The Spiritual Act of Journaling

In review of Habakkuk 2:2 it says, “The LORD gave me this answer: ‘Write down clearly on tablets what I reveal to you, so that it can be read at a glance.’”

Bottom Line:

Then the Lord said, write down clearly what I reveal to you so that it can be read at a glance.

What this means to me:

When the Lord speaks to me, I am to write it down clearly so that it can be viewed over and over again.

If I want to hear God speak and answer me, I need to withdraw to a quiet place, wait patiently and expectantly, and ask God make it clear to me what he wants to say. When he does, I am to write it down or record it.

In the book of Habakkuk, the Lord commands the author to “write down clearly on tablets what I reveal to you, so that it can be read at a glance” (Habakkuk 2:2 TEV). I pretty sure this how the book of Habakkuk came to be. In chapter one, Habakkuk wrote down what he said to God. And in chapter two, he wrote down what God said back to him.

This is also likely how we got the book of Psalms; which was David’s quiet times. David meditated on the first five books of the Bible, the Torah, and then he wrote down his thoughts, which are called psalms. In many of the psalms, he starts out with what he’s feeling and then ends up with what God says.

I’m finding it's helpful to write out my prayers and requests. Writing them down can be the same as saying them in a prayer and God can hear my thoughts. What I write down can also be read back to God.

Writing down prayers and God’s responses are all part of a spiritual habit called journaling. A journal is not a diary. A diary is about the things you did. A journal is about the lessons I’ve learned or learning and the mistakes I've made and how I've learned from them.

I know from my own life that I’m not good with physical writing. My handwriting is not good and being left handed, I end up smearing the ink or markings with my hand as I write.  I have found that I am much more comfortable typing things out on my computer.  So I use Google docs to record my quiet time thoughts and leanings. Using Google docs allows me to get to them from any computer that has access to the Internet. It also makes it easier to store, search and find them later.