A hundred years ago in a less literate age, schedules were not so crammed and journals not as vital in facilitating the process of reflection. These days, we need more help. Here are some pointers in getting started:

Get a good one that won’t fall apart on you. Divide it into sections that you can use in different ways. I devote about ten pages to prayer lists – requests that friends pass my way. I set aside another thirty pages for journaling my prayers (which I find particularly helpful when there is a lot of noise and distraction in the house like right now). I tend to use most of the journal for two other things: Keeping a journal or diary that tracks the major events of my life and thoughts. And then Bible study, book notes, and blogs is another section.

A couple of my idiosyncrasies: It’s hard to know exactly how many pages to allocate to each section, so I start my Bible study and notes section from the back of the journal and work toward the middle. That I way I don’t waste pages.

Another thing that works well for me is this: for each item on my prayer list, I put down the date I enter the prayer request. Then if the prayer request is answered “No,” I put that date down. If it is a “Yes,” I circle the date. It’s important to know whether God is answering one’s prayers or not!