Journaling as a Tool for Spiritual Growth
By Lois McMartin
Journaling can be used as a companion in our Bible reading, in our prayer life, in our days of
fasting or spiritual retreat. It can be a valuable tool to help us reflect, remember and record
important truths.
How can journaling help us in our spiritual growth?
1. It is a means of remembering
It becomes a record of what God has done for you and what He has taught you. We are
commanded to remember those things; when we forget them is when we get ourselves into
trouble. For example, the children of Israel in the desert had a tendency to forget all the
miracles they had seen God do; He eventually ran out of patience with them. We think we will
never forget – but we do. Deut. 4:9 “Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do
not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live.”
2. It is a means of “sensitizing” you to spiritual truth
It is similar to the idea of brainstorming. As you write down one thing, something else comes to
mind. Your mind gets geared in that direction.
3. It is a means of providing a spiritual heritage for others.
Ps. 102:18 “Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise
the Lord.”
Judges 2:10 “After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation
grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what He had done for Israel.”
A written record of what God has done for you and taught you can be a wonderful treasure to
pass on to your children and grandchildren.
4. It provides a means for reflection
As you write things down, it becomes a means of working out problems, clarifying what you
believe, making goals for areas of spiritual growth
5. It can become a tool to use in identifying spiritual markers.
On many occasions in the O.T. men built altars or set up stones as a reminder of a
significant encounter with God. (Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joshua etc) They were to
be a reminder of the acts of God in their lives – they were physical markers of spiritual
encounters.
Henry Blackaby, in Experiencing God, says: “One thing I have found helpful is to identify
“spiritual markers” in my life. Each time I have encountered God’s call or directions for my
life, I have mentally built a spiritual marker at that point. A spiritual marker identifies a
time of transition, decision, or direction when I clearly know that God has guided me.
Over time I can look back at these spiritual markers and see how God has faithfully
directed my life according to His divine purpose. When I face a decision about God’s
direction, I rehearse those spiritual markers. I don’t take the next step without the context
of the full activity of God in my life.”
How should journaling be done?
There are no rules for journal keeping. Use any type of notebook, fancy or plain. Some like to
draw or paint.
Your way of keeping a journal is the right way!
Some ideas to use in journaling;
1. As a response to your Bible reading……
• List characteristics of God (this helps you become acquainted with who God is
and gives you something to refer to in rough times – you know who your God is)
• Paraphrase a passage of Scripture – apply it to your own context
• Write out an amplified verse (look up words from a verse in a dictionary, and
use in writing out the verse) (Ex: Isa 26:3 “You will keep in absolute and
unqualified tranquility, stillness and harmony all who have their confidence and
hope in you; whose meditation, contemplation and thinking processes are
definitely and permanently placed on you.”)
• Write out a verse that “grabs” you – write a response to it (Ex: Jonah 2:8 “Those
who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.” Response
Example: “Am I hanging on to something that I think will bring me joy? Is God
asking me to release my grasp on that so that He can give me true joy?” It may
be possible to go through our whole lives and miss what God has for us, because
we are grasping onto the wrong thing.
• Look for: a sin to avoid, a command to obey, an example to follow, a promise to
keep, - makes lists for each category or respond to some area that is a need in
your life. Is there an area that God is showing you needs change in your life?
What are you willing to do about it?
• Write out word pictures of God (Example: “God is a rock – I think of the massive
rock formations that sit just off the Oregon Coast. The rock is solid, and
unmovable. I am like a small barnacle clinging onto the side of the rock. Even
though the waves crash against me, I don’t fall off, because I am attached to the
rock.”)
• List names of God – How have you experienced Him to be those things (When
has He been your shield, your shepherd etc)
• List purpose statements, ministry statements, life goals, you find in Scripture.
(For example, “For me to live is Christ.”)
2. As a tool for your prayer life…….
• List prayers in Scripture that you find. Write them out and use them in praying for
others. Examples: Col 1,2 Thess.1, Eph. 1:15-19, 2 Thess. 3
• Write out your prayers
• List requests and answers
• List your blessings. What are you thankful for today?
• What did you worry about today? Can you turn that into a prayer?
3. As a response to other reading…..
From devotional books, Christian growth etc, write down quotes that grab you, or outlines
of main points; cartoons that have an element of truth
4. As a response to your life circumstances…
• Do a “God Hunt” – how has God shown himself to you?
• Use as a tool to work out problems – write down feelings, principles that relate, etc.
Was there a difficulty today? How did you respond? How should you have responded?
What was in your heart that was controlling or influencing your behavior? What might
God be trying to teach you through this situation?
• If you have a decision to be made, are there Biblical principles to follow?
• Make a timeline of your life – List significant events, happy and sad.
How was your life shaped by those events?
What did you learn in the process?
How has God woven those events together in your life – how do they help you now?
What are the values you possess as a result of those experiences?
What did you discover about your spiritual gifts through ministry experiences?
Blackaby – “When God gets ready for you to take a new step or direction in His activity,
it will always be in sequence with what He has already been doing in your life.”
“Keeping a journal has taught me that there is not so much new in your life as you sometimes think. When
you reread your journal, you find
out that your latest discovery is something you already found out about five years ago. Still it is true that
one penetrates deeper and deeper
into the same ideas and the same experiences.” Thomas Merton Sign of Jonah