5 Awesome Benefits Of A Prayer Journal & How To Start One (Free Printables Included)
Last Updated on 03/05/2024 by Nicky
Benefits Of A Prayer Journal
Do you struggle to have meaningful prayer time with God every day?
I promise I won’t judge because I certainly do. I intend to pray and I sit down and several things might happen:
1) My mind wanders
2) I fall asleep
3) insert your own mishap here.
I really hate that this happens so often because there’s so much to pray for and even though I don’t understand it completely (more on that in another post) I know prayer changes things in a mighty way.
And I need some things changed not just for me but for others around me. So prayer must happen.
But how can I solve these issues I’ve been having?
Well, I’ve been seeing prayer journals pop up everywhere on Pinterest and I believe that it will be the answer to my prayers (on bad & cheesy joke I know).
So in today’s post, I’m going to talk about what you need to start a prayer journal and the benefits I believe you will get from using one.
5 Awesome Benefits Of Starting A Prayer Journal
1) Focus (so your mind doesn’t wander)
As I mentioned earlier, one of the biggest issues I have is with my mind wandering. I totally feel like I have undiagnosed ADHD (not a joke) so my issues with focus are something to overcome.
That is why I feel like I need a prayer journal. I don’t know about you but my mind doesn’t usually wander when I’m writing.
Okay, maybe it does a little. But if a piece of paper is in front of me and a pen is in my hand I am less likely to be distracted by other thoughts.
The paper and pen remind me that I am in the middle of doing something important.
It will remind me that I’m in a meeting with God and that I need to leave all other distractions behind.
It actually just occurred to me too that I used to have a prayer journal a long time ago (I’m talking 20 years ago) and I just recently happened upon it.
I did not have a name for it but it seems like less than a coincidence that it has recently resurfaced.
2) Memory ( you don’t have to try and remember everything you need to pray about)
Another problem that a prayer journal will solve is the issue of memory.
How many prayer requests do you get a day? I’ve never counted but I feel like I get prayer requests all the time.
How many times have you prayed for someone as they requested and then you forget to find out what happened?
Is that person still sick? Are they healed? Has the marriage been restored?
And I will pray for that person or situation right then but then I may never pray about it again. Is it because I no longer care about what’s going on?
No, it’s this faulty scatterbrain that I have that forgets so many important things. But if I have a prayer journal, I can write the name or situation down in there and pray for that particular issue as long as it is needed.
3) Reflection (God answered your prayer and you can reflect back and say wow He really got me through this situation)
God is continuously working in our lives. We pray to Him and he answers. But I have another confession to make.
Sometimes I don’t truly realize He has answered a prayer until months after He answered it.
You’ll be going on with your day when you suddenly realize, wow, that “thing” that I was dealing with that I thought would never end, that I thought would never be resolved is a “thing” I’m no longer dealing with at all.
He will just answer prayers for me and I don’t even notice. I’m hoping it’s just because I got that problem to God and let it go.
Regardless, I will sometimes forget to reflect back on what God has worked out for me because I didn’t have that prayer request written down.
With a prayer journal, I can look over my old prayer lists and pinpoint certain prayers requests that have been resolved or answered.
I can reflect on His goodness and faithfulness for me and those around me. Which leads me to my next point.
4) Trust God for the future
I have written on my issues with anxiety in the past (and depression). He has brought through the depression but the anxiety can still be a struggle at times.
I know and understand that anxiety can be a sign that I lack faith in God.
What I’m hoping is that with a prayer journal, when I reflect on what God has done in the past, I will be more able to trust Him in the future and not give in to anxiety.
My prayer is that the prayer journal will strengthen my faith in Him and our relationship.
5) Consistency
The last benefit of writing in a prayer journal that I want to address is consistency. What I mean by consistency is that I will engage in fervent prayer.
I don’t want to pray once or twice for an issue and then have that request fall off the radar never to be prayed about again.
I want to pray persistently for these issues on my heart. I don’t want one and done prayers.
With there being so many needs around me, prayer needs to be a constant and consistent practice.
The more I go to my Father with my requests the more He will deploy His power into these situations.
The prayers of the righteous availeth much. Just think if the prayers of the righteous were consistently petitioned to God? Would we not shake some things up?
Yeah, ya’ll, I think we would!
Hopefully, I’ve convinced you that as Christian women a prayer journal would be an amazing tool to blow the roof off your prayer life (so to speak).
What resources do you need to start a prayer journal?
Well, you can just use a regular journal and a pen.
Nothing has to be fancy. However, for me as much as I love journals (and I mean LOVE them), I’m leaning more towards a binder for my prayer journal.
I’m really feeling binders, notebook paper, and printables right now.
Why?
– I like binders because I can move the papers around as needed. As I already state, I’m super scatterbrained and my journals are a testament to this quirk.
With a binder, I can keep the papers organized and in chronological order.
I think that will be important so you can know when you started praying, how long you’ve been praying, and when the prayer was answered.
And I mean if you’re going to have a binder, it should be cute, right like these here:
Bloom Daily Planners Binder (+) 3 Ring Binder
Russell and Hazel Gold Foil Monarch Signature 3 Ring Binder
– I like notebook paper because it keeps my lines of writing straight and more legible.
– I like printables like the one above because they have prayer prompts that can help you when you’re stumped and not sure where to start with your prayer or what to pray. I have some prayer journal printables that I will tell you about shortly. You can get the prayer journal printable above by clicking here.
– Pens because they are just awesome. I am a pen hoarder and if you leave a really nice pen in my presence, it may or may not still be there when you come looking for it (I’m only joking…for the most part ;))
Trust In The Lord Pink Stylish Classic Pen
Proverbs 3:5 Engraved Gift Pen
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