10 Ways to Journal as You Walk with God - Bibles.net (2024)

You have an empty journal before you and you want to fill it with something meaningful. Whatever your journaling history may be, you’re wondering, what do I do with this one?

We’re going to offer you ten ways to journal that we think can serve you in your relationship with God. Don’t worry. We aren’t going to pressure you into having to write profound things. We aren’t going to ask you to be more vulnerable than you’re willing to be. You can apply one of the ideas you like, try them all, or say, “no thank you,” and think of another creative way to use it.

But before we give you these ideas you may wonder, what does journaling have to do with my walk with God?

How Can a Journal Help My Walk with God?

Depending on your disposition, interests, and personality, a journal may not have anything to do with your walk with God. You just might not use journals. But we have found that journals can be a wonderful tool to use in daily life to pursue God or to document his pursuit of us. So we thought you might want to try journaling.

We have to be very clear with you what we mean about “walking with God,” “having a relationship with God,” and having God “pursue us” in love. For not everyone has this sort of loving intimate relationship with God.

The Bible teaches God has reserved this kind of relationship for his children. God’s children are those who have trusted in the Lord Jesus and his sacrificial death on the cross and resurrection for the forgiveness of their sins. They have come to him for the salvation he freely offers, turned from their sin, and confessed him as their Lord (Romans 6:23; Romans 10:9). The Bible tells us in John 1:12 that those who receive Jesus and believe in his name are given the right to be called children of God.

For, without God’s loving intervention in our lives, none of us has a good relationship with God. We are “children of wrath” the Bible says (Ephesians 2:2-3), who by default walk not with God, but according to the ways of the world and in slavery to the dark forces that oppose God on our way to suffer eternally for our sin—for all the ways we have failed to love him and others.

Out of God’s great love for us, Jesus came on a rescue mission to deliver us from the wrath we deserve through his sacrificial death on the cross, and to restore our relationship with God (1 Peter 3:18). It is by faith in Jesus alone that we enter a loving relationship with God. He is the only way to the Father (John 14:6).

Jesus promises to give his Holy Spirit to everyone who places their trust in him. The Spirit not only assures our hearts that we are God’s children, but he also leads us and walks with us, manifesting God’s presence to us in ordinary and extraordinary ways (Romans 8:14-16).

If you have not put your faith in Jesus, we would joyfully urge you to consider the gospel today—the message at the heart of the Bible of what God has done for you—and to turn from your sin and turn to Jesus for forgiveness and reconciliation with God. We echo the words of the Bible, “We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:20 ESV)!

If you have put your faith in Christ, we want to remind you that your relationship with God is the most important relationship in your life! And it is just that—an eternal relationship—not a series of transactions between you and God (John 17:3). God interacts with you personally.

Your relationship with him, though different from any other relationship, is much like any other relationship you have. It requires intentionality, pursuit, conversation, listening, time spent together, and time enjoyed together.

Just like a journal may serve you and a friend as you walk together through a season of life, so a journal can serve you as you seek to walk with God. See your journal as a relational tool, or a relational opportunity, something to remind you to seek God, or remind you of how he seeks you.

Alright, here are those 10 ways to journal in your walk with God.

10 Ways to Journal as You Walk with God

1. Gratitude Journal

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thessalonians 5:18 ESV)

The first way you could use a journal is to practice gratitude. Sounds simple enough probably, but this practice may be more profound than you have ever thought. Here’s why.

We read in the book of James that “every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights…” (James 1:17 CSB). Read that again. Every good and perfect thing that you enjoy in life—however it found its way to you—comes from God. That means every positive thing you experience in this life is a personal gift, given to you by the Creator of the universe, who has given you the privilege of calling him Father.

Just think of the good things you have enjoyed today: Can you see? Was the sky especially beautiful? Do you have any relationships in your life that brought a smile to your face? Did you eat something tasty?

These things are gifts from God, given to you out of his compassionate love for you, to be enjoyed and received with thanks (Romans 1:21).

