You want to journal. Well, in theory, anyway. Sometimes. Maybe you’ve tried. Maybe you even have many journals in many places around your house, all partially started.
Journaling is my language with God and with my inner self. It’s how I process all of life. And most of the people around me know that, so naturally, I have had many conversations about journaling, and because of that, I’ve learned six reasons why people don’t journal.
If there’s even a small part of you who wants to give it another try, I can help.
Six Reasons Why You Don’t Journal
- You don’t have a home for your journal
- You don’t have time to add one more thing
- You don’t know what to write
- You’re afraid someone will read it
- You don’t want to mess up a pretty journal
- You don’t know what to do with a journal when it’s full
#1 – You Don’t Have a Home for Your Journal
People say you’re more likely to work out in the morning if you lay your gym clothes out the night before. The same principle applies to journaling. Do you have a place where you pray and read the word every day? I call my place my Prayer Chair, and it is tricked out!
I have an ottoman tucked under it that I slide out so I can put my feet up. There’s a fuzzy blanket draped over the side to help me get cozy in my Secret Place with the Lord. I’ve got a small side table with a box of tissues, a reading lamp, and a holder for my glasses.
On the other side, I have an old-fashioned TV table folded up against the wall. While my coffee is percolating, I unfold this table and put a coaster on it. This gives me some good landscape for my bible study workbook, communion elements, notepad (to jot down the distracting thoughts that are bound to flood my mind), and a place for pens and highlighters that I’ll use during this quiet time.
On the floor, under my side table, are two organizers. One is actually a diaper caddy, and the other, although called a diaper caddy, is basically a sectioned cloth basket.
These hold all my tools
- Journals
- XL index cards
- Bible
- Pens and highlighters
- Glue stick
- Washi Tape
- Devotionals
Once my coffee is hot and ready, I snuggle into my Father’s lap in my Prayer Chair, and I am ready to record all the things He has to say to me that morning in my journal, along with all the prayers and questions and praises I have for Him, as well as the scriptures He quickens to my heart.
# 2 – You Don’t Know What to Write
That leads me to the next reason you don’t journal. You don’t know what to write.
- Start with recording the Bible verses that leap off the page while you’re reading. This is one of the main ways God talks to us. When a verse grabs your attention, pause and write it down. Open the Bible app on your phone (I like YouVersion for this) and look it up in multiple translations. Use a Strong’s-linked Bible (I like the Kairos app), and click on some of the words to find the nuanced meanings of the original words used.
- Write out your prayers.
- Praise God for His goodness in your journal.
- Take notes on what you’re reading and at church during the sermon.
- Make lists. Can you rattle off all the names of the disciples? If not, maybe write them in your journal while you’re in the Gospels. Maybe you want to keep a list of the 37 miracles recorded in scripture that Jesus performed. Or perhaps you want to keep a list of the battles Joshua fought and the creative ways that God gave him the victory in each one.
- Record Inspiring Quotes. Is there a quote that struck you, one that you want to chew on for a while? Write it in your journal, and then write out the thoughts and questions that it inspires.
- Reflect. Did you have an argument with your spouse? Write out the things you thought and said, and take them to God. Ask God to show you where you were wrong and what lies you were believing in that argument. Record the answers that come to your mind. Ask God what actions you should take to bring healing and restoration. Write down what you sense God saying.
A journal is a place to walk out your relationship with God and with yourself!
# 3 – You Don’t Have Time to Add One More Thing
Journaling doesn’t have to be a separate event in your day. There are a few ways to integrate it into what you’re already doing.
- First, write while you’re praying and reading the word.
- Then, after your time in the Secret Place is over, toss your journal in your purse and pull it out when you hear something profound or you have a question that you want to explore deeper with the Lord. Take notes on life in quick snippets – short spurts of just a few seconds throughout your day.
- Attach it to something you’re already doing. For example, when you sit down to eat lunch, grab your journal and write out a prayer about the thing that is weighing most heavily on your heart.
- Then, put it on your nightstand. Just before bed, write a few things that you’re grateful for or write about a moment in the day when you saw God at work in your circumstances or in your midst.
