4 Types of Journaling to Help You Connect With and Hear From God

Hey Friend!

I’m excited because I haven’t shared a faith post in a while. It was really on my heart to talk about this with you. I know I’ve mentioned how I use journaling to connect with God. But I’ve never really gone into it thoroughly with the different types of journaling and how to hear from God.

In this post, I’m going to go through four different methods of journaling that you can use to help you connect with and hear from God. You can use these journaling methods:

• In Your Business
• In Your Life
• For Parenting Questions
• Whatever You’re Going Through

These different methods can be applied to so many areas of your life. I want you to have an open mind as we go through these. So grab a notebook and pen and let’s dig in.

Struggling With Spiritual Warfare?

Are you struggling with spiritual warfare or attacks from the enemy? Do you feel like you’re drowning or can’t seem to get ahead? I believe we are constantly being deceived and distracted and kept from our ultimate purpose. To fight these battles and to find freedom, I created the Seven Step Spiritual Battle Plan. God showed this to me one morning while journaling in Psalms 18. I have a free workbook for you that has blessed me so much in my own life. This workbook will help you walk through and find freedom from:

• Strongholds
• Attacks
• Addictions
• Traps From the Enemy

I use it over and over again. Head to this link and download it now. It’s completely free. Are you ready to learn how to hear from God through journaling? Let’s dive in.

The Year I Didn’t Hear From God

If you haven’t been listening to my show very long, let me tell you something that happened to me in 2016. It was the year my business crumbled, also known as my Britney Spears year. I had a breakdown that year. The money was gone! I know it sounds like a big sob story but I was such a mess. I was completely lost because I had put my identity in this business. And it failed.

• I Was 60 Pounds Overweight
• Drinking Too Much and
• Eating Wrong

Everything was falling apart. I felt the prompting of the Holy Spirit to hear from God. At that point in my life, I wasn’t really in a relationship with Christ. So, I decided to write and journal with Him. To sit down and to stop thinking and to stop doing and to stop throwing crap at the wall and rest in Him.

It Started With One Journaling Exercise

That is what opened the door to everything that I am now. It was this big, beautiful conversation between me and the Lord through paper. Journaling with God has become something I love so much. I’ve been blessed with a highly distracted ADD brain. Writing when listening to somebody helps me focus.

I repeat certain verses in my journal to really help me decode and decipher what it was I just read. And then I use journaling to hear from God. I ask Him questions. I’ve used journaling to really connect with God in such a deep and beautiful way. I want to give that gift to you because maybe you’re wondering what journaling method is best for you.

I know everybody’s different. So I’m going to share with you four methods that I’ve used and still use today. God speaks to everybody differently, but He speaks so beautifully.

Journaling is What Opened the Door to Hear From God

Opening the doors to finding out how you want to connect with God takes some different trials. It takes getting out of your comfort zone and not just doing the same thing over and over.

• Some people hear from God during worship.
• Some people hear from God in nature.
• Some people hear from God in journaling.

I’ve learned that I can hear from God in all of these different ways. It’s really cool to experience Him fully, completely, and intimately. I want to go through four types of journaling that you guys can use to connect and hear from Him.

I’ll talk a little bit about what it is and tactically how to do it. You can start with all four or kind of test them out to see which one feels right to you. There is no right or wrong way to do this, but I definitely would recommend doing this in some capacity because it’s been a beautiful open door of what’s possible between me and the Lord.

Journaling Type #1: Gratitude Journaling

The first type of journaling is Gratitude Journaling. It’s thank you, God. How do you guys start your prayers? My kids always start theirs with, “Thank you, God, for my day.” Every. Single. Prayer. They are so cute. Don’t say the same exact prayer every night. My youngest son still says, “Thank you, God, for this day. Please make the coronavirus go away.” I’m like, son, “We don’t have to pray for that one anymore.” But his is on repeat. It’s so adorable.

