A lot of women I mentor tell me that since become mothers they have noticed a dip in their prayer lives. They no longer have blocks of hours to pray or spend time with God because of the pressures of life including being a wife and mother. As a result they feel guilty because they feel God isn’t happy with them. 

Firstly I want you to remember that you are no longer condemnation because you are in Christ Jesus.God, Jesus or the angels do not have a reward chart in heaven where they give you brownie points because you prayed today. Of course this does not mean you should not pray but it means you should change your perspective about prayer.

What is prayer?

Simply put, prayer is communicating with God. It is giving Him praise, telling him about your needs and most importantly listening to what he has to say to you.

If you feel your prayer life is stagnant or needs to be improved then consider writing out your prayers or journaling your prayers.

Prayer journaling enables you to articulate exactly what you want to say to God. It also allows you become more intentional about praying. 

Funmi Onamusi, one of the ladies I featured in the Journaling for personal growth ebook, talked about journaling her prayers when her dad passed away. She couldn’t say out her prayers as she was in so much pain so she resorted to writing them down. This helped her during her grieving period and also helped her stay connected to God. You can read more about her story when you download your free copy of the ebook.

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Two way prayer journaling

When you write your prayers, you are more clearer and specific. Yes you might ramble on a bit initially but you will notice a pattern in your prayers if you pay attention and this will enable you to be more precise as you write out your prayers.

A very important piece to prayer journaling is writing down what God says to you. It is not good enough to just pour out your heart to God on paper, you also need to take the time to listen and write the instructions He is giving you. This is what you call two way prayer journaling.

His instructions might not come immediately but they will come and when they come write them down. Why? So that you don’t forget what He says or get confused about what He said later on. Or it is likely that the instruction is not to be implemented in the immediate so you need to document it somewhere.

Praise reports

The other essential part to prayer journaling is detailing God’s answers to your prayers requests. This is done in form of a praise report or a testimony. It is very crucial that you document the answers to your prayer requests. God commanded us to never forget what he has done for us (Duet 6:12, Psalm 103:2) and there is only so much your brain can remember.

However when you write down your praise reports, you have the evidence plainly documented in black and white.  Also writing down your praise report gives you a reference point for the future when a similar challenge comes your way. You can draw strength from the fact that because God answered once, he will do it again. He never changes and is his always faithful but if you don’t have it written down you are not able to remember quickly what God did for you in the past.

I once heard someone say that the book of Psalm in the Bible was David’s journal. I agree with this. David did a lot of praying, praising and asking God questions. I am glad David journaled and today a lot of us get encouragement from the book of Psalms from the answers God gave David.

A prayer journal designed just for you

The great thing about the Living Amazed journal which I created sometime ago, is that apart from having a place to write your thoughts and what God is saying to you, there is a section to write down what you are praying for. There is also a section to write out your praise report.

Here is a sample of one of the Living Amazed journal users. She journals her prayers and also the results.

The word of encouragement for the day was also apt for her! I get that a lot when I use my Living Amazed journal- where the tip or word of wisdom for the day is just what I needed to read. 

If you will like a copy of the Living Amazed journal then click here to order.

So tell me… do you journal your prayers? Did you see an improvement in your prayer life when you journal? Please share your experience below- good or bad. Thanks