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Journaling

Why Write Anything Down

Reading a passage and thinking about it is good. Writing down what you thought is better, for a plain reason: writing forces you to finish the sentence. A vague impression can stay vague forever in your head. On the page it has to become words, and the moment it becomes words you find out whether you actually understood the passage or only felt something about it.

There is a second reason, which you will not appreciate until later. A year from now you will not remember what you saw in Genesis 3 this morning. Your journal will.

It Is Your Journal

Nothing here assumes you are writing one particular kind of entry. The box is a box.

Use it to work through the day’s passage if that is what you came for. Use it as a prayer journal, writing to God rather than about the text. Keep a running list of questions you cannot answer yet, or of things you are grateful for, or of verses you want to come back to. Some readers write a paragraph of study and a short prayer underneath. All of that is the same box, and none of it is wrong.

The prompts and methods below are offered because a blank box is hard to start. Ignore every one of them if you would rather just write.

How Much to Write

As much or as little as the day gives you.

Some days you will fill the box. Other days one sentence is the honest total of what you have, and one sentence is enough. The discipline that matters is returning tomorrow, not producing a paragraph you do not have. An entry that reads I did not understand this chapter at all is a real entry. It is also the kind you will find most interesting when you read back through the year.

Do not wait until you have a profound thought. Profound thoughts arrive while you are writing ordinary ones.

Ways to Organize Your Thoughts

If the empty box is intimidating, it helps to have a shape to pour into. These four have been in common use for a long time. The first three ask much the same questions in a different order, so do not agonize over which to adopt. Pick one, use it for a week, and change it if it does not fit.

H.E.A.R.

S.O.A.P.

O.I.A.

A.C.T.S.

The difference between the first three is smaller than it looks. S.O.A.P. starts by copying the verse out, which slows you down enough to notice its wording. H.E.A.R. starts by choosing a phrase, which is easier when the reading is long. O.I.A. drops the prayer step and stays with the text, which suits a passage you are trying to understand before you are ready to respond to it.

All three run in the same direction, and it is the right direction: what does it say, what does it mean, what does it have to do with me.

A.C.T.S. is a different instrument. It shapes a prayer rather than a study, so reach for it on the days you would rather talk to God than analyze a passage.

Choosing One

Go to Settings and pick a method under Journal Data. Its questions will then appear as faint text in every empty journal entry.

That faint text disappears as soon as you start typing, which is often the moment you still need it. So every journal entry has a menu above the box reading Insert a prompt. Choose any of the four methods and its questions drop into the entry as ordinary text, with room to write under each one. Choose Random question and a single question from the collection below appears instead. Pick it again for a different one until something catches.

Whatever it inserts is just words in your entry. Edit them, delete the ones you do not want, or clear the lot. If you have already written something, the menu adds its questions at the end rather than replacing your work, so you can start with study notes and add a prayer afterward.

If none of the methods suit you, choose Write my own in Settings and put in whatever question you would rather be asked each day. Any of the prompts below will serve.

When You Are Not Sure What to Write

Some mornings the passage lands and you know exactly what to say. Other mornings you read three chapters and have nothing. That is normal, and it is not a sign that you are doing this badly.

On those days, stop trying to summarize the reading and answer one question instead. Pick whichever group below matches where you actually are today, not where you think you ought to be.

To Start the Day

Two of these are worth returning to often: what would change if you believed this today, and is there anything here you would rather not be true. They tend to find the places where reading has not yet become belief.

Several of these prompts were adapted from the journaling prompt collection at mylifenote.ai.

Your Entries Are Private

Everything you write stays in your browser on this device. It is never sent anywhere. Nobody can read it, and that includes us.

The practical consequence is that clearing your browser data will delete your entries, and they will not appear on your other devices. If a journal matters to you, export it from time to time in Settings.