Keeping A Spiritual Journal

My Top 3

A while ago, someone recommended that I keep a spiritual journal. I wasn’t really sure at the time how I should keep one, but I decided to go ahead and give it a try, anyhow. I can’t tell you how thankful I am for starting one back then! It has now been about two years, and I am SO thankful for those two years worth of journals!

How did I start my spiritual journal? Well, I can tell you that how I began, isn’t necessarily how I am keeping mine, today.  So, don’t worry if you find yourself changing formats or something down the road! Just go with what you have, and alter it as you have need.  Mine has changed some over the months and years too, to what worked best for me.  When I first started, I got something called “the Pray! Prayer Journal“.  That kind of got me going in the right direction, as I really didn’t know quite how to keep it, so I guess you could call this a starting for me.  After I had finished that, I just got a 3 subject medium notebook from Family Dollar for $1.50. This has been what I have used ever since, and it has worked wonderfully for me!  I found the other one too structured, and it just didn’t give me enough room to write, which is why I just love the notebook one. You can write as much as you want, and the next day’s entry just starts on the next page. J

What do I put in my spiritual notebook? Before I start, I first date my spiritual journal page with that days date. Then, I start my morning off with praying and asking God to show me what I need to be shown and to speak to me through His word. Then after that, I proceed to pick my Bible up, and read where I am in my devotions for the day. You will be amazed at how God can speak to you, no matter where you are in your devotions! I never thought God could possibly talk to me concerning what I was struggling with, where I was in that days devotions, but I soon found out, I was wrong! Somehow, He always can!  So don’t skip around. Stay where you are and keep moving forward. 

 As I read my devotions, if something stands out to me, I stop, and I write it down. For instance, God could be speaking to you through different words that are in the verse you just read, or perhaps, a paragraph or something.  Let me give you an example; I recently read James 1:25 which reads “But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.”  God used only part of that verse to speak to me. This is what stuck out to me “continue therein…this man shall be blessed in his deeds.” So, that is what I wrote in my spiritual journal, I didn’t write out the whole verse, just what spoke to my heart. Then, I would put what scripture verse that was, and why it stuck out to me… why it spoke to my heart.  ”I was to continue in what God had told me to do, and I would be blessed in the end for obeying Him in this.”

Then after I pondered that verse for a little while and why God had that particular verse stick out, I would move on until He spoke to my heart concerning another verse in scripture, and I would stop right then and there, and right it down and why it spoke to me and so on.  Some days, I will only get to read a few verses, because God has been speaking to me so thoroughly concerning something in my life or what ever. I don’t get frustrated that I am not making good speed going through His word. The object of reading His word isn’t to see how fast you can read it in, but, to get the most out of it.  So please, don’t feel bad if you are finding that you aren’t even able to get a whole chapter done in a day! Go for QUALITY time with God. Not QUANITY!

Sometimes I might not even be reading the Bible, yet God still spoke to my heart about something. I would write that down, as well.

Questions I often ask myself are “What has God been speaking to me about?”, “What has been on my heart?”, and “Has God used something that day to speak to my heart?” etc. Maybe something someone said or it something I read somewhere.  Maybe God has given me direction concerning something I have been praying about. If so, I write it down. Basically, anything to do with your spiritual life, or even things with your personal life that may have relevance, I write down. My spiritual journal isn’t a personal “this happened today” type of journal, but more about my walk with God, the questions I have, the answers given, etc.. Anything to do with this, I put in this journal. Even prayers that God has given me, I write down. Now, I don’t go and write down my everyday prayers. There are only certain ones that I will record. It may be a week in between, yet if I feel led to write it down, I will.  

Now, for those of us who are not at all personal (or I should say don’t like to be that personal); if you have to, start off with writing it like you were writing to a group. But, and I say BUT, I would highly recommend that you try your ABSOLUTE best, to write this in a very personal way. This is your walk with God. No one else has to read it. Just let this one be for God and you.  What do I mean by this? Well, there have been some pretty personal things that God has had to deal with me on. He has shown me in His word how I was wrong and used different scriptural passages to talk to me concerning it.  It is often during these times that I find myself going back to a non-personal level. This is not good! Why? Because when you revert back to this format, it makes what God is telling you not so personal and you don’t feel as guilty, as you ought.  This is a VERY personal journey, my sisters! Let it become that personal journey that it ought to be.  Be COMEPLETELY honest with yourself and with God! Don’t hold back because you feel guilt. No, write your feelings down (and I might add, do NOT dwell on what and how you should write it! Just write what comes to your mind first), confess your sin and confront what God is telling you through His word. When we are made to write things out on paper, it often makes us deal with them all the more.  I guess to put it more accurately; it makes us confront it face to face. We can’t so easily brush it aside.  And the blessing of this is, years later, as you re-read them you will see just how far God has brought you, spiritually! You will begin to really realize how He answers your prayers, how He speaks to you, etc. Your spiritual life will come alive through this time! You will so thoroughly enjoy this time with Him alone, and will certainly look forward to it everyday. You will start to see things in His word for the first time…why? Because you are now being still and knowing God!  Devotions will no longer just be a quick time to quickly skim over a passage so that you can put a “check” mark next to the day. No, instead you will now take the time and really pay attention to what God is trying to tell you, and if need be, you can even go back over it again later on in the day and remember what He was saying to you during that time.

When I started keeping my spiritual journal, it was amazing. I had often “forgotten” how God had answered my prayers, or simply not even seen Him answer my prayers, before. Now, I had a written record of how He did, and by writing it down, I acknowledged the fact that He did answer them. It was a way of slowing my daily life down. It was a way that God used to really speak to my heart. And my life in God has grown by leaps and bounds, ever since! Oh, how I would HIGHLY recommend that you keep one! It doesn’t have to be fancy. Mine isn’t. But, within the cover, is a road that my Saviour and I have taken together.  Even write what song has been on your heart and why! Write everything down, my friends! It will be a journey that you will look back on with great aw!

Psalms 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God…”