Prayer Journaling Ideas

by Karen S. Roberts

For today’s daily devotion, I’d like to share some prayer journaling ideas with you.

What is Prayer Journaling?   

Prayer journaling is basically writing your prayer requests and answers to prayer.  It can be as simple as writing them in a notebook, dating the entries.  However many people like to have an actual Prayer Journal in which they can easily go back to review what they have prayed for, noting which requests have been answered and how.

Why Journal Your Prayers?

I don’t know if you are like me, but here is a problem I face when I tell someone I will pray for them.  I’ll pray once or twice and then forget to pray regularly for that person.  This is especially true with all the prayer requests that I encounter on Facebook.  When someone asks for prayer, I’ll stop right then to pray and then comment that I’m praying.  However, it’s easy to encounter 5 or 10 such requests each day.  After while I start thinking, “I know I told some people I’d pray for them, but now I don’t remember the details or even who I said I’d pray for.

Has that ever happened to you?    If we are journaling our prayers, we are able to take a few minutes to make notes of what we are praying for.  And better yet, we can go back to those notes to remind ourselves to keep praying for people and situations that need our prayer.

The best part about this process is that we can go back over past requests and give God praise for the prayers He has answered.  Having a place in your prayer journal to write about answered prayer will inspire your faith, especially when you look over what you’ve written every now and then.  Reminding ourselves of how God has worked in response to our prayers encourages us to pray even more and to have faith to believe that He is answering.

Should You Write Out Your Actual Prayers?

Well, that all depends.  Occasionally I do, and it’s a spiritually rewarding time.  But often I don’t have time to write out prayers.  But I do have time to make notes about what I’m praying for.

If you enjoy writing out your prayers, get the type of prayer journal that has space to do that.   But if not, just get a journal with a simple format.

I Have Developed a Simple Printable Prayer Journal for You

To get you on your way to prayer journaling, I made a simple gift for you.  It’s called My Monthly Prayer Requests and Answers.   It’s in a simple format.  For each month there is a calendar.  You can either use the calendar blocks to note what you prayed for or you can use it as a prayer planner to plan what requests you will pray for on what days throughout the month.  Each calendar is followed by an Answered Prayers page.  That’s where you get to write the wonderful ways that God has worked as you prayed.

What i love about printable journals and planners is that you can print out just the pages you want, and as many of them as you want.  For instance, you might want to plan out one prayer request per day on the calendars, but print an extra calendar page for each month to note what you actually prayed for.

If you’ve had so many answers to prayer that they don’t fit on the Answers pages, print extras.  Then assemble your journal/planner in a binder or folder that will fit on a shelf or in a file box.  Keep it easy to access.  You can add additional pages of your own making to the provided pages also –  perhaps some pages for writing some of your prayers or for writing details of some of the prayer needs that you are interceding for.

Printable prayer journals give you the flexibility to journal in the way that is comfortable for you and that fits your own personality and spiritual needs.  I suggest printing each page on just one side instead of back to back.  That gives you added space on the back of each sheet to write more requests or make notes on what God is showing you through your time of prayer.

Journaling Prayer Enhances Your Prayer Life

Spending time in prayer is an important part of your daily devotional life.  As you write your requests and answers, you are disciplining yourself to take time out to talk to God on a daily basis.  Obviously, you’ll have conversations with God throughout the day.  But making a habit of a daily quiet time of prayer will help you focus on certain prayer needs and your own spiritual growth.  And you can spend time giving thanks as you look over all the answers to prayer you are experiencing.

 

You might enjoy our devotion called “Didn’t God Answer Your Prayer?”