5 Reasons To Keep A Prophetic Prayer Journal

Don’t know where you’re headed? A prophetic prayer journal helps keep your prayer life on track.

Do you have a record of how God has spoken to you? Do you keep a prayer journal or diary?

If not, then today is the best day to start. But I don’t want you to have just a prayer journal:

I want you to keep a prophetic prayer journal…

Here are 5 reasons why I think everyone should have one.

Prophetic Prayer Journal Leads To Redundancy!

As I write the first draft of this post, I have just twelve days left of my current job. And I don’t know quite how the next stage of my life is going to work out.

By the time you read this, I will most likely have a couple more days, or may even have started on my next adventure (scratch that: it has already begun!)

According to the Calling Journey by Tony Stoltzfus, the story of Joseph is a model for the life journey every Christian travels. It includes ups and downs, plateaus, mountains and valleys. And I’ve just been through one of those valleys.

The reason I’m in this place right now is that I chose to take redundancy from my IT job. It was a step of faith, based on everything the Lord has spoken to me about, for the past 5 or more years.

The scary part is that I don’t know the detail. I may need to take a part-time job, or the Lord may open up opportunities I haven’t thought of yet.

However, even though I can’t see the details, I have a clear vision of the big picture.

I know where I’ve come from, and I know what the Lord has called me to. This has been confirmed in a multitude of ways, and the Lord has shown me clearly where I am in my life journey.

I believe this most recent valley was my “valley of identity”, which in the Calling Journey leads into a mountain of fulfilment. I’m looking forward to that fulfilment, but there’s still a lot of climbing to do!

And the reason I’m so sure it’s the right thing to do is because my prayer journal isn’t any old journal: it’s a prophetic prayer journal.

What’s the difference?

What Is A Prophetic Prayer Journal?

An average prayer journal or prayer diary contains a list of things we have prayed for and the answers to those prayers.

It might also contain bible verses we think God has spoken to us about or comments about things we have struggled with.

A prophetic prayer journal contains all of that and much more. Here are some of the things mine contains:

1. Every prophetic word, picture and bible verse ever given to me by other people.
2. General encouragements from day to day life.
3. Examples of how the Lord has spoken to me, either directly, or through the beauty of his creation.
4. My feelings and thoughts about my relationship with the Lord, in different seasons of my life. That includes all the struggles and victories, and the chilled out moments.
5. Dreams I have received from God in my sleep, along with prayerful interpretations.
6. A handful of amazing encounters where I have received visions direct from God (I want more!)

Some of these are so personal that I have never shared them with anyone, and possibly never will.

The takeaway here is that I have a history with my Heavenly Father and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. But I learned a long time ago that if I don’t write these things down, I will forget them and they’ll be gone forever. (You may find this strange for a blogger, but I used to hate writing things down!)

This isn’t sentimentality, I need this to survive and thrive. I need to look back over my life, to review that personal history, in order to find my way forward.

There’s a biblical precedent for this:

The Lord continually spoke to his people through the prophets. And they would talk to the Israelites about their past, present and future with God.

You have your own history with the Lord. And he has a plan for your life. Let’s look at what a prophetic prayer journal can do for you.

5 Reasons To Keep A Prophetic Prayer Journal

Here are a few reasons for keeping a prophetic prayer journal:

1. A prophetic prayer journal reminds you of God’s goodness

God is good all the time, but it’s easy to forget that simple truth, particularly during a crisis.

At those times, reviewing your prophetic prayer journal shines a light on his faithfulness and reveals his true nature.

2. It enables a heavenly perspective

When trouble comes, the temptation is to think in earthly ways.

You can start looking for answers to your prayers in all the wrong places.

But God works outside the ways of this world.

Your prayer journal will help you fix your eyes on Jesus and the answers he has stored up for you.

3. It validates your direction

When presented with choices, the Bible gives us general guidance.

However, many situations were never envisaged by the writers of the bible.

In those cases, your prophetic prayer journal will lend clarity to specific circumstances:

If you know an action is in line with the bible and in line with God’s personal revelation, then you can have extra confidence in the next step in your journey.

4. It encourages perseverance

We don’t always get immediate answers to our prayers.

Sometimes, we can pray for months or even years, before seeing a result: and God’s answer may be quite different to what we imagined.

However, when you re-read words the Lord has spoken consistently to you over those months or years, it can refresh your attitude.

Then you’ll be encouraged to continue seeking him for those answers, in the knowledge that he wants it more than you do!

5. It’s a key to growth

When you review your prophetic prayer journal, it gives you confidence in your prophetic abilities (and other spiritual gifts too).

Seeing answered prayers and fulfilled prophecies in black and white on the page proves you can hear God and get it right.

This will spur you on to seek more of God and a greater level of anointing.

Prophetic Prayer Journal Needs Review

These are all great reasons to have a prophetic prayer journal, but there’s one more ingredient to make it work well: reviews.

If you’re a productivity nut like me (I have another website dedicated to that), then you’ll know what I’m talking about. You know the importance of reviewing your tasks and projects regularly. It’s the only way to know what’s already been done, and what’s up next.

It’s the same for your prophetic prayer journal. It doesn’t take much time: all you need to do is to set a reminder for yourself to look at it once a week (or how often you think you’ll find it helpful).

You don’t have to read the whole thing every time: just the last few entries will do. They’ll be just enough to encourage you and keep you going until the next review.

Personally, I find a weekly check, then a deeper review, round about once a month, to be about right.

Prophetic Prayer Journal: Just Do It!

The final thing is, of course, to actually get on and write the thing! Your prophetic prayer journal simply won’t exist until you do.

If you’re not comfortable with writing, don’t worry. The entries don’t have to be long: just enough to remind you of what God said when you look back at it.

And of course, it doesn’t have to be written. You could dictate it onto your smartphone. You might need to make extra space or time for your reviews, but there are lots of ways you can get round it.

Stuck Getting Started?

Since you’re still with me, I’m guessing you are ready to begin. However, you may be thinking, “but how do I get started?”, or wondering how you should organise your journal.

Well, I have good news for you: next time I’m going to change over from the “why”, to the “how”. I’ll explain exactly how to write and organise your prophetic prayer journal.

And I’m going to show you how to do that using one of my favourite productivity tools. (But it’ll work for anyone and with whatever tools you use, including good old pen and paper!)

On top of that, I’m lining up a NEW bonus for you. So look out for an email to your inbox very soon.

If you’re not yet part of the community, enter your email below to find out more. You’ll get another free bonus, just for signing up.