Recently, a friend asked what strategies I use to journal. I must admit that I was (perhaps unduly) proud to have received this question because it means my quirky love for Leuchtturm1917 Hardcover A5 journals has been noticed. With some exceptions, I write something in my journal every day. But my friend's question gave me pause because I realized that my practice isn't anything I've been taught to do. I've never seen my strategy described in a book on spiritual disciplines. Yet by God's grace, I have been able to maintain the discipline with a measure of consistency. I began to ask myself: "why am I able to maintain this discipline when I've been inconsistent with others?" I think I found the answer.
Not Just Another Box
If we think of journaling as another box to check, it will seem to us on our weak days simply a burdensome requirement to discharge. I think this is the Achilles heel of our mentality toward Bible Intake, Prayer, etc. If they are reduced in our mind to tasks, they become rote and dry in no time flat. Yet when paired with Journaling, the whole lot seems to stick together quite well. In other words, if I desire to pray with intention, a good way to maintain that intention is to record my prayers. And there's no more natural way to record than with a journal. This way, we can remember our prayers from months past when God finally brings an answer. When we see his answer, we can see a written record of our petitions and his faithfulness. What's more, our children and grandchildren will one day see our own personal accounts of God's faithfulness (Psalm 102:18). Ever since reading Donald Whitney's Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, I have believed in the importance of journaling for my own sanctification. Not only does journaling provide a record for posterity and train us to be diligent in remembering the things God is teaching us, but I have found the practice sharpens all of the other disciplines in an incredible way. Let's see if I can explain.
The Binding
I have found that the best way to get the most out of your prayer life, Bible intake, biblical meditation, and evangelism is to keep a consistent record. Knowing that you need to make a record in a way keeps you honest on your other spiritual disciplines and, I believe, encourages them.
When we sit down to read our Bibles, there's an incredible temptation to "read to finish." Perhaps your daily Bible reading plan has drifted from aid to obstacle in this way. Before we know it, we've read our 4 chapters a day and 30 minutes later, we can't recall much of anything. But reading with a journal open has a way of enriching our Bible time. Like eating rice with chopsticks instead of with a fork, we are made to appreciate and focus on each morsel. We are forced to slow down, stop, and savor. By this method, it's not that we see things that were never there before; rather, we see things we simply never noticed before in our haste.
Further, with this method, we begin to read expecting to see something worth recording. And there's something about this that helps us to perceive more of what's in the text. A passage that seemed to have a rather mundane flatness suddenly springs into a stark relief as we begin to make simple observations about the text or connections to other places in the Bible. Perhaps the day's passage has bearing on a difficult conversation you are heading into or a point of marital tension that you tried to navigate the night before.
Further, as we pray in light of the Scriptures we just read and reflected upon, we become more aware of what our prayers should consist of. No longer do our prayers so easily drift into the token recitations that seem more obligatory than useful. Rather, we begin to pray God's thoughts after him - because we just finished reading and writing reflections upon God's very words!
My Plan:
Briefly, I usually jot down the chapter I am reading, and then make notes. As prayers arise in my mind, I pray them and then write down a quick summary. Sometimes, this part comes at the end. Sometimes I record a quick word on my day or my frame of mind/heart just before or just after the body of my reading and writing. It might look something like this with my reading reflections on the left and my personal reflections and prayers off-screen to the right:
A Final Encouragement
I believe that with this strategy, journaling is prevented from becoming just another page in the book of spiritual disciplines. Rather, it's the spiral binding that holds the others together. If you want to be a more effective Bible reader, journal what you read. If you want to deepen your prayer life (and your praise life, when God answers) then journal your prayers. Finally, if you want to leave a record for those who will come after you, so that they might continue in the path God took you down, (Exodus 13:8, 14) journal. Do it for your sanctification and for the benefit of those who will follow you.