Ideas to Help You Begin to “Journal:”

What is a journal? Webster defines it as “a record of experiences, ideas or reflections kept regularly for private use.” A journal is simply a book in which you keep a personal record of your various thoughts, experiences, relationships, conversations, and insights.

Any type of notebook works well for journaling—use whichever type you prefer.

Write your own thoughts and ideas!

Don’t concern yourself with grammar, spelling, etc. The process is what is important. These thoughts will provide you with many opportunities for growth. You will be able to see where you’ve been growing even when you think you haven’t!

Take time to write down your reflections.

If you find yourself saying, “I don’t know how to start,” use these pointers to help you begin:

•  Identify a situation or relationship—give a brief description of the circumstances or experience.
•  Ask yourself:

How do I feel?

How did I respond?

What was good or bad about this particular situation or relationship?

Why is this important/unimportant to me?

• Write in your journal whenever you need to reflect on a situation in your life or want to remember an important lesson.
• Remember, a journal is for your own personal use—make it your own!

Finally, two-way journaling:           

2-way journaling is not automatic writing. This is simply keeping a notebook of one’s prayers and what one senses to be God’s answers. At no time, do you “disengage” your mind. If you are comfortable praying in tongues, then you should have no problem journaling. Also, if you have an objection to journaling then you’ll probably have a problem with the Psalms which are the greatest examples of two-way journaling! 

The following are taken from Dr. Mark Virkler’s teaching on 4 keys to hearing God: [1]

Key #1 –  Quiet myself down

I must learn to still my own thoughts and emotions, so that I can sense God’s flow of thoughts and emotions within me.

Key #2 – Tune to Spontaneity

God’s voice in our hearts sounds like a flow of spontaneous thoughts. Therefore, when I tune to God, I tune to spontaneity.

Key #3 – FOCUS ON JESUS

As I pray, I fix the eyes of my heart upon Jesus, seeing in the spirit the dreams and visions of Almighty God.

Key #4 – WRITE

Journaling, the writing out of our prayers and God’s answers, provides a great new freedom in hearing God’s voice.

I find that the greatest value of writing down what God says – book or computer—is that later on I can go back and reread the promises that God has made to me. Also, if it is written out I can submit to my spiritual authority(ies) for testing. Finally, we don’t always remember what has been said to us very accurately. Have you ever played that game where you whisper something into someone else’s ears, and so on, and when it gets back to you, it doesn’t sound anything like what you said in the first place?! It’s like that with God, when we write it down we can go back and say, Oh, that’s what He said, not what I’ve been repeating…

If your journaling is from God, it should result in love, peace and joy. When you first start journaling, you should have someone you can submit your journaling to who is spiritually mature that can check to see if you are on the right track. Be sure not to make any major decisions that are a result of journaling unless you have submitted it to two or three such persons. 

“We should always remember that our journey in life, no matter how difficult and how fragmented, is a journey of daily decision making supported by a loving God of grace.

Many people have found that writing in a journal is a very helpful way to sort through the impact of situations and to make sense of jumbled feelings. There is something about the process of putting our experiences down in words that helps us gain clarity of understanding and be more ready to choose a positive direction in our daily journey.”[2]

“Where bad feelings persist, the healthful way to give release to them is to write them out in privacy. They must have release. If repressed, suppressed and pushed down they will foment beneath the surface in the memory bank of the subconscious mind [in your heart] and explode inappropriately when something similar makes a pathway, inadvertently, to what is store. This is what makes ‘angry people.’”[3]

[1] Retrieved 2/19/05 from http://cwgministries.org/Four-Keys-to-Hearing-Gods-Voice.htm

[2] John Loren Sandford;Paula Sandford;Lee Bowman. Awakening the Slumbering Spirit (Kindle Locations 1066-1069). Kindle Edition.

[3] “Communication: An Art and a Science to be Learned,” by Carolyn Allen