So, to become more aware of God’s daily gifts of kindness given to you, you could keep a journal around all day. As you experience God’s goodness through his gifts, write down those gifts you want to thank him for. You’ll begin to see how God has showered you with his kindness.

Here are three ideas for how to maintain a gratitude journal:

  • Keep the journal near you like in a backpack or purse. Jot down God’s gifts throughout the day.
  • End the day with writing down 3, 5, or 10 of God’s gifts to you that day.
  • Set a timer for five minutes at the beginning of the week to pause and thank God for his gifts from the prior week.

2. Trouble Journal

When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. (Psalm 34:17 ESV)

Ever have trouble going to bed? Somehow at night our minds can both rehearse the day and worry about tomorrow all at the same time.

Laying on our beds at night may be the first moment of peace we have had all day. It’s easy to think, think, think, ourselves into a frenzy, or just to lie awake for a good long while doing nothing, or waste away minutes scrolling mindlessly on our phones.

In his message about worry, Jesus tells us “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:34 NIV).

Let’s be honest, our days are filled with trouble. Jesus says so; Job says so (Job 5:70); and Moses too, when he says, “The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away” (Psalm 90:10 ESV).

The testimony of the Bible resonates with the testimony of our hearts—life is full of trouble. But here’s another testimony recorded in the Bible for us, “I cry out to the Lord; I plead for the Lord’s mercy. I pour out my complaint before him and tell him all my troubles” (Psalm 142:1-2 NLT).

Here is how we must deal with our troubles: “Cast all your anxiety on him [the Lord] because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7 NIV—Learn more about 1 Peter 5:7). Every day you walk with God you will have trouble. But the Bible testifies that God has welcomed you to tell him those troubles, because he cares for you.

So, here’s another way to use your journal. Keep it by your bedside. Before you fall asleep at night, list two things that trouble you from today. Then, list two things troubling you about tomorrow. Ask God to relieve the troubles of your heart (Psalm 25:17) in a way that will help you see his care for you.

Who knows, as you use your journal to tell your troubles to the Lord, you may in days afterward to find yourself writing how he delivered you from each one. For “When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles” (Psalm 34:17 ESV).

Alright you’ve got two ideas for how to journal as you walk with God. Let’s add another!

3. Intercession Journal

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. (Philippians 2:4 ESV)

Is there someone in your life who is super precious to you, or for whom you feel especially burdened?

Maybe God has put them in your life so that you will pray for them!

One of our editors devoted a journal back in high school to pray for her older brother, who she loved dearly and longed to see grow into a godly man. She feared him falling to temptation, feared who he would marry, feared that his heart would turn away from God. And so, the Holy Spirit led her to turn those concerns to prayer.

God teaches us in Philippians 4:6-7 to turn our fears into prayer, turn our anxieties into petitions for God to act on our behalf, and turn our cares into conversations with God.

Who do you care about? Not just who do you love in your heart, but who do you feel concerned over? Consider devoting your journal to them and using that as a space to pray for them.

Intercession is a great gift; and God tells us in his Word that he listens to our intercession for others (Exodus 32:11-14).

As you walk with God, use this journal to share your concerns with him for someone you love. Use it as a place where you converse with God about the work you desire him to do in their life.

4. Message Notes Journal

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11-13 NIV)

You may enjoy using your journal as a place to take notes on messages that you hear from your pastor at church.

The Bible says that God has given pastors to us as a gift, to help us mature in our relationship with God and grow to know Jesus better (Ephesians 4:11-13). God gives overseers of his church the ability to teach his Word clearly and faithfully (1 Timothy 3:2; 2 Timothy 2:2). So, when you listen to a faithful Bible-teacher preach God’s Word, that can help you grow in your walk with God.

You will find it common practice among followers of Jesus to take notes during the messages given by pastors at church. This helps you pay attention while listening. It also gives you a record of the message that you can reference, if you would like to remember what you learned while you received God’s Word through Bible-based preaching.

