10 Journaling Prompts for Your Quiet Time

Transform your quiet time and strengthen your faith. Discover 10 powerful journaling prompts for reflection, gratitude, and spiritual growth.

Journaling is probably the most impactful part of my quiet times.

I pray throughout my day, but my morning journaling gives me a way to stay more focused, dive a little deeper, and intentionally seek the Lord in my daily life.

Journaling helps me to:

• read, write, study, and memorize Scripture.
• renew my mind and take thoughts captive.
• remember and live into my identity in Christ.
• slow down, be still, and be more present with God in my prayers.
• intentionally and regularly seek the Lord.

I include specific journaling prompts and worksheets to guide you through a lot of those things in my Identity In Christ Prayer Journal.

If you are wanting to take your relationship with God to a deeper level, here are 10 journaling prompts for you to use in your quiet time.

Quiet Time Journal Prompts

1. Good morning, Lord! Thank you so much for…

Gratitude is the best way to start my day. I am not a morning person and I don’t always wake up in a good mood, but choosing to be grateful first thing in the morning can change the whole course of your day.

It affects your mood and your perspective throughout the day, but most importantly, it affects your heart.

When I’m in a bad mood and don’t feel like thanking anyone for anything, I still write the words, “Good morning, Lord! Thank you so much for…” and I always end up coming up with something.

Whether it’s something basic like thanking Him for having a roof over my head or something huge like an upcoming wedding.

All gratitude matters.

The more you look for blessings, the more you will find were there the whole time.

From My Own Journal –

Good morning, Lord! Thank You so much for the beautiful, warm, sunshiny weather on my run this morning. This is the day You have made, so I will rejoice and be glad in it! 

I offer prayer journaling pages in my Prayer Journal Bundle with daily journal pages, prayer prompts, lists of Scriptures, your identity in Christ, names of God, and more.

2. I am really struggling with…

It’s a good thing to admit when you are struggling with something.

Journaling your prayers is all about being authentic, not trying to pretend like you’ve got it all together. 

Pour out your heart, your fears, and your burdens. The Lord can handle them.

Use words (my preference) or even draw if you feel like that can express your heart more clearly.

Maybe you’re struggling with a difficult a relationship or maybe you’re struggling to even journal that morning. It’s okay to admit it.

It’s okay to be real, to be you.

From My Own Journal –

I am really struggling with worrying about finances today. I don’t know how we will pay our bills in a few months. I don’t know what to do to earn more when I feel like I’m already working as hard and as long as I possibly can. It’s frustrating and discouraging and it’s making me doubt that I heard Your calling correctly.  

3. A verse I want to dwell on today is…

I rarely complete a journal entry without some sort of Scripture involved. If we are left simply to our own thoughts and feelings, we could go completely haywire. The hypothetical futures we create could be all over the place, full of fear and uncertainties.

But God’s Word is like a breath of fresh air when we’re drowning in worry.

The Bible keeps our haywire humanity rooted in the Truth. 

The YouVersion Bible app has a verse of the day. Maybe there was a verse that stuck out to you in a Bible reading plan you are following or maybe you just googled “Bible verses on comfort” to help you handle a tough situation you are going through in your life right now.

Writing God’s Word is powerful. It helps you to remember it more clearly, to understand it more deeply, and recall it more easily.

From My Own Journal –

A verse I want to dwell on today is Psalm 46:1-3.

“God is our refuge and strength,
    an ever-present help in trouble.
 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
    and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
 though its waters roar and foam
    and the mountains quake with their surging.”

4. One word or phrase from that verse that tells me more about Your character is…

I almost never use prompt number 3 without combining it with this one.

Writing down Scripture is a great start, but figuring out how those words apply to your life is even more powerful!

Two of my biggest goals in my walk with God are daily trying to figure out:

• who I am in Him
• who He is to me

Picking out words or phrases from Scripture that teach me more about God can be a very impactful part of journaling.

It helps you to see the Truths He speaks come alive in your life.

From My Own Journal –

One word that tells me more about your character from Psalm 46 is “refuge.” Lord, when I feel like things are out of my control, my first temptation is to feel discouraged, terrified, and helpless, but You offer promise to comfort me in the worst of situations. When life is hard and unpredictable, You are there, strong, able, and ready to protect me. When I feel alone, you are still there with me. I don’t have to be strong enough. I have no reason to fear, Lord, because You are my refuge and strength. 

5. This morning, I want to lift up my…(husband/child/friend/parents/pastor)

Praying for others in your journal is such a thoughtful thing to do.

I always want to be the person that follows through when I say, “I’ll be praying for you” and journaling prayers is a great way to do that.

