What I learned from a year of prayer journaling
In the midst of the 2020 lockdown, I started the habit of meditating on God’s Word daily and writing down my heart state to God. While reflecting on the year, I realized that 2021 was my first complete and consistent year of prayer journaling. Throughout the year, my prayer journal has been a source of inspiration, accountability and mental clarity. I would highly recommend this practice as we head into the new year. By way of sharing, here are a few things I learnt from a year-plus of prayer journaling.
1. You make time for the important things
A lot of the time we struggle to be consistent with new (positive) habits and one way or the other our day seems to disappear. We wake up, pick up our phones and after a meal and a short nap, it's dark outside already. However, we never seem to miss our daily dose of social media and binging our favourite shows we make time to download on Netflix. This means, quite simply that we force important things into our day- by hook or crook. Studying the word of God and making out time for daily prayer is important to a lot of people, but often what holds us back is procrastination and lack of desire.
A good way I learnt to tackle this was by being intentional and creating a rhythm or loop that I could easily fall into. Every morning whether I was home or away, I made sure the first thing I picked up was my devotional with my pen in hand. A few weeks into my journaling I realized that picking up my devotional without my pen would mean less concentration and sometimes I would put off writing down my prayers. Also, to make this loop work, I had to hack my environment by distancing my mobile phone from my bedside. Doing this increased the chance that I would actually pick up my devotional and not my mobile phone. Once the habit stuck, if I found myself in a more difficult or unique position where I had to pick up my mobile phone first, it was my devotional app on my phone I was opening up first and not WhatsApp or CoinMarketCap. We are creatures of habit after all.
2. You really can be more patient, you too can be kind
Growing up, my family would gather around every now and then for prayers which included (especially as a Catholic family) the Psalms (aka Responsorial Psalms). I remember being young and always having this feeling that time was literally in slow motion as I was waiting for the Psalms to be done and for us to get back into the Second Reading (typically from the New Testament) or the Gospel reading. So naturally, as I became more independent in my daily readings sometime in college, I always found it personally difficult to read the Psalms on my own- often time skipping whole stanzas (passages) because of the prayerful repetition.
Fast-forward a couple of years into my own daily prayer and meditation, I now experience the Psalms a lot more deeply and wholly. I turn them into prayers and connect with the Psalmists thirst for God, his urge to praise the Lord and his penchant for dwelling upon the mighty deeds of God. Now the Psalms catapult me into a time beyond the modern fixation on self and into a mindset of love for God shown by an expression of faith and complete trust. This has made me a bit more patient with the world. In our on-demand culture where we expect everything at our fingertips- a bit more patience can make us more Godly and yes, more kind. So, these days when I read the Psalms I try to take in the message with patience and tell God to make me more like the Psalmist- A Man after God’s own heart.
3. You grow in practising the presence of God
St. Teresa of Avila is credited with explaining mental (contemplative) prayer as “Nothing other than a close sharing between friends… frequently taking time to be alone with Him whom we know loves us.” It's no wonder that in her own lifetime, she is reputed to have recorded several angelic encounters from an Angel piercing her heart with the fire of God’s love to reportedly having contests with her guardian angel on who could say the name of Jesus more lovingly.
By studying the word each day, and contemplating on his perfect will in prayer I was more aware of God’s presence in my life. Often, I could see how my daily heart sharing with God and the word I had contemplated on for that day modified my responsiveness to the different challenges encountered in my day. The positive effects of meditation are well reported in secular media, so as Christians we must realize the immense value especially spiritually of dwelling on God’s word and spending time with him who loves us.
4. You develop a deeper experience of the Gospel
“Ignorance of scripture is Ignorance of Christ” — St Jerome
As a millennial, the concept of tradition and antiquity can sometimes be farfetched. In our distracted world, it's easy to forget the historical context of the Gospels and understand that Christ was born in a very specific time in history. By studying the word and meditating on the Gospels daily, you start to see details that you just may not have realized or taken as seriously in times past. You start to realize that Christ went through the full range of human experience and as God redeemed and perfected it. You see Christ’s various encounters with the ruling Judaic sects and leaders to experiences with people from different social spheres like Samaritans, welcoming and engaging both women and children.
Experiencing the Gospel daily simply changes you. It makes you more aware and involved in the life of Christ. It gives you perspective into the liturgical background that shaped Christ’s earthly ministry and makes you understand the context for his mission. By engaging the Gospels on a deeper level, you build your mind into the mind of Christ Jesus.
5. You become more confident about your faith
Romans 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
As we constantly meditate in prayer on God’s word, we build our capacity to believe. We understand the depths of his love and begin to ponder on the realities of his perfect will in our lives. Having close communication with God and then documenting the same gives us concrete evidence that God hears us and gives us proofs to fall back on in realization of his faithfulness. Countless times have I revisited my prayer journal and seen that alas, things I have prayed for months ago were manifesting. Ideas of glory I have penned down in prayer suddenly find avenues for fulfilment and months of thanksgiving in prayer suddenly have birthed miracles.
Having confidence that you can run to God with your worries and then come back to see fulfilment and his grace actively at work settles you. It builds your faith and fortifies your peace. You start to realize that many of your worries stem from a lack of faith and you start to go more to God in prayers of thanksgiving- having built a consistent understanding that most times he knows and provides, he listens and understands way before you even open your mouth. You begin to live a life of trust and faith in God.
As we start the New Year, I want to specially wish everyone a 2022 full of God’s presence in joy and love.
What do you think of this week’s article? Are there experiences you’d like to share in your own prayer journey? Feel free to share your thoughts…