Prayer journal ideas are what you need to be looking for when you are desperate to be consistent with your conversations with God. Prayer is one of the most important parts of our lives as Christians.
However, many of us struggle with certain aspects of it, like keeping track of all the things we are praying for or being consistent. How many times have we told someone we’d pray for them and then forgotten to do so?
Or gotten a word from God about something to do and then forgotten to do it? These struggles are pretty common because we have so much going on at the same time.
That’s where prayer journals come in. The practice of having a pad for writing out our schedule, a diary for penning down our feelings and thoughts, and a to-do list for everything is relatively common. But it’s quite uncommon to have a notepad dedicated just for prayer.
The idea of a prayer journal is resourceful and personal; it is a method you can use to keep track of anything prayer related. This article will help you understand what a prayer journal is, how it can transform your relationship with God, and how you can get started with one for yourself.
What is a Prayer Journal?
It is simply a tool that helps you keep track of things in your prayer life. You can use it to write down what you’re praying for, who you’re praying for, the instructions you receive while praying, and to record your answered prayer.
You can even use it to write out heartfelt prayers to God in a letter format. It’s a great way to make your faith walk more organized, especially if you are someone who gets very busy throughout the day.
It is also a great way to put down your thoughts and feelings about the things that you’re struggling with while you pray about them.
Who Can Create A Prayer Journal?
Everyone can pray, so everyone can create a journal. People overlook this, but even kids can be taught how to use one. What people can use the journal for, isn’t exactly limited to just recording prayers, as long as it also helps your spiritual life.
Little kids can be taught to document their daily struggles in a simple language as they talk to God about it. It will help them look forward to talking to and sharing their burdens with God.
From the elderly to the single woman, to the working mom, to even fathers, anyone can create and use a journal for prayers.
What Size Should My Prayer Journal Be?
They can come in sizes as small as 3 by 6 inches or ones as big as a laptop. Whatever you end up picking depends totally on your personal preference. Many people prefer small ones because they can carry them around easily.
However, it’s also nice to have a big journal if you have a bag big enough to carry it around, or if you just want to leave it at home.
You have to take things like your schedule and your taste into consideration when picking a size for your prayer journal.
Benefits To Prayer Journaling
Routine
A journal is a great way to build consistency in your prayer life. Not only does it make you look forward to praying, but the sight of it lying around the house or in your environment is also a constant reminder for you to make time to spend with God that day.
It’s natural to think long-term when it comes to consistency, but it is actually cultivated when you are able to do what you have decided to do, one day at a time. You can worry about other days later on.
A journal helps you conquer consistency in prayer, one day at a time.
It encourages gratitude
Journaling helps us cultivate a better heart and habit of gratitude towards God. As humans, sometimes we tend to forget what God does for us and we focus on what He hasn’t done. Recording your answered prayers has a way of reminding us that God is so intentional.
It goes a long way in helping us realize how good He is to us. Reading through those answers, we can’t help but be filled with gratitude and give thanks to the One who gave them.
It builds your faith
Documenting the emotions you experienced when you were struggling with a situation and how God answered your prayers concerning that struggle increases your faith. Reading through them later, you realize how down you felt at that point and compare it to the joy that you feel presently because what you prayed for came to pass.
It also helps you understand that God always will show up for you no matter how bleak or impossible a problem may look. You automatically start to learn to trust God for bigger things in life. You become bolder and more resilient in faith and prayer.
Organized prayer life
This is a major con of a prayer journal. It helps you keep track of all the people and things that you pray for so you don’t miss out on anyone. Your walk with God becomes more structured. It also helps you keep a record of ideas, words, and solutions that God gives us while we pray.
Focus
We tend to focus more when we write something down because it requires almost all our attention. When you write in your journal as you pray, your mind wanders less, and sometimes not at all because it dwells squarely on what you are writing.
Rather than thinking of what to pray for next and risk getting lost thinking of something else, writing them down means we don’t have to let our minds do it.
Practical prayer journal ideas
Here are some tips for getting started with journaling your prayers.
Notebook Prayer Journal Ideas
These are physical books. Most people prefer them because of their practicality and the feeling of having something physical to hold in their hands.
You can look up some DIY prayer journal ideas and make one for yourself. Or, you could buy one you like and personalize it. Prayer journal can be a good gift for yourself, a mother, a friend, it serves great as a first communion gift.
Prayer Journal Template Ideas
These are e-journals with a given template that you print out to use. They work great for people who don’t want to have to make their own journals.
They also generally make things a tad bit more organized. All you have to do is select one with a template you like and print it out.
Here are a few places to find free printable prayer journal templates.
- Christin from Garments of Splendor has loads of pdf prayer journals. They are really pretty too. Her journals have themes such as gratitude and identity in Christ.
- This simple prayer journal printable by Rachel Wojo has prayer prompts to help guide your conversation with God, especially if you don’t know where to start.
- These templates from CompassionUK are gorgeous. There is a nice variety of black and white and colored.
- Ashely over at Undoubted Grace has the perfect printables for a pdf war room prayer journal if you are preparing to declare war against the enemy.
Online prayer journaling ideas
We live in a digital world. If you don’t want a physical journal or something people can’t easily get access to, also something you can always use on the go, you can try online journals.
There are many journaling apps. Some of these journals come with resources like short daily prayers, reminders, and Bible verses and are generally more convenient.
Ideas to Start A Prayer Journal
Starting one isn’t a Herculean task. It simply involves creating spaces in your journal for the different things you want to pen down. You can allocate spaces for things like,
- People to pray for along with the date.
- Daily prayer schedule.
- List of things that you pray for.
- Things like ideas you received while praying.
- Notes, which you can use to write down your feelings.
If you are making the journal yourself, how you organize the template is really up to you. If you buy one that already has a template you like, all you have to do is start writing in them.
Other Practical Ideas For Prayer Journaling
- Your journal is yours, so make it as personal as you can. You can use things like stickers and glitter or DIY, anything you want.
- Cultivate the habit of writing in it every day. If the words aren’t coming, feel free to use online prayers about something that’s relevant and write them out in your journal.
- Your journal is private unless you want to share something in it with someone else. If not, it is advisable to either keep it where others can’t get it or use one with a lock.
- Keep it somewhere you can see it every time, especially if you want to build consistency.
- Just like you pray in a quiet place, journal in a place free from distractions. Rid your mind of all the noise and thoughts going on there before you start so that you can focus.
- Always be specific about what you’re praying for.
- Never let prayer journaling become something you do religiously, rather than because you want to get closer to God.
Final words on prayer journal ideas
From the single mom to the wife with kids, and even to the unmarried young woman, our relationship with God is important. Our world is constantly moving and we can’t keep up with all that without the strength and guidance from God that prayer provides.
Prayer journaling isn’t something difficult to do by the help of the Holy Spirit. It also gives us that opportunity to retreat and restrategize in an increasingly chaotic world. We can move from struggling in our walk with God to enjoying a flourishing fellowship with Him just by cultivating this habit.
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