I have a list in my phone where I jot prayer requests down as they come up. I don’t always have time to pray at that very second, so in my journaling time, I’ll open up that list and work my way through it, lifting requests up one at a time.

From My Own Journal –

This morning, I want to lift up my fiance to you. I pray that you abundantly bless his hard work, time, and effort on his project at work right now. Give him wisdom in how to best move forward and guide his every step. Most of all, I ask that You make Your presence known to him in tangible ways today. Let him feel You there with him and let him hear You speak to him. Draw him near to You, Lord, and let him feel Your great, unconditional love for him.

6. May You bless and keep…May Your face shine upon her/him and be gracious to him/her. May You turn Your face toward … and give him/her peace…

My pastor speaks a blessing over our congregation at the end of every service and it is one of my favorite parts of Sunday.

He changes it up every week, but one Sunday he preached on how powerful it is to speak blessings over people in your life and he recommended the blessing in Numbers 6:24-26.

That is the blessing I journal over people in my life most frequently.

From My Own Journal – 

May You bless and keep Brianna. 

May Your face shine upon her and be gracious to her.

May You turn Your face toward her and give her peace.

May You fill her thoughts with Your Truths today and show her how much You love her. 

7. I trust You and I surrender… into Your Almighty Hands.

Those difficult situations that you may have journaled about in prompt 2? Chances are, there are pieces of that situation that are completely out of your control.

If God showed you some things you can do to help the situation, great!

If it is completely out of your control, this is the time to surrender it to Him.

Affirm that the things you know about God’s character are true.

• He is good.
• He is just.
• He is holy.
• He is always working for your good.
• He recklessly loves you.

Then let it go.

Release the situation into His hands (possibly something that will need to be done again and again and again).

From My Own Journal – 

I trust You and I surrender my finances into Your Almighty Hands. Philippians 4:19 tells me that You will always provide for my needs and I stand on that Truth. I commit my work to You and ask that You provide the income. I’m working so hard and I know You see that, but it’s not dependent on my desire or effort, but on Your mercy (Romans 9:16). Lord, I trust You and I know You will take care of me. Please, have mercy on me.  I place these things into Your Hands.

8. Today, I want to use the strengths You’ve given me to…

My heart wants to serve the Lord, but often my insecurities creep in and convince me to live in hiding.

Instead, I try to remind myself of the strengths God has given me and I try to intentionally use them to live passionately and purposefully. 

Not sure what your strengths are?

This was the most helpful book on discovering my God-given strengths. There is a test for discovering your unique strengths and chapters explaining how you can best use those strengths for God’s glory.

I refer back to my list of 5 strengths constantly when I’m trying to figure out what responsibilities to take on and how to best move forward in serving people.

God is asking you to be someone else.

He’s just asking you to be you, just as He created you to be!

From My Own Journal – 

Today, I want to use the strengths you’ve given me to encourage people. You have given me strengths in keeping the harmony, feeling deeply with others, seeing each person uniquely, building up those strengths in people, and staying positive in difficult situations. Bring the women to me who can use my encouragement today. Allow me to build them up and empower them and let them feel Your love for them through my words.

9. Will You please help me grow in the area of…

This is one of my favorite journaling prompts.

Asking for God’s help reminds us of our dependence on Him and it takes the burden off of our shoulders.

He doesn’t expect perfection. He wants us to rely on Him.

So, ask for His help. Talk to Him about the desires of your heart and the things you are passionate about and ask Him to help you grow.

From My Own Journal –

Will you please help me grow in the area of patience. I am a productivity-driven person and I believe You created me that way. There are so many positive things about that, but I don’t want to get so carried away with being productive that I forget to make time for people. Give me patience when others aren’t moving at my fast-paced speed of life. Help me to slow down, savor today, and remember to show people the grace that can only come from You living in me.   

10. I need Your help in forgiving…

This is always a tough one. It’s not fun to remember the people and situations that have hurt us.

This journaling prompt isn’t about dwelling on a problem or beating a dead horse.

This is about asking for God’s help in forgiving people, even when our wounds aren’t fully healed.

We can’t do that on our own. When left to our own devices, we would most likely hold onto hurt and grudges indefinitely.

But God is in you. God is with you.

And He gives you freedom in forgiving. 

From My Own Journal – 

I need Your help in forgiving this person who has hurt me deeply. Her unprovoked words cut my heart deeply and every part of me wants to push her away, keep her at a distance, and build concrete walls to protect myself from her. I don’t want to see her or talk to her because that would give her another chance to attack. Heal the wounds those hurtful words have created. Help me to forgive her and teach me how to establish healthy boundaries with her.

Looking for more prayer journal prompts?

Click the button to download a PDF printable of the Processing Your Emotions With God journal pages with over 17 journal prompts I use to process my own emotions with the Lord.

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