Bible Journaling 101

An easy way to upgrade your quiet time is by journaling as you go. If writing helps you meditate on God’s word (Psalm 1:2) this could be a game changer. Not only does it help you internalize what you are learning from the Word, but it also makes a record for you to go back and re-visit. A log is nice to see where you may have gaps in what you’ve studied in the past, to see if you have a basis for something you want to study further, or need some encouragement down the road.

How does one go about starting a Bible journal? Well I’m glad you asked. Let’s get started.

What You’ll Need

-            Notebook or journal. It can be an 88 cent one or you could get one that’s nicer.

-            Pen. You can start with whatever color you like, but I like to have a few on hand in case I want to do some verse mapping.

-            Bible. You’ll need one to read so you can journal with it!

How to Get Started

-            Pick a passage

A lot of people find this step daunting. They feel overwhelmed about where to begin and then never start. Bible journaling may sound intimidating, but there really isn’t a way to be bad at it. If you feel like you don’t know much about the Bible, then that just means that you have the greatest potential of benefit from trying. You just have to jump in and start to figure out what works best for you.

Here is a list of passages that may be helpful to start with. They are loaded with doctrine but not as difficult to understand as other passages. There is a lot of potential for deeper study and application. Feel free to break them into smaller chunks!

o   Psalm 34-38

o   1 Kings 18:17-46

o   Colossians 1-2

o   James 4-5 

-            Don’t limit yourself from the gate

It’s good to have a sense of direction for what types of things you may want to include when Bible journaling: historical context, authorship, personal questions, and life application are good places to start. But it is also important not to limit yourself to only looking for certain things. If you come at the text with an agenda of things you expect to find in it*, you may feel defeated if it doesn’t neatly fit the criteria you set for it. With this in mind, it is important to have some framing questions to get you started, but don’t feel limited to only journal about those certain things. Come to the Word with an open mind and a humble heart*.

-            Pray before you start

Ask the Lord what He would have you learn for that day. Come meekly (Psalm 25:9). It will make your journaling session go much smoother than when you try to go solo. Take advantage of the fact that you personally know the Author!

What About the Framework?

 There are so many ways to format or lay out your Bible journal, depending on what type of passage you are dealing with, what you are picking up from the text, and what you prefer. Here are some simple concepts that you can use, adapt, and pick through:

-            Thought Record

Write down your thoughts, feelings, or what comes to mind when you read the passage. You can do this verse by verse or by chunks. Feel free to write down song lyrics, other verses, or examples that come to your mind.

-            Use Acronyms

A quick skim of the search engine results when you query “Bible study methods” will reveal a plethora of options. Here are some of my favorites (none of which I came up with, so all cred to their rightful owners.) Click on the link to see the full layout for each acronym.

o   FEAST

o   SOAP

o   APPLE

-            Write an Outline (advanced method)

This is best for topical studies or book studies. It is easy to plan out questions, objectives, or things you want to learn throughout your study. Then, you can reference the outline to give you direction. It also provides flexibility to go as in depth as you want and provides a nice little table of contents for the rest of your study’s flow, which is nice if you ever want to go back and reference your work. 

-            Guiding Questions

This is an easy way to build a lens for your study so that you can stay focused. Here are some to start you off**:

§  What is the original intent of this passage?

§  How can I apply this to my daily life?

§  Is there an eternal truth represented in this passage?

§  What biographical information can I find about the author, when this was written, etc.?

§  What stands out to me in this passage?

Reminders

-            Start small

Even the best laid plans can fail. If you try to do too much at once, it is very easy to become discouraged. Start with something simple that you can handle. Once you get into the routine of journaling, then you can build out what all you like to do in your Bible journal.

-            Your purpose

Remember that your Bible journaling you should help YOU. Other people aren’t going to see it or judge you for it. The purpose is to help you organize your thoughts, learn more about the Bible, and grow spiritually. It isn’t to impress others. It’s a tool to help you walk closer to God!

 

 

Footnotes

*COMPEL Writer’s Training. Conference call for First5 Devotion Challenge with Writers.

** SheSpeaks Conference 2019. Building a Biblical Framework for Your Writing. Joel Mudamalle & Lysa TerKeurst.