You may not be familiar with the phrase ‘Christian Journaling’ and that’s OK we sorta made it up. All it really means is Christ followers who write their thoughts and prayers in a journal - nothing more, nothing less.
If you’ve been journaling since you were a kid, then you already know how therapeutic it can be. If you’ve never written down or “journaled” at all, well then, it can be a little intimidating but bear with us because we think if you try it – you’ll really love it!
Let’s make this easy, the only thing you need to start journaling is - a journal and a pen or pencil. It really is that simple! For Christians just starting out on their journaling journey (we couldn’t resist) we suggest jotting down prayer requests – not just your own, but those of your friends and family members.
The reason we recommend this exercise for those just beginning journaling is that it’s usually pretty easy for us to come up with a long list of things we want God to do, mend or protect us from in our lives. Once we add our friends and family prayer requests we’ve found that, rather quickly, we can fill up several pages. If you’re new to journaling, seeing pages filled so quickly will reinforce how easy this is and help keep you encouraged to keep going.
The real blessing in Christian journaling is after a few months going back and reviewing all those prayer requests. You’ll find that sometimes the answer was yes, sometimes it was no and when you go back one year or even longer you’ll start seeing how some of those “no’s” ended up being a yes – just in God’s timeframe, not ours.
The practice of Christian journaling helps us develop the habit of quietly reflecting and writing our thoughts down. It forces us to slow down instead of hurrying through our prayers. It helps us take our time and really put our requests before God with thought and conviction.
If you’ve never tried it, now is the time to start. Purchase one of inspiring Christian Journals and start journaling right away!