Journaling is one of the most effective tools to maintain your mental health because it gives you an outlet to release the emotions, thoughts, and worries that are plaguing you. The key is to write in detail about your thoughts and feelings just like you would talk about them in a counseling session. I've taken this practice a step further and started addressing my journal entries to God. This allows me to pour my heart out to God in a way that can make giving things to Him tangible. He basically becomes my therapist, my best friend, and my go-to person to talk things out with.
If you're someone who struggles with:
expressing your feelings out loud when you're upset,
wanting to pray to God when you're upset but not knowing what to say, or
getting easily overwhelmed by life and the stressors that come with it,
Journaling may be the tool you've been missing to help you maintain your mental health.
Here are 10 journaling prompts to help you get started:
1. Journaling Prompt: Identify and write about your current emotions. How can you invite God into these feelings and allow Him to bring healing and peace?
How are you feeling right now? Write to God about it. Be open and honest with Him about how you're feeling and pour your heart out to Him knowing that He not only hears you but He cares about you. He wants to know how you're doing and He wants you to invite Him into your heart so He can help you heal and bring you peace.
2. Journaling Prompt: List five things you are grateful for today. How has God shown His goodness in your life recently?
Reflect on the little and big ways in which God has come through for you lately. It could be a kind word from a friend that came at just the right time, God answering a prayer you'd forgotten about or given up on, or the things in your life you feel blessed with. Write it all out to God and thank Him for them.
In times when you feel hopeless or discouraged, taking inventory of the good things in your life is a great way to lift up your spirits and fill your heart with gratitude.
3. Journaling Prompt: What burdens are you carrying right now? Write to God about them and ask Him to help you surrender them to Him.
1 Peter 5:7 tells us to cast our worries to God because He cares for us. So if you're feeling anxious or overwhelmed right now, take the time to write out the things that are overwhelming you or causing you to feel anxious and give them to God.
"Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you." ~ 1 Peter 5:7
4. Journaling Prompt: Think of a time when you felt weak but experienced God's strength. How can you rely on His strength in your current challenges?
We tend to try to handle things that come our way on our own before turning to God. In situations where He should be our first resort, He tends to be the last person we go to, once we've exhausted everything humanly possible to us. If you're currently feeling weary, consider that it may be time to invite God into your challenges and trust that where you are weak, He's strong. Being weak or having weaknesses is not a bad thing. I know it sounds crazy to boast about our weaknesses instead of trying to fix them, but in 2 Corinthians 12:9 Paul encourages us to boast about our weaknesses because when we do, and we still make it in situations where we shouldn't have been able to, God gets the glory!
"Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me." ~ 2 Corinthians 12:9
5. Journaling Prompt: Write about what it means to be a child of God. How does this identity impact your self-worth and perspective on life?
When you think about being a child of God, what does that mean for you? How does that make you feel about yourself? How does that make you feel about your life? Write to God about it and bring up any thoughts, emotions, or even questions that come up as you reflect on this.
6. Journaling Prompt: Choose a Psalm and write it out in your journal. Reflect on how it speaks to your heart and current situation. Personalize it as a prayer to God.
Sometimes you will go to write to God and have nothing to say and that's ok. The book of Psalms is one of my favorite to read through especially when I want to feel comforted by God's Word. For this prompt, you will pick a Psalm and write it out in your journal. Don't just read it, take a journal and write out what it says. This will help you engage with the Psalm and intentionally apply the words to yourself and your life. Some of my favorite Psalms to use for this prompt are Psalms 23, 27, and 91.
"The Lord is my light and my salvation—so why should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble? When evil people come to devour me, when my enemies and foes attack me, they will stumble and fall. Though a mighty army surrounds me, my heart will not be afraid. Even if I am attacked, I will remain confident." ~ Psalm 27:1-4
7. Journaling Prompt: What decisions or uncertainties are you facing? Write them down and ask God for wisdom and guidance.
Don't let your doubts or uncertainties overwhelm you, bring them God. No matter what is happening in your life you can always turn to God for help. He is so giving and so faithful that all you have to do is ask and He will give you the wisdom and guidance you seek.
8. Journaling Prompt: Write about a promise of God that brings you comfort and peace. How does this promise impact your current situation or mindset?
Throughout the Bible we see many promises from God to us that are there to remind us that just as He was faithful then, He will be faithful to us as well. One of these promises for example is that God will never leave us or forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:8). When you read this promise from God, how does it make you feel? How can you lean on it more in your current situation? Write about it in your journal.
This prompt is especially helpful on days when you're struggling with your mental health because it helps you get in the habit of looking for God's promises and leaning on them.
"Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.” ~ Deuteronomy 31:8
9. Journaling Prompt: Reflect on past experiences where you saw God's faithfulness in your life.
If He did it before, He will do it again! Sometimes all you need to renew your hope is to remember how God came through for you in the past. Remember all the things He's done. Remember all the prayers He's answered. Remember all the ways in which He came through and made a way where there seemed to be no way. Remember and hold onto those memories as evidence of God's faithfulness in your life.
10. Journaling Prompt: Write about areas in your life where you struggle to surrender control. Pray for the strength to trust God fully and release these areas to Him.
Surrendering control is easier said than done, but it's one of the most important things I've had to do (and keep having to do daily) to take care of my mental health. I can't do it all, but God can. I don't have all the answers, but God does. I don't know what's going to happen in the near or far future, but God does. So who better than Him to put in control of my life.
'“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts." ~ Isaiah 55:8-9
As you journal out this prompt, think about areas where you're struggling to give God full control; think about areas where you're still holding on and wanting to do things your own way. Write about them to God and ask Him for his help letting go in those areas so you can experience His peace which transcends understanding.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.
And voila! Happy Journaling my love! As you journal, remember that you are not alone. God is with you, guiding you, and providing the strength and comfort you need.
Want a journal for your Journaling Time with God? Check out the Dear Jesus Journal.
This journal was created to serve as an oasis for your daily conversations with God. With 200 pages of journaling, you can use this journal as a prayer journal, to record your Bible study notes, or to simply let your thoughts flow as you journal to God. Get your copy today on Amazon!
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