a Prayer Journal?

Prayer journalling can involve a wide range of things. Here are just a few with some examples about what they might look in writing:

• Requests: "Lord, please...."

• Thanksgiving: "Thank you Father for..."

• Confessions: "Lord, I have messed up, and I am sorry..."

• Questions: "Lord, why/who/what/how/when...?"

• Scriptures: "The Lord is my Shephard, I shall not want..." (Psalm 23)

• Intercession lists "Father, I bring [person] before you in prayer..."

• Reflections after prayer "Lord, as I prayed, I thought about..."

• Answered prayers: A list of prayers God has answered somehow. Not just where God has done what you have asked for, but whenever you know God has responded.

How to Start Prayer Journalling

Prayer journalling does not have to be complicated. In fact, like prayer, it is simple yet profound.

Start simple

You will need somewhere to journal and something to journal with. Take my advice and use a dedicated space, whether that is a journal or a section of your electronic note-taking app. It will help keep things orderly and easy to review. I prefer using a physical journal, but always do what works for your time with God. If you want to use craft supplies or different coloured pens, start with what you have or just a few items. Keep them with your prayer journal.

For the journal itself, I prefer good quality paper and lots of pages. I like B4 size, which is smaller than A4, but bigger than A5. Here is my go-to journal.

Date it (thank me later!)

To help with reviewing your prayer journal, add the date to all your entries. You may not think this matters until you are reviewing it and wondering what was going on in your life when you prayed that prayer.

Be you

Be honest with yourself and God. God knows exactly where you are and loves you unconditionally. You do not need to journal like anyone else, and you do not need to present yourself in a certain way to be accepted. So come as you are, and write from the heart.

www.bomameansblessed.co.uk

How to Go Deeper with the Word of God

Here's 5 ways you can go deeper with the Word of God today.

Pause

Including pauses in your prayer journalling is a simple but powerful practice. You can pause before, during, or at the end. I would recommend all three! During your pause, take long, deep breaths in and out, and rest your mind, body, and soul before the Lord. If you tend to forget to pause, place a sticky note on your journal that says, "pause".

Make it a habit:

You can come to God in prayer anytime and anywhere, and you can journal your prayers anywhere you can write. However, if you set a time and place to journal and keep to it, you will find that journalling begins to flow more easily. It can become something you look forward to, and perhaps you will begin to sense that God looks forward to it too.

Involve Scripture

Prayer and the Bible go together. Scripture should inform our prayers, not culture, feelings, or circumstances. When we pray a lot without reading the Bible much (either during our prayer time or separately), we can easily pray from the flesh. The Word of God equips us to do the will of God, including in prayer. So be sure to develop a Bible reading habit and keep your Bible close when you pray in case you need to refer to it.

Simple Prayer Journalling Ideas

1. Write a Bible verse or short passage in the middle of the page, and reflect on it. Write prayers around it that are sparked by your reflections.

2. Remove some of the guesswork from prayer journalling by using prayer prompts to inspire your prayers.

www.bomameansblessed.co.uk

15 Inspirational Prayer Prompts

15 inspirational prayer prompts to help deepen your prayer life, encourage intentionality, and foster a more meaningful connection with God

3. Write a letter to God as though you were writing to a trusted friend. Share what is on your heart and mind.

   
   

4. Use a guided prayer journal to help structure your prayer journalling.

   
   

5. Write a list of things you are grateful for and thank God for them in prayer.

   
   

6. Pray for a person or concern starting with a different letter of the alphabet each day.

   
   

7. Write down key quotes from sermons, podcasts, or books relating to God or Christianity, and turn them into prayer points.

   
   

8. Cast your burdens onto Jesus with a brain dump. Start writing everything that is on your mind without censoring yourself. Optional: go over it and highlight, underline, or circle things that stand out so you can pray about them then or later. You could colour code by theme or priority.

Are Prayer Prompts Helpful?

Prayer prompts are instructions, questions, themes, or Bible topics to guide your prayers. We can often become comfortable praying the same way. Prayer prompts can make our prayer life more interesting or at least more diverse. Prayer is not boring, but sometimes we need a bit of inspiration. Prayer prompts, such as these 15 inspirational prayer prompts or those found in guided prayer journals, can help us pray about things we might never have considered. Prayer journalling with prompts can gently bring areas we don't tend to pray about to light. Prayer prompts, coupled with reflection questions, can also lead us to reflect before praying, so that we pray wisely and not reactively.

My Prayer Journal contains 52 prayer prompts across five sections. Each prayer prompt is paired with a short Scripture and a reflection question to ponder before praying. It is designed to be used as needed, or to establish a weekly rhythm of prayer, journalling, and reflection, becoming a record a year-long conversation with the Lord. It also contains quotes and reflections on prayer with accompanying reflection questions. These encourage users to think deeply about the nature and purpose of prayer.

You will also find some prayer journalling activities in the Guided Birthday Journal.

Final Thoughts

Hopefully, you now know what prayer journalling is, understand the benefits, have some ideas, and know how to get started.

Remember, however you do it, prayer journalling is not about getting the words right, and it's not about being incredibly creative or eloquent. Prayer journalling is about making space to meet with God. Prayer is not something any of us will perfect in this life, but the journey of learning more about prayer and developing our prayer life is a precious one. We are truly blessed to be able to confidently come before God in a variety of ways, so why not try prayer journalling today?

Blessing in Action: What Is Prayer Journalling? Benefits, Ideas, and How to Start

Even if you have never tried prayer journalling before, grab some paper or open your electronic journal and try it today. You can try prayer journalling using one of these prayer prompts, or you can write whatever comes to your heart.

Prayer prompts for prayer journalling:

1. Lord, what have I been carrying that I need to place in Your hands today?

2. What am I grateful for today, and what does it show me about God’s faithfulness?

3. What do I need wisdom, help, or strength for right now?