Gratitude journaling is basically where you’re sitting in thankfulness, gratefulness, and fulfillment over what God has given you. It doesn’t matter how small it might be. There are times when I’m enjoying my espresso machine. It’s a luxury that I got as a gift.

I’m telling you when it’s foamy and frothy and has got the tiniest tint of caramel, it’s so good. I’ll just be like, “Thank you, God, for this cup of coffee.” It gives me so much joy in my morning. I know it’s small but it’s just like our God to want to bless us in small, unique ways. Ways that are so unique to each of our personalities. It makes me so happy.

My Gratitude Journaling Technique to Hear From God

God often speaks to me in nature. I see butterflies all the time, white, yellow, and purple. Every single day. In the summer, I’m like, “Thank you, God, so much.” It just fills me up. These little things that you’re grateful for, sit down for a minute and really sit with them. I think the, “make a list of three things,” is cute, but you got to sit with it.

You have to feel something in order for it to matter to you. So go a little bit deeper than what you typically would do. Instead of, I’m thankful for these three things, list one thing that brought you joy that day. Write it out. Talk about how you felt. Paraphrase the actual experience in the journal.

I always imagine when I’m gone, I hope my kids will go through the stuff in my office. My prayer corner is full of all these journals. There are some:

• Poetry
• Memories
• Scribbly Chicken Notes
• Happy Moments
• Funny Moments
• Times When I Was Frustrated

I want them to be able to intimately know me through the way that I journal. It doesn’t need to be organized. Just imagine one day if someone reads your journals. How can you be open and authentic and evoke emotion through your story right now?

I don’t do this every single day, but usually, it’s when I have something to be really grateful for. I’ll sit with that for a moment and journal on it.

Feed Your Brain and Hear From God

We can experience even more blessings when we consider how our brains work. Affirmations work so well the more we feed our brains. While affirmations don’t create things in your life, they affirm things in your life.

You start to see yourself as more successful, therefore creating more opportunities in your life. Or you to see how nature always has God in it. I constantly see nature in the trees, leaves, and butterflies. I see more and more of that because I’m teaching my brain that those are the things I want to experience.

When you come from a grateful place and then journal about it, you begin to open your mind and experience more feelings of gratitude. It’s so beautiful. Plus, God deserves a thank you. Every single thing that brings you joy, fulfillment, peace, and purpose, it’s all from Him. Having a minute with Him to say thank you, I believe is what brings Him joy. Gratitude comes full circle between God and us.

Journaling Type #2: Prayer Journaling

The second type of journaling you can do is Prayer Journaling. Who have you been asked to pray for? When people say, “Will you say a prayer for this thing?” I either stop at the moment and pray and say a prayer with them, or I journal the prayer because I don’t want to forget.

If I ask someone to pray, I’m serious. I actually need you to pray for me, not just to say that you’re going to pray for me. This is a beautiful way to be intentional. You can make a list of the people that have asked you to pray for them and the things that you know you want to pray for. You can pray for your:

• Business
• Health
• Family
• Marriage
• Concerns
• Hopes
• Dreams
• Struggles

Whatever that looks like, make a list of those things that you want to be intentional about. Then choose one that’s most on your heart. I like to go deep, not wide, and sit and really pray over this thing in written format and talk to God about it.

For anything that you need help with, this is the place to do that. It’s your chance to pour out to the One who loves you the absolute most. As you’re journaling your prayer, ask God for direction. Ask Him for:

• Help
• Guidance
• Mentorship
• Solutions
• Resolutions

Anything that you are needing, ask Him. “Ask and you will receive.” Not always in the way that you think right? But God is at the helm of it all, and He is waiting for you to ask. Trust that He’ll answer your prayers and lead you in the right direction.

Journaling Type #3: Scripture Journaling

The third type of journaling is Scripture Journaling. There are lots of Bible studies that help with scripture journaling. If you guys need help with this, some of my favorites are the SOAP Bible Studies from my friend Polly Payne’s company, Horatio Printing. And check out the Grace Co Devotionals. I absolutely love their stuff.

