Last time we talked about what a prayer journal is, different kinds, and whether you should have one. If you missed it, check it out here. This week I’d like to show you mine.

The Prayer Journal Method I Use Now

I started out with a simple 3-ring binder I had at home. I found this great video by Gina Garland on YouTube several years ago and developed my system based on hers.

My method has changed over the last several years in a few different ways, but probably the biggest change is that now I use a digital version (OneNote). If you’re not familiar with that, it’s just a notebook on your computer (or phone). It allows you to have separate notebooks with tabs for each section and pages within each tabbed section—like a real notebook.

It’s great for organizing things: I have a separate notebook for my writing, my blog, personal things like Christmas lists, and of course my prayer notebook, which is probably my favorite one and what we’re here to talk about today.

And my favorite thing about having a digital version is it allows me to use it wherever I go. Well, make that two favorite things: I love that I can copy and paste into it too, so I can pull resources or pictures or whatever.

Now let me just say that I’m not receiving a commission from OneNote to talk about this. There are several programs that do the same thing like Evernote. I just want to learn from each other to improve our prayer lives.

My Organization

Right now I have the following sections:

• Resources
• Prayers
• Moi
• Thankfulness
• Family
• Peeps
• Church
• Nation/World
• Sickness/Surgery/Death.

Below I’ll talk about each one.

Prayers

For as long as I can remember I’ve kept a journal. Growing up, it was more of a traditional “Dear Diary” type thing, but as I’ve gotten older it’s morphed into prayers to God. I might still talk about what’s happened lately in my life, but now it also includes my prayers to Him. But then that’s probably close to the same thing, right?

I added this section to my Prayer Notebook recently. I’d been trying to keep a separate notebook for it, which doesn’t work for me now.

I like to have a place where I can “write” down my prayers. It helps me:

• to stay focused.
• to have a record of my growth.
• to have a record of God’s goodness and provision.
• to keep all of my prayer “stuff” together in one place.
• to always have access to it no matter where I am.

Moi

This section is for me. Just talking about this one makes me feel…selfish. But I need a lot of work, so it takes a whole section by itself. I do think my new title for it seems less self-involved. Yes? No?

I like to include general things I need help with like boldness and also a section for each of my roles.

Oh! And I love my Revelations page: I try to document the epiphany moments to help me remember them later. It can be a little hit or miss, since I still forget to include them sometimes, but I figure anything I get down is good.

Sundays: Thankfulness

Each day of the week has its own focus. On Sundays I try to concentrate on God without a bunch of “requests.” I’ll praise Him for who He is and what He’s done.

Mondays: Immediate Family

I used to go by Gina Garland’s system where she prays for her family every day, but that didn’t work for me.  I’ll still pray for them on other days—whenever I think of something—but I like having one day devoted to them.

Tuesdays: Peeps

I wasn’t sure what to call this section because I wanted it to be for extended family, friends, and acquaintances. That’s a pretty broad range so it got dubbed “peeps.”

Wednesdays: Church

This one’s for anyone I associate with the body of Christ: pastors, church leaders, fellow Christians, church friends, missionaries…

Thursdays: Nation & World

I’m still thinking on this section. Somehow it needs a change, but I haven’t been able to put my finger on it so far. Right now it serves as my day to pray for our nation’s leaders and events nationally and internationally.

Fridays: Sickness, Surgery, & Death

Fridays are a big day. Anyone I know who’s sick, in the hospital, recently lost a loved one goes on this day.

Resources

I’ve saved this one for last, because I’m pretty excited about it. My resources section is my “think bigger” place. I’ll copy and paste all kinds of things here: Paul’s prayers, psalms, verses for salvation, verses for refuting Islamic teaching about Jesus, the Names and Attributes of God, etc.

I look forward to finding other helpful things to include here.

I was surprised to find that this was difficult to put together, which probably shouldn’t have surprised me given the last post on this topic was a struggle.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the peek. More than that, though, I hope you’ve found some inspiration to start your own journal if you don’t have one already.

I would like to say a couple of things, which I’ve had to tell myself while writing this article:

• This is about your relationship with God.
• It doesn’t have to be perfect.

Don’t worry about doing it “right” or feeling guilty when you want to pray in your head all day or forget to include someone on your list.

What about you? What kind of prayer journal do you use? What’s your favorite part about it? Share in the comments below.

And here are a few resources for your prayer journal!

• Prayer Journals: Should You Have One? from HISsparrowBlog
• 60+ Names and Attributes of God & Jesus {free printable} from HISsparrowBlog
• 20ish MORE Names and Attributes of God {free printable} from HISsparrowBlog
• A Complete List of the Apostle Paul’s Prayers in the Bible from Anchored in Christ
• How to Pray Through the Psalms from Crosswalk