Journaling
I really enjoy writing. I enjoy writing for a few reasons: it's a creative outlet and it helps me to better articulate my thoughts. While I'm not an expert, I found my joy in writing at a very young age--somewhere in elementary and up until college, I would stick to seasons of writing here and there. It wasn't until I decided to actually finish college and through the encouragement of a few professors that I decided I would stick with it and it has been extremely therapeutic and profitable.
Today, I'm constantly writing something down by hand--whether it's through my journal or during a meeting on a pocket notebook, writing helps me to slow down and process what I'm reading or the tasks for the day. Specifically, I wanted to gauge journaling in this post. Every time I sit to read my bible or study through a book, I keep my journal and jot my thoughts, process, and prayers down. All of the men I disciple, I encourage to journal; some are journal every day and throughout their studies while others tend to be a little more sporadic.
I wanted to give you a quick encouragement to try and pick up journaling; particularly as you crack open your bibles or as you study through a book. It will be of much benefit for you though I will admit, it is a discipline of some sort. If you don't think journaling can help you in light of meditation or prayer, check out the book of Psalms. The psalmist begins several of his prayers crying out to God and over time (especially within that same psalm) you see a development of devotion and worship.
Many of my journal entries begin with me crying out to God and as I write, I find that I begin to preach the gospel of His grace to myself. Journaling is a wonderful reminder to me of what I know to be true about God. So, if you find yourself where you're having difficulty in prayer, collecting your thoughts, or even memorizing scripture, let me encourage you to pick up a journal and give it a month--see how your prayer life and devotion develop over the course of those short weeks. Slow down and write it all out.
If you're wondering where to start, preferably I like to use Moleskin journals because they can take a beating in my bag which means they're durable and have good paper. But if mokeskin is too hipster for you, that's cool. You can always get a spiral notebook or other journals for a lower price.
And if you're looking at a great resource for spiritual disciplines, then I highly recommend you check out Donald Whitney's book Spiritual DIsciples for the Christian Life. While journaling is not a spiritual discipline, it is profitable and throughout his book, Whitney writes of the benefits of journaling in light of spiritual disciplines.
