Years ago I began to keep notebooks in which I would write down my daily devotional Scripture, some comments, and often a prayer. About 70% of what you see on this web site began as musing in my prayer notebook - my journal. It was never intended for the public eye, so you will find some copy to be full of spelling or grammatical errors. Please forgive those. We will get to editing it as time permits.

Simplicity is best. I use a half sheet spiral notebook which you can buy at K-mart or WalMart for $1.99 to $3.50 depending on the thickness of the notebook. I like enough pages for a half-year or about 180 pages.

Immediately I mark the cover as "Private Prayer Journal" with a permanent marker, and I mark the date or period it will cover. Sometimes I mark just the start date then when it is full I add the closing date. - "July 1999 - December 1999." Then I keep it in a safe place, usually that is with my devotional Bible in my prayer closet. When I am finished with a notebook I file it in my filing cabinet for reviewing someday.

Here are some suggestions for getting started and what you might write in a journal:

Bible Reading Reflections
Record your daily Bible reading and musing you have on that reading. I make myself do it whether I think I have something of substance to say or not. I find even as I write thoughts begin to form and God speaks to me, opening the Scripture as I muse on it.

Prayers Written To God
Frequently I close my time writing my prayer to God. I try to be brutally honest with God. He knows what you think anyway, so say it outloud in writing. In some of my confession times I have found it so convicting and soul-searching that I have had to destroy the evidence after writing it. (I'd hate for someone to see the wickedness of my heart.)

Track Your Daily Feelings
As a pastor I have often been called on to do counseling with the depressed. I have often experienced great bouts of depression myself and know how painful it is. As part of everyone's therapy I require them to keep a daily journal of their feelings. At the end or beginning of each day they are to record the negative feelings they experienced that day, or the day before. In doing this we track the rollercoaster ride of emotions. Later we follow those feelings tracking down the internal thoughts that created the bad emotions. It is a wonderful way to get to know yourself.

Guides in PDF Format

Bible Reading Journal
Yearly Bible Reading
2004 Bible Reading
Bible Memorization

Life's Simplest Prayer
9-Minute Devotions
40-Day Devotions