Writing Ourselves Clear.

Tired of your thoughts spinning round and round uncontrollably? Journaling as a spiritual practice helps us learn to pray our way to peace.

There’s an old adage in sermon preparation that says, “Write yourself clear.” The point is, there is something about externalizing our thoughts and working them out on paper that helps us not only communicate them but actually think them more clearly. I know from my own experience that until I sit down and actually write out my thoughts on virtually anything, they’re usually like a twisted knot in my own head.

It’s like every Christmas when I open the bin that holds our Christmas lights and find them in a giant knot. Every year it confounds me because no matter how carefully I try to wrap and organize them for storage, they always come out looking like I just rolled the bin down the stairs and then kicked it into the closet. So every year, I’m forced to take out the knot of Christmas lights and untangle it before we can hang them on our tree or house. Oftentimes, our unprocessed thoughts and emotions feel like that knot. And I’ve simply found no more effective way to untangle them than putting pen to paper, processing them with God, and “writing myself clear.”

To that end, I have two goals today: First, I want to lay a biblical foundation for processing our present experience with God. Second, I want to explain why I think journaling is a helpful means to achieve that. Sound good? Let’s get to work.

Processing For Peace.

I would argue that one of the most practical passages for daily life with God comes to us from the Apostle Paul in Philippians 4:6-7. Paul writes,

“Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 4:6-7 (CSB)

If I were to paraphrase the essence of what Paul is saying, here’s how I’d state it: Don’t hold onto your thoughts and feelings; instead, process them with God. Worry occurs when we let things like confusion, uncertainty, and insecurity swirl around in our minds rather than expressing them to God. Often, the same thoughts circle endlessly in our heads, leading to indecision, inaction, and a lack of clarity.

They’re like an earworm. An earworm, also known as a brainworm, sticky music, or stuck song syndrome, is a catchy piece of music or melody that gets lodged in your head and repeats involuntarily. These tunes often loop incessantly, sometimes for hours or even days, and can be challenging to remove from one's mind. I experienced this phenomenon a few nights ago. I had a particularly restless night of sleep and woke up no less than ten to fifteen times. Each time I woke up, the same lyric from Taylor Swift’s song “Cruel Summer” was playing in my mind:

“Snuck in through the garden gate / every night that summer just to seal my fate.”

Over and over and over again… Now, I absolutely adore that song, but it was driving me insane. And often, this is precisely what we do with our thoughts. We let them spin endlessly, becoming the breeding ground for much of our worry, anxiety, and stress.

Instead of allowing these thoughts to whirl around on the carousel of our minds, Paul encourages us to bring them to God in prayer. We're invited to acknowledge them, examine them from every angle, and invite the Holy Spirit to speak into them, granting us the wisdom, discernment, and comfort we need.

Notice the promise Paul offers: the inexplicable peace of God “will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Worry wages war against our hearts and minds, but God’s peace protects them. The conduit through which this protective peace flows is prayer. That's why it's critical that we process our present experiences with God through prayer.

Why A Journal Helps.

Indeed, a journal is never a biblically mandated companion to prayer. Paul never instructs us to journal our prayers. For thousands of years, the people of God have effectively related to and communicated with Him without the use of a journal.

AND

I would still commend you to give it a try for three reasons:

1. It externalizes our thoughts.

I have found journaling to be a literal and tactile way to empty my thoughts from my head. Quite literally, I am pouring out my prayers onto the page. When I find myself caught in a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions, praying silently in my head can be incredibly challenging. My attention is easily diverted from God's presence to the overwhelming nature of whatever I'm grappling with. Externalizing my prayers in a journal has become a profound way in which God grants me His peace.

2. It provides more objectivity.

Have you ever noticed how some thoughts and ideas lose their potency when you speak them aloud to someone? There's something about articulating certain thoughts, feelings, and beliefs that enables us to see them more clearly. It's as if we can hold them in our hands and examine their validity. Often, we discover that something we once thought or felt is simply untrue.

Personally, I've experienced that my mind tends to wander and I lose my focus when I pray out loud by myself. I'm not sure why, but it rarely feels comfortable for me. However, I've found that journaling produces a similar effect and helps me remain attentive to what I'm trying to work through.

3. It draw us into the present.

Often, when we find ourselves caught in a whirlwind of thoughts, we're either dwelling in the regret of the past or fretting about the uncertainties of the future. Yet, neither of these anchors us in the present moment, where we can fully experience the presence of God. Helen Cepero writes,

“Writing in your journal as a spiritual practice is really about naming where you are in the present. It is in the now - in the present moment - that we are called to follow God. It is here that we live and move and have our being. To stand fully in the present its he reason we look at the past for understanding. It is also the reason we look forward in faith tow hat we cannot yet fully see. The present always stands between memory and hope.”

Instead of allowing ourselves to be caught in the endless spin of our thoughts, let's try something different: processing our present experience with God. We can allow Him to use something as simple as a journal to help us write ourselves clear.

EXPERIENTIAL

Often, little opens up our hearts and minds like a well-crafted question. The right question has the power to guide us toward areas needing attention that we may not have realized. If you're already aware of certain aspects of your present experience that need processing with God, that's fantastic! But if you're unsure where to begin, I invite you to experiment with three questions this week:

1. “In what direction does my mind wander most frequently?”

Take a moment to become still and ask the Spirit to reveal where your mind tends to wander. It could be a specific idea you're wrestling with, an issue at school or work, a relationship concern, or an upcoming life transition causing anxiety. Once you have a sense of the answer, open a blank page and begin to share your thoughts with God.

2. “What emotion(s) is this thought causing me to feel?”

Our thoughts often trigger our feelings. Unfortunately, many of us haven't been taught how to properly address our emotions. It begins with paying attention to what we're feeling. For example, if your mind keeps drifting toward an upcoming interview, the accompanying emotion might be anxiety or insecurity due to the uncertainty of the situation. Instead of suppressing these emotions, I encourage you to share them with God.

3. “How does God want to tend to this?”

Finally, give God an opportunity to care for you. Perhaps there's a verse He wants to bring to your attention or a truth about Himself that He invites you to dwell on. Maybe there's wisdom He wants to impart regarding a decision you're trying to make. I'm convinced that one reason many of us are unaccustomed to hearing the voice of God is simply because we never invite Him to speak.

Take your time with this process. Write as little or as much as you feel necessary. But don't miss out on the opportunity to use your journal as a tool to position yourself in the presence of God.