#4 – You’re Afraid Someone Will Read It
At the core, I think this is an issue of trust in God, not so much in the people around you. Do you trust God to protect this secret place where you and He meet? If you pray over it, and you ask God to protect it and hide it from anyone who should not read your sacred words, do you trust that He hears you, and do you trust that He answers you?
Do you trust that if someone does read it, it is because God allowed it, and He has a greater purpose for the good of that person and for you?
As for who may read these things when you are gone, let the truth of you we are and the relationship you have had with the Lord tell your story. You don’t need to try to manipulate or whitewash your legacy.
Everyone who comes after you will be well aware that you are human and that you have flaws and make mistakes. They’re human, too. They have flaws and make mistakes. We all do. People have a deep respect and love for authenticity. So, be real and trust God and your loved ones with your legacy.
#5 – You Don’t Want to Mess Up a Pretty Journal
This is for all my fellow perfectionists out there. I see you, and I get you. You don’t want to make a mistake and dishonor the beautiful journal that you just bought or that someone gave you.
What if you start it and then you don’t like the direction it’s going and you want to start over? What if you realize that you want to index this one, but you already wrote on those first few pages?
I know that what I’m about to tell you might feel like I’m saying, “Just get taller.” It seems impossible, but I want to encourage you that it is totally possible to overcome this kind of perfectionism.
I was this person, and years ago, I had partially started beautiful journals all over my house that I abandoned because they weren’t perfect. I also had a drawer full of gorgeous journals that I refused to defile.
And then one day, I had a new thought. The only defiled journal is the one that is left untouched. Journals WANT to be filled. They WANT to be used.
Think of your journal as a sandbox. Every page is a new opportunity to explore and create. You can change your mind. You decide to do things differently two-thirds of the way through it. It’s your private workshop. It’s your art studio. Have you ever seen a pristine art studio? If you have, I will bet it’s not a used one because a well-traveled art studio is gloriously messy. And it’s the same with a well-traveled journal.
#6 – You Don’t Know What to do With a Journal When it’s Full
Keep it, and use it! Your journals are a powerful tool for study, reflection, prayer, hope, and praise. I do a few things with my journals.
First, when I’m done with a journal, it goes in the queue for study. I am always working through a previous journal, studying it, pulling things out of it, praying through, and digging deeper. It is one of my most powerful study tools.
Pull out Nuggest of Truth
At the end of a week, one of my Sunday practices is to pull out Nuggets of Truth from that week and record them in a journal with the same name. I start by labeling and highlighting the week in this journal. I write out anything I learned that week. I gather all the prayers I wrote that week and put them under a section called “prayers.” I gather all the directions from God and write them under a heading called “directions.” I will often read through this journal many times throughout the year.
Add to a Book of Verses
I pull out the scriptures the Lord spoke to me that week and record them in my book of verses.
Add to Crafted Prayers Journal
If there were crafted prayers that I might want to go back to and pray again and again, I write them in my Crafted Prayer Journal.
Add to Reference Journal
If there was anything I may want to reference again (maybe a powerful teaching or something I studied that week), I add it to my Reference Journal. If God gave me a promise or a prophetic word that week, I’ll add it to my book of Prophecies.
Add to Your Book for the Year
At the end of a month, I gather all the lessons I learned that month and write them in my book for the year. I also read through the Scriptures the Lord spoke that month and write a summary of what he was speaking in the same book of the year.
Review Your Year and Your Decade
In the late fall (end of October-ish), I begin reading through the year to see what the Lord has done in my life that year, and I journal my observations. And at the start of a new decade, I pull out all my journals from the past ten years and spend time in my mornings with God reading through them and writing about what has changed and what sadly, hasn’t, how I’ve grown, and how much I’ve learned about God and myself. It takes me a good part of the new decade to process the previous one.
Build Your Legacy
When all this is done, I put my journals in plastic storage bins and keep them at the top of my bedroom closet. My children or grandchildren may never read them, but if they ever do, they will have a fairly complete and accurate picture of the treasure I stored in heaven and the spiritual legacy I had hoped to create for them.
Share your thoughts, ideas, and questions!
I want to hear from YOU! Take a moment to share your thoughts, tell me what you want me to write about, ask questions, and tell me about your journey. Let’s learn from each other!
