Journaling for Christians
Exploring different ways to grow deeper in your faith with art and writing . . .
I have a confession to make . . .
I am terribly inconsistent when it comes to my private writing life.
One week I might be journaling my heart out day after day, and the next week I may only get one sentence down on paper.
And that’s ok. We’re all different. That’s just the way things work for me.
But journaling is a great way to grow in your spiritual life, and I’d love to give y’all some ideas in this post. So, if that’s something you’re interested in, keep reading!
Your Basic, Run-Of-The-Mill Journaling
Let’s start out by talking about what normally comes to mind when we talk about journaling. A personal journal is a great way to keep track of your life every day and then reflect on what you’ve learned from God. But most of the time, journaling can be a self-focused activity. How can we make it a God-centered activity? Here’s a list of a few ideas:
Reflect on what God taught you today.
Write down answers to the reflection questions in the devotional or Christian book you’re currently reading.
Take a whole entry to reflect on just one attribute of God.
Create a page of some of your favorite Bible verses.
If you still want ideas, I highly suggest looking up some Christian journaling prompts! There are tons and tons of great ideas out there.
Bible Journaling
Bible journaling is an awesome way to grow closer to God while journaling directly into your Bible. The first thing you’ll need is a Bible journal. Personally, I think the interleafed ones are the best because you have way more space to take notes, but I currently only own a single column journaling Bible. (What would be nice is if they had one that combines the two, so I have space on the side of the text plus a whole blank page to take notes on. Bible publishers, take note if you’re reading this!)
However, if you don’t have an actual journaling Bible, you can always add tip-in pages for more note-taking space. Bible Nerd Ministries has a great short on how to do this right here.
Now, what exactly can you do with your Bible journal? Here’s a few short ideas to inspire you:
Write out context for verses.
Write out a favorite verse in an artistically beautiful manner (works best on an interleafed Bible or tip-in).
Write out definitions for words.
Write out a prayer based on whatever passage you’re reading.
Also, make sure to bring highlighters so you can highlight whatever is standing out to you in passages you’re reading!
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Prayer Journaling
Last in this post, but certainly not least, I present to you the practice of prayer journaling! Praying silently is great, but prayer journaling helps us to be way more specific and intentional with our prayers. While there are special prayer journals you can buy, you can easily do this with a normal journal or any kind of notebook. Here are some ideas to get you started:
Write out prayers based on Scripture.
Do a brain dump of all the anxieties you’re experiencing and give them to God.
List out all the things you are thankful for right now.
Write out specific prayers for people currently on your prayer list.
Prayer journaling is just pouring your heart out to God on paper!
Other Resources
I’ve given you a lot of ideas here, but I also want to direct you to a couple other places that can also give you great ideas.
Faith Womack over at Bible Nerd Ministries on YouTube has some really awesome videos on both Bible journaling and prayer journaling. Her enthusiasm for the Scriptures is super energizing, and I always come away from her videos inspired to dig into my Bible.
And you’ve probably already thought about this or heard it, but Pinterest. You can find soooo many videos and pins and pictures and charts on Bible journaling, prayer journaling, and really, any kind of journaling on that site!
I hope you’ve been inspired through this post to grab a pen and start growing closer to God through journaling! However, I want to give you a warning before you get started. With Bible journaling and prayer journaling, don’t make this about you. Don’t try to have a perfect aesthetic, perfect spelling, and perfectly worded writings. If you are focusing on these things, you’re probably not going to see any spiritual growth. Your focus should be on Jesus and what He is saying to you. This is not to say that you can’t make your journal beautiful, but rather that aesthetic shouldn’t be your focus. Your focus should always be Jesus!
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Thank you for reading Roses In A Thorny World! 😊🩷
Yeah, I want to take journaling more consistently. Thank you for the outline you provided.