Many people have found that keeping a prayer journal helps them to develop a deeper, more meaningful prayer life. A prayer journal is different from a diary, blog or personal website, because you will be doing more than expressing your inner thoughts to yourself or your friends — although you will be writing in your journals, these words are directed toward God in prayer.
Sometimes writing keeps our minds from wandering too much. All too often, if we find time to quiet ourselves, close our eyes and pray it becomes a time of horizontal meditation (otherwise known as “sleeping”). Keeping a prayer journal is not meant to replace times of actually sitting down to pray in that way, but if we are really going to “pray all the time” then we must learn to develop many different ways to turn our hearts toward God.
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Here are some tips on how you might get started with your prayer journals (or kickstart your journal again if you’ve stalled out):
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Courageous ACTS of prayer! This is one pattern of prayer that many people have found helpful. As you journal you could try out the following this ACTS pattern:
- A = Adoration. Instead of jumping right into a shopping list of things we need from God, spend some time worshiping Him. Maybe you could start with a favorite Psalm or praise song that expresses your heart for God (or where you want to be in your love for Him). Following Christ is not about religious obligation — it is about a loving relationship with Him!
- C = Confession. If we’re honest with ourselves, we don’t need anyone to tell us we have sinned — we usually end up putting more than enough guilt on ourselves. Some people allow their sin to push them further & further away from God. The good news for us is that, despite our sin and failure, if we would be honest with God then He will forgive us. Use your prayer journal to be honest with God about your struggles with sin and to get your hearts right with Him.
- T = Thanksgiving. This can be as simple as counting your blessings. Worship flows freely and naturally from a grateful heart. This can be for huge theological truths (salvation, sanctification!) or small everyday blessings (your cool new folder for math class) — the key is to remember that God is the source of every good gift.
- S = Supplication. This is a fancy word that simply means “to ask humbly.” We definitely need to rely on God to provide for us, to protect us, to care for our families — even to help us get through another long day of school. When you make these requests of God in your prayer journal, you can look back and see how He has been faithful and answered your prayers.
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Prayer + Bible Reading = Awesome! You can use your prayer journal to write down Bible verses that are important to you from your regular Bible reading times. For example, when I was in college, the words of 2 Chronicles 20:12 became a very powerful prayer to me. I was going through some extremely difficult times — I was scared and unsure of how things would work out (or if they would work out at all). The words, “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you” became my prayer for many months and carried me through those dark days.
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A Record of Faithfulness. When we go through hard times, it is always good to remember the ways in which God has been faithful to us in the past. But this can be a major problem if we’re not quite sure about His faithfulness in our lives. This is where a prayer journal can be very helpful. For example, you could keep track of how God has answered your prayers in different areas of your life:
- Personal — spiritual growth/life change, school, the future, etc.
- Family — parents & siblings, family relationships, past hurts, specific family concerns (e.g., work, etc.)
- Friends — supporting them through hard times, for their salvation if they are not followers of Christ
- Church community — Floodlight, the entire church, special concerns (e.g., walktheirwalk, mission trips, etc.)
- Specific concerns & needs
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The most important thing is that we take time to pray regularly, not only in emergency situations. My prayer is that these prayer journals help you to seek after God and open your hearts to communicate with Him on a consistent basis. May we become a house of prayer.
