Resources for Sacred Journaling Practice

Journaling can be a way to help us focus as we pray. Whether we write a letter to God, or start with a juicy prompt, writing can carry us into places we didn't expect and flesh out insights that were just waiting for our attention. This way of journaling is an act of prayer, so set aside a period of time, find a place without distractions, and settle in. 

As always, take time to center before you begin, and acknowledge or call in the presence of the Holy to be with you in this time. Write, draw, or doodle your way through what you want to wonder about, allowing yourself to write a bit, slide into the quiet for a bit, write some more, or to use each of your hands to take on a character and write out a dialogue between you and God/Spirit/or Higher Self. As you explore, try paper and pen, the computer, or some paints.  Pay attention to what helps you feel attentive during your time of prayer. Try your hand at writing a psalm or a lament. 

How does it feel to put praise or longing into words as a prayer? 

When your journal prayer time is done, be sure to thank God for whatever came through.  Journaling as a regular practice can help cultivate self-awareness and insight.  We can share our prayer writings with others if we choose, or we can keep them private, burn them as a way to send their energy to God, or just keep writing over the same line over and over so the writing process itself is all there is, and the written is a mystery of layers that becomes illegible in one way, but fully expressed in another.