This article describes one of many techniques developed by Adventures in Spiritual Living to encourage and support personal spiritual experience. It can be used by individuals or enjoyed as a group activity and sharing.
Description
Spiritual life journaling is simply having a written conversation with God, your partner and friend. It is a wonderful way to share your prayers and thoughts with your Heavenly Parent as well as to preserve them for your reflection. It is an extremely effective tool for spiritual growth.
Writing in your spiritual journal is a wonderful way to start or end your day or you can take a break during the day for journaling. It can open your life to a deeper, more intimate understanding of yourself and God. Problems or decisions can be productively considered by journaling.
Benefits of Spiritual Life Journaling
Writing down your conversations with God often clarifies your thinking and focuses your attention. Expressing yourself on paper at times allows you to make realizations. Suddenly you may understand a friend’s unfriendly behavior or recognize the cause of your own vague uneasiness.
Writing tends to open up some of the mysteries of your mind. You may occasionally even be tapping into the superconscious reservoir of your mind. Also, much valuable information comes from your subconscious.
When you write, you are able to focus more intently. Therefore, you can delve more deeply into your thoughts and feelings. As you write, you will find yourself exploring many different elements and aspects that had not occurred to you before.
Those of us who regularly keep a spiritual life journal look forward eagerly to our journal time as a stabilizing and energizing point in our day. It is a time of spiritual, mental, and emotional adjustment and insight.
Preparing to Journal
There are several factors to consider before starting your journal. Decide on a particular time and place to be alone. Early morning tends to be good for many people. Also, the kind of notebook you select should be suited to your style. There are numerous varieties from which to choose, ranging from the familiar school spiral notebook to elegantly bound journals.
Always take time before you write to silently talk to God and to ask for awareness of his presence. Such a prayer invokes the assistance of various spiritual agencies and focuses your mind on drawing insights from your higher self.
You may want to use the Hot Pen method of writing rapidly and continuously throughout the time you write. When you do this, you will find your writing becomes easier and your creativity opens up. On the other hand, there are times when you will probably want to write more contemplatively, alternating moments of quiet reflection with your writing. (the Quill Pen method)
Taking the time to write on spiritual topics will enrich and deepen your relationship with God. If you have ever pondered the meaning of “grace” or “love,” then writing on these topics will broaden your understanding and help you grow tremendously. Ask questions and speculate on answers. Write it all down.
You can start by examining the fruits of the spirit or any of the value concepts that Jesus instructed us to live by. Good questions to ask are ‘What can I do to instill these in my life?” or “How can I learn tolerance, peace or joy?”
Journaling as a Coping Tool
You can also use your journal to help you through a crisis or a particularly hard time in your life. God is always there to support you, especially when you are hurting. Writing out your pain, grief or suffering to God’s understanding ear is very therapeutic. Our divine Parent understands and knows we need to work through the emotional aspects of life as well. We must frequently work through our emotions before we can hear and receive the help he is so ready to give us. Pour everything out and write it down. As you write, you may start noticing that interesting points and elements appear. Take time to follow through and write on them. This is part of the understanding and healing process.
When you are ready, you will want to ask the question, “My dear inner spirit, what must I do to work through this situation?” Patience and persistence in writing and praying will be well worth the effort. Many people have worked through major as well as minor crises in their lives simply by writing them out and sharing them with God.
Journaling to Manage Oneself
Forgiveness is an issue that most of us have been faced with in our lives. It may be that someone has wronged you or you may have done the harm yourself. Using your spiritual journal to pray for assistance and understanding in forgiving yourself or others is extremely beneficial. Take the time to explore the issue from all angles. Expect your indwelling spirit of God to show you the other person’s perspective as well. The writing process is a great aid here in that you are better able to examine the situation in depth. Use your spiritual life journal frequently as you work through these spiritual growth stimulators by revisiting your entries. You will observe progress in your understanding and your attitudes. Unless you journal, you may overlook your progress.
Another wonderful thing to do with your journal is to list your thankfuls. Write down all the things you are thankful for. As you write them down one after another, you will start getting a wonderful, uplifting feeling — a feeling akin to worship. What a great way to start or end your day!
Recognizing Results
As you continue the process of writing down your prayers over time, you begin to see how they are answered and to observe certain patterns. Many times, you will note that your attitude has shifted and your spiritual perspective has changed.
Answers sometimes come like pieces of a puzzle. By recording them, you can look back and piece them together. You can then get a more complete picture of what has happened. If you look closely, you may realize that you have received an answer to your request — a higher spiritual perspective.
It is a great faith booster to look back at what you have written in the past and see that many of your concerns have been answered. You will notice how you have grown and changed over time. You may see patterns that will give you a clue to the spirit’s leading, as it unfolds over time.
Frequency
You may start out writing in your journal only once a week, then move up to every couple of days. As time goes by, you may want to write every day, especially if you are working on a particular problem. The idea is to write as much and as often as you feel led, but do not go so long between writing that you forget about this powerful technique. Writing like this can be a prayer technique but don’t limit this kind of prayer to times of desperation, pain, or worry. Give thanks often.
Remember that writing down your prayers in your journal is always in addition to your other means of communication, such as speaking to God silently and throughout the day in casual conversation. You alone decide how to spend your time with God. It Is all valuable in his eyes.
Writing, when done from the sincere spiritual viewpoint, is a wonderful way to develop your friendship with God. It can be your way to discover yourself, your hopes and dreams − and with God’s help, work toward them.
