Our youth group will be doing Bible Journaling over the next several weeks as we talked about on Sunday night, so here are the instructions on what we are doing. (Feel free to steal this and do it even if you aren’t in youth group!)
Bible Journaling:
Step 1. We decided to read through the book of John. So… Monday through Friday, read at least a chapter of that book each day. the next day, read the next chapter. etc etc. Chapters really are not that terribly long so it’s not like you spend a ton of time reading, but it gives you a much better sense of context than just reading a couple verses.
Step 2. Each day after your reading, journal what you got from the reading. Even if it is just an observation. In fact, be looking for things from the different categories as you read to help you think of how to journal about the passage. After you’ve read, journal as much of this as you can. remember, this is one of those things that it is entirely about the material, not a grade… so it’s not about writing a certain amount.
Journaling prompts:
- New information you’ve learned or made a general observation about this passage:
Something that you may not have noticed before or a fact/piece of information that is probably important to remember, or that just sticks out to you. - This passage teaches me a life lesson.
If there is a lesson to be learned from this passage that sticks out to you, write about that fact and how the passage teaches that - This passage raises some questions.
does this passage raise any questions? write them down and journal your thoughts on those questions. - What does this passage tell me about God?
well, this one is self explanatory. 🙂 It is also something that we need to remember – the Bible is more about God revealing himself to us than anything else, so it is important to note what it tells us about Him. - What does this passage tell me about myself and humanity?
Oftentimes when we read the Bible it can act as a mirror, reflecting our own nature as human beings when we see ourselves in someone else’s story. - God is telling me something through this passage.
These are the gold nuggets of Bible reading. You don’t always sit down and read and feel like “wow, God meant for me to read this today, because x,y,z.”, but when you do, write it down and take it to heart. This is what a lot of people expect when they read their Bible, but the truth is, this doesn’t always happen. God still speaks to us, but my experience is that it is more often by reading and making all the other mental and written notes, and filing it away so that He can bring that stuff to mind when we need it. By reading daily and journaling all the other things in addition to when God speaks loud and clear, you’ll have a great library of scripture memory for the Spirit to remind you of, when the time comes.Usually when I have one of these, I like to take the passage that spoke to me loud and clear and write it out in my journal. I don’t memorize scripture much, but I do I think the act of writing it out does something to help me internalize it. Plus there is just something cool to me about actually writing the words of scripture.