If you are a deployed soldier, or someone who cannot make it to church for health reasons or otherwise, you could use your journal as a place to take notes on the livestream messages from gifted faithful Bible teachers you hear online.

God will guide you, teach you, mature and encourage you through the ministry of faithful pastors. A great way to use your journal may be to form the practice of attending well to their words by taking notes.

5. Truth Journal

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV)

Our thoughts determine so much of our experience. Our thoughts affect our mood as well as our behavior—they can even shape our identity. Philippians 4:8 is God’s clear instruction on how he insists that we think. He tells us: “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (ESV).

The mind is a battleground between truth and error. Our thoughts aren’t neutral; they can be positively reinforcing the truth of God’s Word or destructive to our souls and opposed to our faith in Jesus. God describes his Word as a sword that is our offensive weapon against the enemies of our sinful desires, the world, and the devil. God warns us that “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12 ESV), and so we are to “take up the whole armor of God” (Ephesians 6:10), which includes God’s Word—his truth—as our sword (Ephesians 6:17).

One way we win the spiritual battles in our mind is by identifying the thoughts that we are thinking or believing which are contrary to God’s Word.

One of our friends found that much of her distress came from believing lies about herself, her situation, and her future that were not true. These lies directly contradicted the truth she knew from God’s Word. So, she decided to start a journal.

On one side of the page, she wrote down her most honest thoughts. On the other hand, she wrote down Scripture verses that contradicted those thoughts. In other words, in her journal she wrote in ink the lies she entertained, rather than allowing them to float about in her mind – she captured them. And there beside those lies, she wrote out the truth of God’s Word that silenced them.

You can do the same! Write down your thoughts. Then, ask the Holy Spirit to provide you with thoughts from God’s Word that directly speak to your thoughts. As you read the Bible, write down the truths that override the lies you have written down. In this way, you will learn to address your own thoughts with God’s thoughts and take up the “sword of the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:17 ESV) in the battle of your mind.

As you walk with God, you will face opposition—even in your own mind. Use this journal as a place where you let God speak his truth over you and train you to resist evil (James 4:7).

6. Scripture Meditation Journal

Blessed is the one…whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. (Psalm 1:1-2 NIV)

This next idea for how to use your journal is as simple as it gets—write out Scripture. Writing out information helps us retain it, and also helps us process that information slowly and thoughtfully. It is a form of biblical meditation – not emptying your mind but filling it with truth that you meditate on.

Consider using your journal to write out Scripture. Here are a few ideas for how meditate on God’s Word using your journal.

  • Write out a few verses each day—from wherever you choose in the Bible.
  • Choose one of the smaller books of the Bible. Write out the whole thing a section at a time, day by day.
  • Rewrite one section of Psalm 119 each day.
  • Write out a chapter of the Bible or a couple chapters several times over, to meditate on that one part of the Bible.

Whatever part of the Bible you choose to meditate on, use your journal as a place to think on God’s Word, and as you think on it by writing it out, God’s Spirit may just write it on your memory and on your heart along the way (Jeremiah 31:33).

7. Prayer Journal

Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. (Psalm 62:8 ESV)

Have you ever heard someone mention a “prayer closet”? People use this term to refer to a place they regularly go to be alone and pray to the Lord. It doesn’t have to be a closet. The closet idea comes from Matthew 6:6, where Jesus instructs us to pray to our heavenly Father behind closed doors, “in secret.” He doesn’t mean we should only pray in private, but that our prayers should be an intimate act between us and God, not a means of getting attention.

A prayer journal can be a wonderful substitute for a prayer closet. Here, in the space between the covers of your journal, you can pour out your heart to God in prayer, from wherever you are.

No one has to “see” you praying, because they have no idea what you are writing in your journal. It is a “place” you can “escape” to wherever you are—for you can always pull out your journal and give God your immediate concerns.

