Write It Down

“Write down the revelation.”

Habakkuk 2:2

I have a handful of sayings that our staff can recite from memory because I repeat them all the time. One of them is this: the shortest pencil is longer than the longest memory. That’s why I keep a prayer journal. Next to my Bible, nothing is more sacred to me than my journal. It’s the way I mark my trail. It’s the way I process problems and record revelations. It’s the way I keep track of the prayers I’ve prayed so that I can give God the glory when He answers.

Journaling is one of the most overlooked and undervalued spiritual disciplines. In my estimation, it’s on a par with praying, fasting, and meditating. It’s the way we document what God is doing in our lives. In Habakkuk 2:2, the Lord states, “Write down the revelation.” Why? Because we have a natural tendency to remember what we should forget and forget what we should remember. Journaling is the best antidote, maybe the only antidote, to spiritual amnesia.

This year I started taking my journal with me everywhere I go. When I’m in a meeting, I write things in my prayer journal so I can double back and pray about them later. If I’m listening to someone speak, I take notes so I can process them in prayer. And of course, I always have my prayer journal handy when I’m praying. I pray about current situations and future dreams. I have a prayer list for my children that helps me pray consistently and strategically. And I often journal my meditations on Scripture. Then, every once in a while, I go back through my journal and circle the things I need to keep praying through.

My prayer journal doubles as my prayer genealogy. I can trace many of the blessings, breakthroughs, and miracles back to their genesis prayers. As I look back through my journals, I’m able to connect the dots between my prayers and God’s answers. Connecting these dots inspires my faith like nothing else because it paints a picture of God’s faithfulness.

We kicked off this calendar year with a sermon series on The Circle Maker, and I encouraged everyone in our congregation to get a prayer journal. I’ve been amazed at how many people’s prayer lives have been revolutionized by the simple act of journaling. I’m convinced it is the key to consistency and specificity in prayer. And it even adds an element of fun. It turns prayer into a game of watching and waiting to see how God will answer!

Journal like a Journalist

One of our church attenders recently shared with me one of the most well-documented prayer testimonies I’ve ever received. It seems particularly appropriate that this testament to journaling came from a journalist. After I read it, this thought fired across my synapses: we all need to journal like a journalist.

Kimberly’s lifelong dream was to work at a major network covering politics. Not only did she end up at the largest network; she got to cover the most famous address in the country, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. As a member of the White House travel pool, she often accompanies the president on Air Force One. In fact, her first trip was April 29, 2011 — the same day that President Obama authorized the Osama bin Laden mission.

Kimberly is living her dream, but like every dream, it took a lot of prayer and a lot of patience. During our sermon series on The Circle Maker, she went back through dozens of her journals from the past decade. As she retraced her steps, she saw the hand of God on every page. Kimberly’s prayer genealogy started in 2001. As a college senior, she penned this fragile yet faith-filled prayer:

After college, Kimberly thought about grad school, considered pursuing library science, and contemplated moving to Chicago or New York. It was during this season of wandering that she created a prayer map — a sheet of paper in her journal with a verse at the top and prayer requests written below. On one of those pages, she circled Psalm 37:4: “Delight yourself in the LORD;^a and He will give you the desires of your heart.” That was a critical promise at a critical time.

On November 4, 2003, she wrote out this prayer:

Fast-forward to April 15, 2004.

Kimberly was sitting on a bench overlooking Lake Michigan, depressed by how much money she wasn’t making. In that moment, the dream of working at a major network was birthed in her spirit. She also knew she needed to take a step of faith and move to Washington, D.C. So with no job and very little money, Kimberly made the move to D.C. She slept on a friend’s floor for several months until she could get on her feet financially. To make ends meet, she worked for a temp agency filing papers while she sent out hundreds of résumés and made hundreds of cold calls.

After numerous dead ends, Kimberly finally got her first break working for a small news bureau during the graveyard shift. Her first night as a full-time journalist was the day Hurricane Katrina hit.

About a year into the overnight shift, Kimberly wanted to get a day job so she could get a life! It was killing her social life and spiritual life, so she applied for a day job with a major network. She thought her dream job was finally at her fingertips. She got an interview, but the door slammed shut. It was devastating. That’s when many of us give up on our dreams, but Kimberly kept circling her dream job while working her night job for another year! Then she got another interview with the same network, and this time the door opened.

Long story short, it took a decade of working like it depended on her and praying like it depended on God for her dream to come true. But because she journaled her prayers, Kimberly is able to look back and see how God determined her steps. God’s fingerprints were on every page!

The shortest pencil is longer than the longest memory.