Bible Journaling Kick-Starters

This happens to me more often than I care to admit…. Amid the crazy business of the day I’ve managed to carve out some time to sit down and relax and spend some time with God in the word and illustrating my faith. I’ve gathered my supplies, poured the cup of coffee and begin to open the Bible…… but to where? What am I going to read and illustrate today? The panic sets in…. I’m running out of time, Judah will wake up from his nap any minute now and my opportunity will be missed!

We’ve all been there haven’t we?

What I decided to do was start making a list of bible-journaling kick-starters. Prompts to inspire me where to begin. Ideas of what to illustrate when I don’t know what to illustrate. Care to hear some of them?

I ended up with a list of 8 (yes 8!) Now these aren’t bible verses or particular stories – these are ideas of what you might journal and illustrate. Here goes….

1. Sermon NotesDuring the church services I attend, or other meetings that involve teaching I always make sure to take notes. Usually this first copy is messy and jumbled. Most of the time it’s actually digital notes taken on my phone. After some time to meditate on it I’m able to pull out some key points and these will go down either in the margins of my bible at a relevant verse, or in my Praise Book.
2. DevotionalsMany MANY MANY of my bible-journaling entries have begun as I’ve followed along with the Illustrated Faith devotionals. The coordinated supplies make it so easy to begin creating!
3. Songs or HymnsWhatever you usually listen to, whether it’s traditional hymns or contemporary worship, the lyrics can be profoundly moving. I’ve often written them out and used them as inspiration for a bible-journaling entry.
4. Dreams, Prayers, ThoughtsMy journals are also filled with ‘real life stuff’. My dreams and prayers for my children in particular. There’s no reason why you can’t put these into your bible or Praise book, they’re not strictly reserved for formal theological teaching!
5. ListsAt times my journaling is just a series of dot-points. Much like this very list I’m creating now. It’s not all paragraphs and pages!
6. Reading PlansThere are many plans available online that will prompt you to read certain chapters or books each day. If you don’t know where else to open your bible, you can always start with what they suggest. Some of my more comprehensive bible studies have been achieved this way.
7. Journaling PromptsI’ve started using my Illustrated Faith Notebook Journal for this. At the bottom of each blank page is a scripture reference, so sometimes when I’m stuck for what to read I’ll simply flip to a random page and start there.
8. Product InspirationAnd lastly there’s all those fabulous Illustrated Faith products such as the Die Cut Prompts and the Stickers which again reference different scriptures. Simply choose a cute one and begin!

In my video today I’m going to take you through these 8 ideas in a bit more depth and share with you some of the examples of bible-journaling I have done before using each of these ‘methods’. But I’d love to hear some more examples, so please feel free to leave a comment with your suggestions below so we can add them to the list!

ESV Single Column Journaling Bible | Illustrated Faith Created to Create Kit | Illustrated Faith Notebook Journal | Illustrated Faith by Bella Blvd Encouragement Die Cut Prompts | Illustrated Faith by Bella Blvd Flag It Stickers | Illustrated Faith by Bella Blvd His Name Stickers