Consider using your journal as a place to pray in secret! See it is a refuge where you can run to and pour your soul out before the Lord.

8. Bible Study Journals

Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law. (Psalm 119:18 ESV)

This might be the most traditional way to use a journal as you get to know Jesus. Simply use it as a place to record what God teaches you as you read his Word, the Bible!

Here’s an idea for how to journal each day as you read the Bible.

  • Write down the date.
  • Then, write a prayer asking God’s Spirit to help you understand his Word and to teach you.
  • As you read God’s Word, take notes! Record the wonderful things you discover in and through God’s Word.
  • Jot down questions you have about the text. You may even find answers to these questions as you keep reading.
  • Then, take a minute to pray about what you learned.

If you keep a journal of notes as you read your Bible, you will end up with a precious documentation of your walk with God—how he has counseled, instructed, convicted, and encouraged you through his Word.

Consider using your journal to record what God teaches you daily as you read his Word!

9. Scripture Memory Journal

I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. (Psalm 119:11 ESV)

We already suggested that you write down Scripture in your journal, but this next idea differs slightly from that idea. It’s this: use your journal as a place to memorize Scripture. You can use this journal in your walk with God to help you store up his Word in your heart.

You could write out passages repeatedly to memorize them. Once you have written the verse several times, you can test your memory by whether you can write out the verse you are memorizing without needing to look back at your Bible.

You might enjoy using, let’s call it, the “one letter at a time” method. You write out just the first letter of every word in the Bible verse, and then use those letters to quiz yourself. For example, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want…” (Psalm 23:1 ESV) you would write, “T L I M S I S N W.”

There’s an excellent little book called, How to Memorize Scripture for Life by Andrew M. Davis that will give you motivation and practical help to begin memorizing Scripture.

Whatever method for memorization you choose, consider designating this journal as place where you will work on committing the Bible to memory.

10. Tender Mercies Journal

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (Psalm 23:6 ESV)

Psalm 23:6 expresses the most wonderful reality to us—that every day of our lives, God pursues us with his goodness and his mercy. We may be pursued by countless other things—responsibilities, sorrows, and maybe even enemies. But God’s Word tells us that every day we will certainly be pursued by God’s goodness and mercy.

God’s goodness and mercy aren’t just a “nice idea” or some sentiment. God’s goodness and mercy took ultimate form in the person of Jesus, who pursued us by becoming a man, and sacrificially dying for our sins. He did this so that we might become objects of God’s love – people he pursues with goodness and mercy, not wrath.

Psalm 34:8 says, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good” (ESV)! The Bible reminds us that we will experience God’s goodness in tangible, ordinary, sensory ways! We will see God’s goodness with our eyes in various forms. Maybe it’s in the hug of a dear friend who has come to comfort you in your sorrow. Maybe you’ll experience God’s goodness in the delivery of groceries when you are in need. Maybe you’ll experience God’s goodness in a sunshiny day, or the kind word of a coworker, or the relief of something being canceled from your schedule.

Why not use your journal to write down ways you experience God’s goodness and mercy toward you? This is different from a gratitude journal, which was the first journaling idea. A gratitude journal records God’s gifts that you are especially thankful for. This journal documents your specific experiences of God’s goodness that you receive as evidence of his tender love and care for you.

What a joy it would be to look back on a whole journal full of God’s tender mercies toward you, sent into your life by his love!

How Can a Journal Help My Walk with God?

Well, you now have 10 ways to journal as you walk with God.

An empty journal can feel like junk or clutter, but with a little intentionality, you can turn it into a treasure. It can become a place where you meet with God, a memorial where you celebrate God’s work in your life, a reference for what you learn, or a gift to someone else.

That fresh journal before you is an opportunity—maybe even an invitation—to intentionally pursue God and to consider his pursuit of you. With that, it’s time we stopped writing and let you begin.

10 Ways to Journal as You Walk with God - Bibles.net (2024)
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