How Prayer Journaling Transforms Us
Today, I want to talk about how prayer journaling can transform us.
I want to encourage you in the practice of prayer journaling.
I want to be open with you today and explain how I use my journal, the insights I gain from it, and how it helps me stay connected to what God is doing in my life. Of course, the reason I want to share this with you is that I hope if you aren’t already prayer journaling, you will see why this is such a foundational practice for our soul care and spiritual formation.
(Listen to the blogposts on our podcast :Faith and Soul Care:)
Before I jump into this, I want to remind you that the prayer journal I designed, which includes spaces for each of these practices that I teach and talk about, can be found on the books page of SherryElaine.com. If not, you can also go to Amazon and search for Prayer Journal Sherry Elaine, and it should come right up.
When you begin or continue in your prayer journaling, you will gain insights from it. You will start to see patterns in how God is working in your life, and it will help you stay connected with what He is doing.
Recognizing God’s Faithfulness Through Prayer Journaling
At the beginning of each week in the journal I designed, I include extra pages for notes. Personally, I use at least part of each note section for what tends to become a long list of continuing prayers—prayers that I know won’t be answered immediately. If I sense that a request will take more than a week or two to unfold, I write it down as a continuing prayer. That way, I can go back, review it, and intentionally continue to pray over it again and again.
Looking back at my journal over the last couple of months, I see that at the beginning of February, I had written down 18 continuing prayers. Now, as I go back and review, I see that 10 of those prayers have been answered in the way I had hoped.
The remaining eight are still unfolding. Some are long-term prayers, and I know I won’t have an answer for six months or more. Others are in progress—I’ve seen some movement but not a full resolution yet. And some are simply waiting for God’s perfect timing.
Among those 18 prayers, there were two that I did not expect to be answered so quickly or so affirmatively. Yet, God intervened in a way that was undeniably His doing. When I reflect on this, I’m reminded that God truly is paying attention to our prayers.
The importance of writing down our prayers is that, if we don’t, we often forget what we even prayed for. And if we forget what we prayed for, we don’t recognize how God has been hearing and answering us all along.
For example, let’s say I prayed, Lord, please protect me from getting sick this month. Life gets busy, and I forget that I even prayed that. A month later, I look back and realize, Wow, I didn’t get sick. That was an answered prayer! Especially if the flu was going around, and many people around me were getting sick, I would have completely overlooked God’s protection if I hadn’t written it down.
Prayer journaling helps us see patterns. You begin to notice that some prayers are answered quickly, some take time, and some are answered in ways you never expected. You also begin to see the truth of what the Bible tells us: If we pray according to His will, He hears us and answers us.
Trusting God When the Answer is No
So what about when God says no? Of course, not every prayer gets a yes. In the past two months, I’ve had about three prayers where the answer was clearly no. One of them involved an important decision I had to make. While I may not fully understand why yet, I trust that God’s no was for my good.
Because when I look at my journal, I can see how often God has been faithful. In so many prayers lifted up, I can trust that the few no’s are because He knows best. He is still being faithful, delivering the outcome He knows is best—even when it’s not what I had hoped for. This is why keeping track of our prayers is so powerful. It strengthens our faith and gives us confidence in God’s timing and wisdom.
All of this—prayer journaling, abiding in Christ, staying connected to God—are topics we’re going to explore together in my upcoming Women’s Connection Cohorts. These will be small groups where we will learn spiritual practices and grow together in faith. More details are coming soon!
If you want to be the first to know when we launch, be sure to join the email notification list at SherryElaine.com/cohorts. I can’t wait to see how God moves in your life as you grow in prayer and deepen your relationship with Him.
More Resources:
If you would like to learn simple, practical ways to walk with God every single day, then you would really enjoy Closer to God: Simple Methods, Starting Today
If you need motivation to eat healthier or lose weight while also growing
closer to God, then you would enjoy Weight Loss for Christians, An
 |
If you want to learn more deeply and fully about what Jesus taught, then you would enjoy Words of Jesus - Bible Study on Christ's Teachings
New! Prayer and Reflection Journal I Designed! I love how the journal turned out! It has all I need for prayer tracking and reflections and re-setting my mind with struggles I am facing.
More Resource Channels:
Gospel Life Learning Instagram
Sherry Elaine - Books Authored
