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Journaling is an excellent way to record and process your thoughts as you read the Bible. The process of writing something down has many benefits, including helping you remember and enhancing your learning. Keeping a journal of your thoughts and responses to scripture has many benefits, but if you’ve never journaled it might be a little daunting to get started.

First of all, while you can journal on your iPad or laptop, there are benefits to the physical act of writing that make journaling with pen and paper worthwhile. Studies show that taking notes by hand improves memory more than using a keyboard, and when you write your thoughts in a notebook you can easily return to them years later to remind yourself of what you were going through at the time.

Find a nice journal that you’ll enjoy writing in. It could be lined or unlined, large or small, bound in leather or a simple spiral notebook. Then, find a pencil or pen that’s satisfying to write with and that you’ll look forward to using. You might even want to have a variety of colors on hand, if you like to draw or embellish your work!

Now that you’ve found what to write in and with, what’s next? Sometimes a blank book can be a little stressful, but there’s a simple method of Biblical journaling that will help get you going:  The S.O.A.P. method.

Soap? Sounds…interesting. But once you know what the acronym stands for, you’ll see how easy it can be! This method helps focus you on what you’re reading, and how you can apply what you’ve learned to your life. It also helps you focus your prayers and relate them to what you’ve read!

Here’s how you do it:

S is for Scripture.

Read the Bible as you normally do (if you’d like a reading plan, you can find some good ones here). When you’ve finished reading, highlight a few lines of scripture that really stood out to you. Write these in your journal along with the date and reference.

O is for Observation.

What made these verses stand out to you? What do you think about them? Write down your observations about what you read, including what it means to you personally. You might even want to re-write what you’ve read in your own words. Ask God to reveal His heart in what you’ve written down, and pray about it.

A is for Application.

How do these verses apply to your own life, today? Write down your thoughts. How can you apply what you’ve learned to your job, your family, your spiritual walk? Is there something you could change that would help you live these verses out loud? Is there someone in your life who could benefit from what the scripture has to say? Write down your thoughts…here’s a great chance to really think through what’s going on in your life and how what you’ve just read relates to it.

P is for Prayer.

After you’ve written down the scripture, observation, and application, write down a prayer to wrap up what you’ve learned. You might be praising God for revealing something important to you or asking Him to help you understand what He’s trying to teach you. You might have a prayer request that’s heavy on your heart, and writing it down can really help you process things. If you like, take a moment and read the prayer quietly aloud. As prayers you’ve written are answered, go back and write down what God did along with the date. It’s a great way to remind yourself that God is always at work.

That’s it! Not difficult at all—but sometimes having a guideline to work within can really help get you going. You don’t have to follow the guidelines exactly and everyone will do things a little differently, but once you start journaling you’d be surprised by how helpful it can be.

Another benefit of journaling is that you can go back from time to time and re-read what you’ve written. It can be extremely encouraging to see what God has done in your life over the course of a few months or a few years…and one day you may want to share something you’ve written with someone who needs it.

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