To Journal Or Not To Journal

I am a journal-er. I have been a journal-er for a loooong time. My journaling, though, is limited to my prayer journal. Goodness, as scattered and random as it is inside my head, I don’t need to write down every thought that enters, but I do have a journal (or ten) where I keep up with things people have asked me to pray about or things that are on my heart and mind.  I can’t even remember when I started keeping a prayer journal, but the seeds were probably planted many years ago when I would meet my youth pastor one morning each week before school for intense Bible study and training in Godliness. He held us accountable for our prayer life and Bible study, and I did not want to disappoint him. The more I grew spiritually, the more I saw the benefits and joy in journaling. The joy wasn’t in recording the requests, but rather in writing the answers to those prayers. Sometimes God answered in a great big way, and I could mark those requests off my list. Sometimes the answers came as more of a process, but it was still exciting to record each step of the way. Sometimes the delay in response were emphasized by a big empty space where I felt like answers should have been scribbled.

Since I have been a journal-er for such a long time (like, maybe twenty years?) I have lots of pages of notes. Notebooks of them, actually. It is such a joy to look back over them and see how far I have come spiritually. The early days held prayers for things that now seem so superficial. And, admittedly, these days those same pages hold many requests that seem so impossible that I might as well go ahead and mark them off, because there is no chance. My requests have become bigger and deeper and more unrealistic. But I have also come to learn through the pages of these many journals that I am praying to a God who isn’t realistic. He creates His own reality. If He is imaginative enough to create kiwis and stars and personalities, He is creative enough to make a way where there seems to be no way. He isn’t bound by medical statistics. He is THE Healer. Oh, how I have seen that with my own eyes. He isn’t limited by a lack of money. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. His purposes will prevail over lack of vision, lack of knowledge, and lack of faith. He is the Giver of All Good Gifts. He can change the world, and He can change our hearts. This is the pattern I have seen as I look back over years of journaling.

As I have learned about praying scripture, I have begun to write applicable verses along with my requests. I have seen that He is so true to His word. He says that He will exalt His Name and His Word above all else, and I have seen it to be true through the pages of my prayer journal. I encourage you to take the time to create a prayer journal for yourself. As you write more and more in it, you will see in black and white how God’s ear is always bent toward us. He hears us!