Wondering why you should start journaling this year?

I’d love to share with you the number one reason you should start journaling today. I’d love to tell you the story of how journaling changed my relationship with my daughter-in-love. I want you to know how prayer-journaling brought about the beginning of a whole, a new relationship with Jesus.

There were holes in my theology. There was something missing in my belief. I wasn’t quite convinced God actually heard my prayers about a near and dear ache of my heart, but then, I knew He had.

Spilling out from the pages of my prayer journals, the words dripped over my heart like honey. Words spoken in the wee hours of the morning brought the healing balm of hope-realized.

As the words I longed to hear flowed from my daughter-in-law’s mouth, my heart’s desire was met in one brief moment. She was completely unaware. I had prayed for this; actually, I had begged God for it. He didn’t say, “No.” He said, “Wait for it.”

Then, I waited. I wished. I hoped.

Why Should You Start Journaling?

Hope postponed grieves the heart;
but when a dream comes true, life is full and sweet. Proverbs 13:12

Full and sweet. What a perfect description of how my heart felt the moment my dream came true. It was as if our conversation had been mined right out of the deepest yearnings confessed in my journals, right from my intimate conversations with God. Had she read my prayer journals? Improbable. Could she hear my private prayers? Impossible. Yet, her words were exact quotes from my endless prayers and pleas. Scripted by God, Himself, my heart’s desire was met, my sweetest dreams come true, my favorite gift that year.

Reading over the notes in my journals, I realized the importance of writing down our conversations with God. He had heard every one of my prayers. He’d kept every tear in a bottle. He had written this day into the story of my life before I’d ever seen a glimpse of hope in my situation. Journaling had changed my relationship with God and my daughter-in-love.

Prayer journaling had become an anchor keeping me afloat in the sea of doubt. When I didn’t have the faith to believe, the written words provided a tangible life raft to cling to instead of drowning in my regrets. God gives us the desires of our hearts when they line up with His. And, I knew this dream perfectly aligned with my Father’s heart. We were meant for more than the world said we could have.

As believers, we could have a beautiful mother-in-law-daughter-in-law relationship. I wanted it, but I didn’t know how to make it happen. It seemed elusive; yet, I had a vision of what life would be like when this dream came true. He gave me a glimpse and I wrote it down.

In a moment, I realized the importance and the power of the written word.

When recalling an entire year of events, we cannot fully understand the sum of all its parts. Often, we compartmentalize our moments into the good and the bad, what we liked and what we didn’t, what we wanted and our reality.

The whole defines us and develops our character. Without fear, we never get to be brave. Without wounds, we never experience the wonder of our healing. Also, without obstacles, we miss the sweet victory of defeating our enemy. Without longing, there’s no appreciation when our waiting ends. Seemingly obvious, but often overlooked, we must remain present because every moment counts.

Teach us to number our days so that we may truly live and achieve wisdom. Proverbs 90:12

Writing down our conversations with God allows us to gain a clearer vision of what He has in store for us. His Word promises we have a future and a hope.

And, vision is the key to finding our purpose and delight. If we can envision a better future, we have a better chance of seeing it become reality.

Where there is no vision from God, the people run wild,
but those who adhere to God’s instruction know genuine happiness (delight). Proverbs 29:18 (parenthesis mine)

Vision…without it, we run buck wild with no purpose or goal before us.

What’s your vision? Do you have a word for the year? If not, try these words: purpose and delight. We can be purposeful in our encounters and delight in every adventure He has planned.

However positive or negative the situation may look to the naked eye, we can choose to have a bigger vision, God’s vision. He shines His Light into the unknown making anything possible and everything plausible. Our part is to carry the vision. In order to keep the vision before us, it is imperative to write it down and record the vision as a tangible reminder, lest we forget.

What’s the number one reason you should start journaling?

The gift of hope-revealed. Writing down the words He speaks, anchors our hopes in Him. He alone meets our deepest heart’s desire. His Word will not return void without accomplishing all that He desires. It will not fail.

In His time, it will surely come; we’re promised it will not delay. I’d watch for it. I’d waited too. And, one day, it unexpectedly happened. I heard the words I longed to hear. What a sweet surprise! I’m telling you when we’re constantly on the lookout for His hand in our lives, God shows up, at the right moment.

I will take my place at the watchtower.
And, I will stand at my post and watch.
I will watch and see what He says to me.
I need to think about how I should respond to Him
When He gets back to me with His answer.

The Lord says,
“Write down this vision.
Write it clearly on tablets, so that anyone who reads it may run.
For the vision points ahead to a time I have appointed;
it testifies regarding the end, and it will not lie.
Even if there is a delay, wait for it.
It is coming and will come without delay.”
Habakkuk 2:1-3

The art of waiting on the Lord is not acquired but required.

If not for today, then tomorrow…or the next. With anticipation and hope, expectation and delight, we must learn to wait while holding on to each word He’s spoken. Until it is time, we get to endure the wait.

Words, spoken to our heart by the Lord are often for a later time. I believe it’s His tender way of giving us something to hang onto in the wait. If we will write it down and record the vision, we will learn to wait well. We’ll learn to wait with purpose, delighting in the promises of His timing and His goodness, knowing He has given us a future and a hope in Jesus Christ.

A few of us our claiming February as our January. I am this year, how about you? Regardless of when yours started, it’s a new year filled with possibility. Each of us has a “tabula rasa,” a blank slate; even better translated, an erased state. Whether written in stone or on wax tablets, every day offers us a second chance to do this day differently. We have an endless gift of do-overs. It’s been said, our days “may be refreshed repeatedly, by melting the wax or by erasing the chalk.”

It’s in our power to let the Holy Spirit have His way in and through us. When we purpose to delight in Him, He will fill the pages of our journals with dreams and visions, words and promises.

What dream has God placed in your heart this year?

What hopes will you place in His hands? Write down every word He speaks. Record the vision; then, take your place on the watchtower and wait for your hope to be revealed. With expectation and anticipation, pour your heart out to the One who writes your story.

How enduring is God’s loyal love;
the Eternal has inexhaustible compassion.
Here they are, every morning, new!
Your faithfulness, God, is as broad as the day.
Lamentations 3:22-23

So it is when I declare something.
My word will go out and not return to Me empty,
But it will do what I wanted;
it will accomplish what I determined.
Isaiah 55:11

Prayer: Lord, write Your story on the tablets of our hearts. Thank You for the mercies that are new every morning. You are the God of second chances and we are ever grateful for Your love. Teach us to watch and wait for Your timing. And, when it comes to our heart’s desires, Lord, align our hearts with Yours. Give us the vision to see with Your eyes the future and the hope You have written into our days. May we hear Your voice and write down every word You speak.