Thursday

Keeping Company With God - A Prayer Journal

I love the idea of journaling. I am terrible at it, but I would love to be one who journals. As evidenced by this site, I enjoy writing my thoughts (I suppose this counts somewhat as a journal, but probably not). I have had three phenomenal experiences in my past at journaling. What did those three things have in common? I had something specific to write about & had "someone" providing me questions and thoughts upon which to write.
The first one was the Purpose Driven Life Journal. I went through this journal (and the book again) after my church went through the campaign. This journal provided thoughts, questions and ample room to write your thoughts about that days reading. We had just left a ministry position in California and I was doing odd jobs in Michigan & was fencing (putting up chain-link fence, not sword fighting, which would have been much cooler) and was struggling emotionally and spiritually. This journal helped me record my thoughts and think through my purpose in a deeper way than merely reading the book.

The second experience was the Mere Christianity Journal. This was by far my favorite journal and the most challenging. C.S. Lewis is no slouch. There are some very heady thoughts in that book. This journal selected quotes from the book & asked questions which I struggled with and really needed to wrestle with at the time. This is not a good journal for people who just wish to put there time in, but for those who want to dig deep into Mere Christianity and themselves.

The third was as recent as last summer. I came across the book, Chazown, and while not a journal, Mr. Groeschel highly encourages journaling at the end of each section. I took him up on this and found the process highly engaging. The book is all about finding God's vision for your life & the journaling is an indispensable part of this process.

All this to say that I am very excited that Philip Yancey has recently released a prayer journal, Keeping Company with God, in connection with his book Prayer. I read Prayer earlier this year and found it quite illuminating. I am especially excited to dive into this journal, in hopes that it will only serve to enrich my relationship with Jesus. I have always had difficulty with prayer and Mr. Yancey's book was quite helpful, and I only expect this journal to be along those same lines.

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