How Prayer Journaling Changed My Life

(Be sure to read through the end for step by step of how to prayer journal!)

I laid there on my tile floor in a pool of my own sweat due to the humidity.  Tears rolled down my face, slid down my cheek, and fell next to me.  There I lay, in another country, without my family, without my friends.  To be quite honest, I was mad at God.  I thought moving to another place would be easy.  I had done it before.  Instead, sadness covered me all the time.  Lonely was my middle name.

But God took that challenging season and used it to draw me intensely closer to Him.

Shopping is one of my favorite ways to escape.  And there isn’t much shopping in Santiago, Dominican Republic.  There’s no Target.  No Nordstroms.  No Michaels.  No Hobby Lobby.  But, there is a small office supply store next to the supermarket.  One day I wandered in, and the cutest composition notebook caught my eye.  So I bought it.  Along with a new set of pens, because it had been an especially challenging day.  I brought the supplies back to my apartment.

I have always loved journaling and writing since I was a little girl.  I don’t know why, or what prompted me to do this because I had never seen it done before, but I started writing out my prayers.  In the new notebook with the new pens, I wrote letters to God.  Although I did not have a ton of art supplies with me, I had brought one set of watercolors.  Before journaling my prayers I began to create watercolor backgrounds, and fun borders around the pages.  

Instead of dreading the time when I would get home and have nothing to do and no one to hang out with, I began to look forward to that time because I got to spend it with God.  Then, I realized I could do something similar with Scripture.  I began writing out Bible verses and decorating the pages with the colored ink.  Song lyrics began to dance across the pages.  If the song or verse talked about water, I would paint the ocean.  If the verse talked about being surrounded by mountains, I would paint the mountains out my window.

When I was sad, I would pull out my prayer journal and talk to God about it.  When I was lonely, I would grab my pens and listen to a worship songs.  When I was happy, I would fill the page with bright colors and thank God.  Prayer journaling changed my life.  It helped me through such a hard time.  And when I discovered Bible journaling later, it was such a natural segue because I had been doing something similar.

How to Prayer Journal?

All you need to prayer journal is a notebook and pen.  I am working on finishing a blog post about favorite prayer journaling supplies.  

Then, you simply write out your prayer exactly like how you would pray to God in your head.  You just do it on paper.  I have a printable kit in my Etsy shop called “Printable Prayer Phrases,” that you can get HERE to help you with prayer journaling.

Dear Heavenly Father (or whatever other name you like to call God.  I use God Almighty, Prince of Peace, and Lord.  Click HERE to read an article about different names for God.)
Thank You for…
Today was hard because…
Forgive me for…
Help me with…
I lift … to You today.

And I always end my prayers with, “In Jesus’ mighty name, amen.”

Don’t forget to date your prayers!  At the back of my prayer journal I also like to have a spot for answered prayers.  It is a great way to look back on all the times God has been faithful. 

The Creative Faith Prayer Journal was the VERY first kit I created back in May of 2016 because I am so passionate about prayer journaling.  

Click HERE to pick up yours today!  We have fast shipping and get the journals out to you in the mail by the next day.  I cannot wait to see how God uses prayer journaling to change YOUR life!