Seth Barnes Jan 8, 2006 7:00 PM

How to journal

A hundred years ago in a less literate age, schedules were not so crammed and journals not as vital in facilitating the process of reflection. These d...

Subscribe


A hundred years ago in a less literate age, schedules were not so crammed and journals not as vital in facilitating the process of reflection. These days, we need more help. Here are some pointers in getting started:

Get a good one that won’t fall apart on you. Divide it into sections that you can use in different ways. I devote about ten pages to prayer lists – requests that friends pass my way. I set aside another thirty pages for journaling my prayers (which I find particularly helpful when there is a lot of noise and distraction in the house like right now). I tend to use most of the journal for two other things: Keeping a journal or diary that tracks the major events of my life and thoughts. And then Bible study, book notes, and blogs is another section.

A couple of my idiosyncrasies: It’s hard to know exactly how many pages to allocate to each section, so I start my Bible study and notes section from the back of the journal and work toward the middle. That I way I don’t waste pages.

Another thing that works well for me is this: for each item on my prayer list, I put down the date I enter the prayer request. Then if the prayer request is answered “No,” I put that date down. If it is a “Yes,” I circle the date. It’s important to know whether God is answering one’s prayers or not!

Comments


Comment created and will be displayed once approved.

Related Blogs

How to be a disciple, Part 4: The faithful heart

How to be a disciple, Part 4: The faithful heart

Continued from: How to be a disciple, Pt. 3 I was talking to a partner I’ll...

By Seth Barnes
How Jesus called out disciples

How Jesus called out disciples

Andrew Shearman is staying at our house this week.  We have conversations till ...

By Seth Barnes
Three things Jesus does that we don't do

Three things Jesus does that we don't do

G.K. Chesterton said, "The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wantin...

By Seth Barnes

Related Races (3)

Gap Year | 9 Months | August 2026

Gap Year | 9 Months | August 2026

Gap Year | 9 Months | August 2026

Gap Year | 9 Months | August 2026

Southeast Asia | Semesters | August 2026

Southeast Asia | Semesters | August 2026

Next article

To exercise or not

Our AI generated post content for you!

Here's a suggested caption you can copy and tweak.