You can also do this yourself. Basically what this looks like is you can research a scripture that you’re looking for. Sometimes I’ll look up specific parenting verses. Or maybe I’ll look up verses for patience.

Find a passage of Scripture that speaks to you at this moment and write it down in your journal. Meditate on what the verse says. Read it, read it aloud, meditate on it again, and then journal over it.

How I Dissect Verses and Hear From God

I’ve talked a lot about how I dissect verses because there’s typically an “if than” statement in every single verse. For example, in Romans 15:13 Paul says, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

You receive hope and peace and joy, but as you trust in Him. Here, we have an “if than” statement. Many of the verses that really resonate with me have this. It’s when you trust in God. They don’t say it that way, but that’s where your journaling can come in.

Take keywords, highlight, and circle them. Here are some journaling questions to ask:

• What does that mean to you?
• How does it apply to you?
• Is there an “if than” in this verse?
• When I do blank, I receive what?

Try to go deeper. One sentence of scripture might have layers and layers of meaning and depth. Allow yourself to go into the deep. Deep, not wide, and really dig into that. Reflect on what you’ve journaled and then ask God to show you anything else you need to know about that verse. Write down any revelation that you get and downloads that you get. It’s such a beautiful thing.

Journaling Type #4: Reflection Journaling

The fourth and final journaling prompt that I do is called Reflection Journaling. This can be at the end of every day, it can be at the end of every week, or it can be at the end of every month. It doesn’t matter.

It kind of depends on what you want to do. Maybe you want to take time to just reflect.

• What’s gone well?
• What has not gone well?
• What questions do you have?

I love to ask God questions. Right now, we’re struggling with whether to keep our kids in public school. Are we going to move to a private school for middle school? We have a community that we love so much here. I know all the families. It’s a really small community. But this crazy world curriculum! You know what I mean? But it’s not up to me. It’s up to God. So I journaled that question, Lord, I’m not sure what to do here. Please help me.

Hear From God

Please show me the way and give me peace over Your answer. I will be obedient to it. This is where the reflection of your life stuff comes in. So questions that you have:

• What you’ve done well?
• What you’ve done right?
• Victories?
• Successes?
• Trials that you’re going through?

This kind of reflection. Of course, this can intermingle with prayer journaling. That’s okay. You don‘t need to think this is not a prayer journal. It’s all right. It all kind of culminates together. I have one big notebook, and it’s all in one place because certain things bleed into other things. The reflection piece gives me the time and the intentionality to reflect.

When we take a moment to reflect, we’re able to see maybe what we could change, what we can do better, and see the blessings that we might have missed. It helps you to make better and maybe more clear decisions moving forward. Of course, ask God for wisdom and guidance.

As I look back on my journals over the past few years, anytime I had a question, it’s answered. God doesn’t leave me hanging very long. He is not a God of confusion.

If You Just Ask, You Can Hear From God

I think God is often waiting for our ask in order to give us the answer. These have been beautiful ways for me to connect with Him. I cannot express to you how much intimacy I experience when I’m sitting and I’m journaling with him. It’s a beautiful time.

Sometimes it’s only five minutes. This doesn’t need to be a whole thing. It can be something that you squeeze into your day. I prefer an hour. Like I told you guys when I did my morning routine episode recently, I prefer an hour of all of this stuff, but sometimes it’s going to be five minutes and sometimes it doesn’t happen at all.

And that’s okay. God knows your life. But make it a priority to do it as often as you can. I really think it makes a difference. I pray that God will:

• Speak to you through the journaling process.
• That He will open your heart and mind.
• That you’ll be able to receive wisdom, revelation, and downloads from Him.
• That you’ll be partnered with Holy Spirit in whatever it is that you’re walking through right now.
• That God will give you strength, peace, and also discernment on any decisions that you’re making.

Because He’s with you. And His way is 100% better than your way. He’s got a path and a plan for you. All you have to do is trust in it, Amen. That is my prayer for you.

I pray this blesses you!

Xo,

Stef

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