Flipping through the pages, I couldn’t help but feel nostalgic, chuckling as I saw my random emotions at a specific moment written in a small spare note. This is what I love about journaling. There is this joy in reading about your past and reliving it. It is just magical. I started journaling in college, I was doing it the traditional way, jotting down my feelings and talking about my day. It is when I reverted to the Catholic faith that I got to know a journaling that is centered on prayer, prayer journaling. In this blog post, we will discuss the complete process of how to start a Catholic prayer journal. Guiding you step-by-step with sample prompts you can use.
Step 1: Choose Your Material
To start your prayer journaling journey, you have to choose where to write your entries first. You can pick any of the following.
- Notebook
- Blank Book
- Binder with notebook paper
- Mobile App
Although there are premade prayer journals available, you can still create a journal with any paper. Whether it is a spare notebook or loose-leaf paper, any material will do as long as it is clean so that you could easily track your prayers which is one of the reasons why we journal.
If you are after convenience, you can also use mobile apps as a journal. There are various journal apps available both on the play store and the app store.
Step 2: Choose a Prompt
The next step is choosing a prompt to help you start journaling. Here are some of the ideas you can try.
- Daily feelings– This is a classic one. This answers, how was your day? On this prompt, you can write everything that’s inside of you. Feeling good, jot it down. Feeling bad, record it. Here, you can express your struggles and victories letting you be honest and open, allowing God to enter your life.
- Daily Readings– You can also reflect on the daily Mass readings. How it impacts you, the lessons you learn, and actionable plan to apply in your life. You are actually hitting two (2) birds here. You are able to pray and read the scriptures as well. For daily readings, you can check this out.
- Saints’ and Catholic Writers’ Works– Aside from daily readings, you can also reflect on the works of the Saints. It could be a quote, a diary, or any other writings they contributed to the Church. Examples are the Diary of St. Faustina, An Introduction to the Devout Life from St. Francis the Sales, and The Imitation of Christ by Thomas Kempis. As these are organized in their own ways, doing a reflection is easy.
- Gratitude– One of the trends in the journaling world today is a gratitude journal. This is a niche-specific journal that is centered on thankfulness. What are you grateful for? This especially works for those who are feeling lonely, helping you to see the world differently, with a grateful heart.
Step 3: Start Writing
Now that you already know some of the prompts, you can already start writing.
You can check these Catholic Prayer Journal Templates for ideas.
If you are fond of art you can also incorporate it into your journaling.
You can choose colorful pens, doodle in it, put stickers, or even paste your photos.
This is your personal record so you can style it whatever you want.
Step 4: Make it a Habit
Lastly, make it a part of your routine. As Catholics, prayer is a must for us. This is how we connect to God. Consider it your priority.
Set a schedule.
Make it a habit.
This will drastically improve your prayer life.
There are available prayer trackers you could use. These will help you stay committed to prayer.
Premade Prayer Journal
As this kind of journal is becoming famous, there are already premade prayer journals available in the market today.
Here are the types of prayer journals in the market.
- Book– This type of prayer journal is the basic one. You can check this list of the best Catholic prayer journals in this form.
- Printable– Another type is a printable prayer journal. This has become a trend nowadays with different prompts and designs. You can visit this for simple yet classy printable prayer journals.
If you are not a fan of organizing or styling your prayer journal sections, you can try these tailored journals. You can get a Holy Mass Journal, Bible Journal, Gratitude Journal, Devotional Journal, and others depending on your liking.
Conclusion
There you have the steps in starting a prayer journal.
As someone who easily gets overwhelmed by starting something, I don’t know or am not familiar with, this simplified list of steps in prayer journaling can be a huge help.
Follow these for a whole new journaling and prayer experience!
For more about journaling, you can read these related posts.
Happy Journaling!