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Although you may not be a 'natural born'
journal writer, writing down your thoughts, questions, discoveries, and
responses to God's word is an important way to learn. Here are a few tips:
- Feed the soul before feeding the body.
Spend time with God and his Word
first thing in the morning before eating breakfast.
- Focus on the message from God to you
for each day.
Journal Nuts and Bolts
Points to consider when selecting a journal:
- Put the date on the top of
the page. You might also want to include the day and location
for each day's entry.
- Notebook size: 9 1/2 x 6 1/2 inches
- of course, you can use an 8 1/2 x 11 inch journal. However, the larger
page size can be intimidating for some people due to more page space
to fill; on the other hand, a smaller size is often more inviting and
less intimidating.
- Paper weight – 20 lb. so no ink
bleeds through
- Wire bound so you can fold it back
and tear out a page, if needed. Nevertheless, many people, however,
enjoy using a book-style journal.
- Get a notebook that has at least one pocket
in which to keep extra papers like
BibleGateway.com printouts and prayer lists.
- Keep some stickies on the inside of
the back cover to jot down notes when distracting thoughts come into
your mind during devotional time. Once you write them down, you can
forget them and can be free to return back to your time with God.
- Put your name, email address, and/or
your phone number inside the back cover. If you ever lose it, it can
be returned to you. This happened to one of our group members two times
over the past 17 years of Bible study journal writing.
Other Uses of the Journal
- Sermon Notes – taking notes
can not only help you to stay awake in church when life is stressful
and filled with too much work and studies but too little sleep. Try
to take notes during all sermons and review the notes later. Plus, we
learn by writing, so you can get more out of the sermons this way.
- Prayer List – Keep your
updated prayer list with you in a pocket of your journal or in its own
section of the notebook.
- Memorize Scripture – Keep
a list of verses to memorize.
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