Prayer Journal Junkie

Sara Hanna
Apr 7
4 min read

We all love light. It may be Christmas lights, light from a flashlight when the power goes out, light as the sun rises each morning, or lights on our cell phones that are always accessible no matter the situation. This is the thing about light, we must plug in or welcome the light in order to see clearly. Prayer is to God's power what plugging an electrical cord in, turning the flashlight on, and opening a curtain or door to let the light in is. We only have access to God by plugging into the awesome power of prayer. Similarly, light allows us to stand in awe of so many things that we would otherwise miss out on. The sad truth is that we often take this wonderful privilege for granted and frequently are unable to remember the beautiful sights that we once were so intrigued by. Praise God we are able to capture many of these with our cameras and cell phones to help us remember. Prayer journaling is much the same for our prayer life. We often forget all the prayers that have been answered and just as often we forget to pray for things that we have committed to pray for. By journaling our prayers, we are able to establish a more organized prayer time, remember requests, give praise for answered prayer, and realize the blessings we have been bestowed as well as look back in awe at God’s handiwork through the years. There is a saying, "What you care about, you pray about." A journal is a great way to keep track of those things that we care about as we watch God's handiwork in answering our prayers. Prayer journaling really began as far back as Biblical times as many of the Psalms are prayers set to music that were written by David and others. Praise God these prayers and thoughts were recorded for us.

Proverbs tells us that without a vision people perish. What better way to have a vision, goals and stay focused on praying through than to write it down to have in front of your eyes and pray over. These are just a few reasons that I LOVE prayer journaling - hence the title of this post. The great thing about prayer journaling is that there is no right or wrong way to have one. For me, it is a notebook with various dividers that I’ll discuss later. For my husband, he has a list that has a column for the date prayer began, column for the request and then in another column for the date answered. This already gives you a peek into our lives - his is very black and white (just the facts please) and my prayer journal is full of color and notes. Both ways are 100% correct.

Darrell’s journal (list) is just prayer requests that he has as well as requests from friends, family, and those shared at church. My journal has the following sections: WOTY (word of the year - see my previous post), God Is, Blessings, Me, Darrell, Daughters & Family, Extended Family, Friends, and Church/ Missions. I do not pray for every section every day. There are some that I do pray for daily but there are also some that I have specific days to pray for. Let me add here that I do have a prayer wall that I absolutely LOVE as I can sit in my chair and read through special requests that are dear to me. The photos for this blog give you an idea of my prayer wall when we lived in Germany. I still have some of those same post-it notes on my wall now. I add a red heart as they are answered. Some people keep prayer requests in an index box with labeled tabs as well. The bottom line is this: The best prayer journal is one that you will use.

A few things to keep in mind as you begin journaling:

This is a private journal between you and God. Share your heart. There was a time that I worried that if I died someone would read my journal. Ya know what, if they do, my prayer is that they will be as blessed by my journal as I am. Let them see your relationship record with the Lord. Leave a wonderful legacy of answered prayer and spiritual growth.

If there is a confidential prayer request and you have a prayer wall visible to others, I suggest you write only their name - you will remember the request.

Finally, write scripture out that you would like to memorize and hang on your wall. This way every time you sit to pray, you can begin with the verse(s) you are working on memorizing.

There are many prayer journaling resources on the internet that are wonderful just by googling. I am also providing this link so that you have access to some of my resources. Warning… there are many! One of my favorite things to do is to pray. I pray in the car, in the shower, during my Bible study, devotions, during worship, as well as many other times. Studying about prayer and fasting continue to be a passion of mine so I have many resources. I will not overload you with a lot here but if you’d like more resources on either topic, send me a message and I’ll be glad to share freely. Here are aa couple of my favorite resources from a study our ladies did on prayer and fasting a couple years ago. I also have verses to pray for children and other topics. Let me know your interest/ need. I'll be glad to send you more resources. Just send me a message using the banner at the bottom of this site.