I’ve been journaling for 39 years.

When life is tough, or when a particular problem presents itself, I journal every day —sometimes more than once a day.

When life is going smoothly, I journal less frequently.

I wouldn’t be who and where I am today unless I journaled.

The longer I journey with Christ, the more I’m convinced about the huge benefits of journaling.

I’ve found that journaling is not only an indispensable source of encouragement.

It’s also an invaluable source of personal guidance.

For example, even as I write this, when I am faced with a new problem, I will often go back to specific parts/years/episodes of my journal to find out what God taught me back then.

I will actively apply to my current issue what He taught me many years ago.

You know what?

It works!

You see, the lessons God teaches you are never out of date.

You can apply them any time you need to.

And one of the best ways to learn the lessons the Lord wants to teach you as you journey along with Him is to jot down very BRIEFLY in a notebook any important insights that have arisen out of your prayer.

“Granny, why are you reading your own book?”

 

When the Lord asked me to write my memoir,  I couldn’t have written an authentic one unless I had journaled.

My book contains the many pearls of wisdom the Lord revealed to me at particular times in my life.

It’s natural, therefore, for me to turn to it for guidance and renewed inspiration whenever I need to.

So much so, in fact, that when my 7-year-old granddaughter sees me reading it, she asks with a mixture of puzzlement and curiosity on her intelligent little face:

“Granny, why are you reading your own book?”

Why indeed?

I oblige her with the most basic of answers!

I explain: “Lily, it’s because Granny sometimes forgets important things that I really need to remember again.”

Lily still looks slightly puzzled, but she accepts my answer and carries on with whatever she’s doing. (She and I have a very close relationship.)

Then I say to myself:

Yes, that truly is why I read my own book!

Journaling is DEFINITELY NOT the Same as Analyzing!

But here’s what I want you to understand:

Journaling is DEFINITELY NOT the same as analyzing!

When you find yourself getting analytical, please STOP!

Discipline yourself to restrict your jottings to just a few BRIEF words or sentences.

Learn to be spontaneous.

Rely on your heart and gut, NOT your head!

Analyzing snuffs out the light of the Holy Spirit.

If you wish to walk with the Lord, snuffing out the light of the Spirit is the last thing you need to do!

Remember:

Analysis is largely a function of the intellect.

And you can’t get to know God with your intellect.

Only with your heart. 

Think of it this way.

Would you really want to analyze every conversation you have with a good friend?

What on earth would your friend think if you did?

It’s the same with the Lord.

Yes, He likes us to reflect on our friendship/conversations with him —what He’s said to us, and how we felt.

But that’s a far cry from painstakingly analyzing everything out.

Learn to keep a very light touch when it comes to journaling!

Don’t let yourself become embroiled in endless analysis immediately after your heart prayer!

How Journaling Makes a Significant Difference to Your Closeness with the Lord

When you prayed with your heart, you let go of words and thinking.

As a result, your intellect was deliberately quietened as you spent silent time in God’s Presence.

At the same time, praying with your heart achieved something else —something very important.

It fine-tuned your spiritual antennae.

Thanks to this fine-tuning, you are able to hear the Lord speaking to you far more clearly OUTSIDE your time of heart prayer.

For example, as you carry out your daily duties later in the same day and in the days that follow many insights, emotions, questions, and responses will arise from a deep place inside you just when you might least expect it.

For example, really important insights can arise spontaneously when your intellect is quietened and you’re performing a task that doesn’t require much concentration —such as vacuuming the rug, weeding your garden, washing the dishes, disciplining your child/grandchild, listening to music, or even talking to a friend on the phone (yes, it can happen then too!).

In the same way, various emotions can arise.

This is when it’s extremely helpful to keep a notepad handy and jot down very briefly these insights and/or emotions.

On looking back much later, you’ll discover that these small jottings, which might seem quite insignificant at the time, in fact represent an important part of your spiritual journey!

After a month or two of such jottings, you’ll be surprised to discover much helpful information regarding your emotions, your areas of doubt, your insights, and your responses to significant life events.

Reflecting on these jottings later on at your leisure might prompt new questions you wish to ask the Lord.

This is an excellent development, because it means that your free-flowing, genuine, 2-way conversation with the Lord is growing.

This is very good news.

Because it’s this ongoing conversation that marks a new and essential stage in your relationship with the Lord.

This is why journaling, in addition to praying with your heart, is one of the most fruitful and important ways that the Holy Spirit communicates to you what He wants you to know and, at the same time, deepens and matures your relationship with the Lord.

Note:

Go here to find detailed instructions on how to journal immediately after praying with your heart.

Share Your Jottings with a Trusted Friend or Spiritual Guide

It can be extremely helpful to share your brief jottings with a trusted friend or spiritual guide , if at all possible.

Doing so is a great help to understanding better what the Lord might be trying to communicate to you. At the same time, it might guide you towards new questions that you might want to put to the Lord.

The Lord loves answering your questions. But He usually does so at the time He knows will serve you best.

In this way, your conversation with the Lord keeps developing.

This enables your relationship and friendship with Him, and His with you, to deepen and mature without any special effort on your part.

Remember This Really Important Guideline!!!

Please —

Steadfastly resist the temptation to artificially resurrect an experience, emotion, thought, insight or question that might have presented itself during heart prayer.

Learn to be spontaneous. Use your heart and your gut.

Remember: you can’t think your way to God!

The Spirit is completely capable of bringing to your attention (without any help from you) anything He needs you to remember and/or knows you will benefit from.

The Benefits You Reap

After a few weeks or even a few days, you’ll be amazed to look back on your journal and notice the tiny (or major) developments that have been occurring deep in your spirit.

For example, you might notice that a concerning issue in your life has been resolving itself without your being aware of this.

Or you might notice that a family or other relationship is improving.

Or that you are getting wisdom on a really tough decision that you have to make.

Or you might notice a deeper inner peace or a more positive attitude when having to deal with an illness, bad news, or other unexpected challenge.

In other words, you now have a way of recognizing the growth that has been occurring at a deep level within you.

These jottings anchor your time spent in prayer i. e. settle it in your unconscious mind.

Your spirit grows and expands.

This is how the Lord transforms you more and more into ‘the image of His Son’ (Romans 8: 29 -30), which is the benefit of all prayer.

Your very brief jottings also help to ensure that you acknowledge and own your painful emotions. 

Remember: Your emotions (both negative and positive) are always of the utmost importance to the Lord.

The Lord wants to heal your negative emotions. But in order to do so, He needs you to acknowledge and own them!

This is how he begins to heal your pain. 

Are you beginning to see the real benefits of brief journaling?

Do you see now that, when you journal, there is less chance of forgetting (or losing altogether) experiences that you’ll benefit greatly from recalling later on?

Why are these experiences so important to hold on to?

Because each one has been, and will continue to be, birthed out of the time you’ve given to opening up your whole being, i. e. your ‘heart’, more fully to the Lord’s presence.

This makes them truly special both to you and to God.

2 Different Opportunities to Journal