How You Can Use Journaling to Walk Deeper with God
We are currently living in one of the best times to be alive. In a matter of a few seconds, I can check on college football recruiting, listen to the latest song I like, watch a new movie and then catch up on a Bible reading plan I am doing with four of my college friends.
Yet with technological advances come downsides.
We also live in the most distracted age ever. Now more than ever, it is harder to slow down, focus on deep work, and especially hear from God. If we don’t figure out how to connect with God, and in particular slow down to seek and listen to the leading from the Holy Spirit, we run a huge risk. This pace can result in the stunting of our spiritual growth, leading to wandering from intimacy with God and, in turn, relying too much on ourselves.
Many people suggest journaling as a great way to slow down and reflect. But if I am being honest, journaling has always been too awkward for me. I’m not great at instantly divulging to God about my current life. After trying it for a season in college, and finding it too awkward, I never really gave it another try.
Then one day, someone told me about a daily ritual of asking yourself a few questions and writing out your responses to them. This was the difference maker! This method of journaling has been a key for me to slow down, connect with God, process the lies I believe, and focus on the truth of who God is.
Here is how it works…
In my Moleskine journal, I keep a notecard that has a few questions on it. These questions are prompts for me to answer and they are designed to help me think about who God is, where I am at and the lies I believe. Here are the questions…
Review My day: My goal here is to reflect back and consider all that happened. This starts the process of thinking about what God was and is doing.
How did I steward the tasks God has entrusted to me? There are a few key areas that God entrusts to each person in life. We don’t need to manufacture success in these roles but do need to try to be a fruitful steward. As I think about them, I consider how well I invested in each of these areas…
Connecting with God
My Marriage
My Kids
My Friends
The Great Commission: Being a disciple-maker and being a disciple.
My Health
My Job: OU Cru
What do I have to thank God for? This is something that is really impactful. It helps me shift from entitlement (what do I get from life) to thankfulness (what is God giving me).
What is my current reality inside? This starts the shift to processing emotions. Emotions are real but not always trustworthy. If we build our lives around them, life will be a mess. We need to know what emotions we are feeling before we can see how we need to move forward.
What are things I can’t control? Tim Casteel with Cru at the University of Arkansas recently told me that he thinks through this question. I added it to mine. Often a temptation from sin is to try and control things, outcomes, people, etc. Yet we can’t control those things. By acknowledging this, I am able to give these over to God to control, and consider what would help me create an environment where these things can flourish.
Who does God say I am? This allows me to consider where I am finding my identity and shift it to the identity God gives me. I often find myself writing, “God loves me for who I am and not what I do for Him.”
What is God showing me? Thinking about this helps me consider the ways God is trying to grow me to be like Jesus.
What do I need to focus on today? Shifting to the responsibilities I have, narrowing down 3 goals for the day gives me clarity. From there, I go through my calendar and look at the plan for the day.
What is my word for the year? I do a word for the year to focus on a lesson God is teaching me. This is how I make time to think about this idea consistently.
What I am reading? This is my prompt to open the Bible and study the Word of God. I write down the passage I am reading and as I read, I write down any notes from the passage.
What I am learning? This is my last question and allows me to focus on what God wants me to see from the word, from my past day and, from my own heart.
I highly encourage you to consider adding a 5-10 min journaling session to your daily routine. If you are like me and the idea of processing your thoughts unprompted doesn’t seem to work, try this daily questions list instead.
We can’t continue to allow our minds to run consumed, distracted and, unfocused. If we do, we won’t be good stewards of what God has entrusted to us and will wander away from intimacy with God.
If we can take the time to consistently pause, connect with God, process our hearts, and listen to God, we can fight some of the negative effects of the modern digital age, walk deeply with God and live out the roles God has entrusted to us.
