Journaling Made Accessible

Posted on by Jennifer Arimborgo

Journal

“And the Lord answered me: ‘Write the vision; make it plain… so he may run who reads it’” (Hab. 2:2, ESV).

Today, I feel an impulse from Holy Spirit to talk about journaling again. I believe He wants to encourage you (if you have not already done so) to seriously consider incorporating this practice into your spiritual journey.

There is no right or wrong way to journal. There are no rules about how often you have to write, or about how much. Basically, you just get a style of notebook or diary that appeals to you and start jotting down something — anything really! — related to your alone times with God. Some individuals even prefer to journal on a tablet or laptop. It’s truly all about discovering what works best in your own personal relationship with Jesus.

By way of encouraging you about this, I want to share with you another excerpt from my journal. I will insert observations in bold letters about my own journaling practices in between the paragraphs:

“Thank You Daddy for flashes of insight, as You are tying in a new understanding of what hope is to Ephesians 1:18. ‘I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you’ (Eph. 1:18, NIV).”

I usually write my entries in prayer format, a practice I developed in my teenage years. I found, in the early stages of developing my intimacy with God, that doing so helped me stay focused on Him.

“The eyes of my heart being enlightened, wow! ‘The eyes of my heart’ is referring to my sanctified, Spirit-charged imagination. So this prayer means, Lord Jesus, flood my inner eyes with a vision of the positive outcome You are promising me! This is hope! Everything You’ve been saying about using this creative faculty of picturing the answer to my prayers has all been a description of developing hope!”

I also find that once I start writing out what He is showing me, a revelatory flow tends to open up. The more space and importance I give to what He is speaking to my heart, the more He opens up and continues to talk!

“So, faith births what hope sees! Heb. 11:1! ‘Now faith is the substance of things hoped for…’ (NKJV). In other words, faith is the substance of what the eyes of my heart are gazing on. Hope is ignited by a spirit of revelation about seeing Your goodness in the land of the living. ‘To know the hope of your calling’ means, to see with my heart that I am called to hope.”

Oftentimes, Holy Spirit will breathe a piece of a verse into my spirit. When I follow through and look up the whole verse, many times I am bowled over with how precise His message is through it for that moment I am living. I try to make sure and write it down, so I can further meditate on what He is communicating to me.

“An integral part of who I am called/created/destined to be is hopeful, full of positive expectation rooted in a deep heart understanding of Your goodness. “Rooted and grounded in love” – from Ephesians! And so to be filled with all Your fullness! No wonder hope is up there in the top three (1 Cor. 13)!” [End of journal excerpt].

I have been journaling since my wonderful eighth grade teacher at Grace Christian School gave us the challenge of doing so as a regular class assignment. I am exceedingly grateful to her for doing so. As a result, I have nearly thirty years worth of records of my journey in God. What riches!

It’s never too late to begin. Don’t overthink it too much; just dive in! Even if you begin with one journal entry a week, there’s no better time to get started than the present. Amazing adventures in hearing from God await!

“Thus speaks the Lord God of Israel, saying: ‘Write in a book for yourself all the words that I have spoken to you’” (Jer. 30:2, NKJV).

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Do you have any journaling tips or ideas to share? I’d love to hear about them!

 

18 thoughts on “Journaling Made Accessible”

  2. This is a great encouragement Jennifer, thank you! I pray Holy Spirit urges many of those who read this to find the joy that comes from journaling. I encourage those with whom I have the privilege to minister to develop the habit of keeping a journal of their life with God. I also advise them to date each entry and to go back through what they have written periodically. I find this practice uplifting as it shows me how God has moved in the things I have written about as well as serving as a reminder to pray about some things perhaps I had forgotten.
    Blessings,
    Chuck

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  4. Jennifer, though God’s Word, the Bible, is much more then “journaling” it is yet written from the heart of God and expressed by Jesus [the Word of God] and through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. His example is so perfect, I do believe we ought to follow. What He has written is for all of us to read and that which we Journal may well be read by others in this day or later. Let the heart speak that we may put down that may bless many. Len

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  6. I would add that it’s important to be honest when writing. If you’re angry, get the journal out. If you’re depressed or worried about something, write it all down. Get it all out on paper, and then ask God to work through you to address those concerns. Then, after time has passed, go back to those pages and see how God did exactly that!

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    1. Great advice, my friend. Pouring out our emotions honestly to Him in written form is therapeutic and modeled for us in the Psalms. But not leaving out that last important step, inviting Him into the issue for redemption. Thank you!

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  8. You said it well Jennifer. To Journal is very worth while spiritual discipline.Sometimes my thoughts on a page speak back into my soul. Other times they say to me…are you even thinking? Oft times a positioned thought can be looked at again and again from several angles. I also write my prayer thoughts.

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    1. Thank you, Gary! So true, journaling really does allow for such a helpful look at the contents of our heart, and what God is speaking to us. I find that what He is teaching me goes progressively deeper into my heart through the tool of journaling in steps:
      1) He’ll whisper something to me during my daily routine. I’ll make a note of it on my phone for journaling later.
      2) Later comes, and I transfer the note in my own handwriting into my journal, looking up any Scripture that He was stirring in my spirit in relation to what He was saying.
      3) Once I write it down, often a “flow” opens up, and He shows me more about His initial point, and I write that more down too.
      4) I sit there and let it all sink in
      5) I revisit it during that season
      6) At some point in the future, I revisit my completed journal and make a table of contents for it (I add in page numbers for this purpose). As I’m reading the pages to figure out what the main point is for the table of contents, the revelation gets even deeper into my heart!

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  9. I went back after reading your post on journaling and have discovered that it was the times when I was totally HONEST with God. Not using praises couched in appropriate words crafted words but honestly and from the heart. One entry in 2004 I see today in 2019 as being answered in ways back then I could not have imagined. From the heart I told Him my yearning and my longing and my helplessness as a wife and mother. It has been a revelation to me looking back. Thank you. Yes be encouraged.. Even gentle insights or profound hungers etc if recorded don’t need to take up much time. Blessings and journal well dear ones.

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    1. What a wonderful discovery, Faye! I rejoice with you at the testimony of His faithfulness and love revealed to you on your journey! It gives me joy to know that He showed you this after you read this post. Thank you so much for sharing. Much love to you! ❤

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