Life Skills
7 Prophetic Quotes to Use as Journaling Prompts
Looking to improve your journaling habits? Consider using these prompts.
If you’re anything like me, your motivation to journal comes in sudden spurts.
And then, just as suddenly, that motivation can disappear.
But as President Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985) taught, “Every person should keep a journal and every person can keep a journal.” So if you’re trying to keep a journal but struggling to stay consistent, what can you do?
Journaling Prompts
One way to stay motivated is by finding prompts that are meaningful to you. Drawing from the words of prophets and apostles, I’ve put together some ideas that might inspire your writing:
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“Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch us or our children or our family today?” President Henry B. Eyring, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, felt strongly that he should follow this prompt so he could later show his children how he had seen God blessing their family.
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What are my “spiritually defining memories” that can help me keep my testimony strong during times of difficulty? As Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve invited: “Embrace your sacred memories. Believe them. Write them down. … Let them bring patience to your doubts and understanding to your difficulties.”
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What goals and resolutions could I write down and act on? As Elder Neal A. Maxwell taught (1926–2004), “We can write down, and act upon, more of those accumulating resolutions for self-improvement.”
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What new insights have I received from studying the scriptures? President Russell M. Nelson has made lists of “what the Book of Mormon is, what it affirms, what it refutes, what it fulfills, what it clarifies, and what it reveals.” President Nelson has promised a deep study of the Book of Mormon will help you “receive answers to your own questions and direction for your own life.”
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What memories can I record about my parents, grandparents, siblings, or children that would help me keep “family records”? President Kimball taught that “each of us is important to those who are near and dear to us—and as our posterity read of our life’s experiences, they, too, will come to know and love us. And in that glorious day when our families are together in the eternities, we will already be acquainted.”
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How does the Spirit speak to me? President Nelson taught that “it has never been more imperative to know how the Spirit speaks to you than right now.”
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What are my spiritual gifts, and how can I exercise them? Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles reminded us that “exercising spiritual gifts requires spiritual exercise.”
A Way to Remember God’s Kindness
President Eyring acknowledged that “you may not keep a journal. You may not share whatever record you keep with those you love and serve.” But, as he explained, the point is “to find ways to recognize and remember God’s kindness.”
So what does that look like for you? What helps you remember God’s kindness and appreciate the real and wonderful blessings of the gospel?
Whatever the answer is for you, I hope you realize how much your life experiences deserve to be remembered and preserved—especially the ones that bring you closer to Jesus Christ.