Do you keep a Gratitude Journal?

In case you have never heard the term before, Wikipedia says “a gratitude journal is a diary of things for which one is grateful. Gratitude journals are used by individuals who wish to focus their attention on the positive things in their lives.”

Wikipedia continues, “gratitude, the feeling of appreciation or thanks, has gained a lot of attention in the field of positive psychology.” I am no expert in ‘positive psychology’ but if you are new to the concept of a Gratitude Journal, let me be the first to share with you how much of a good thing it is to keep a record of all the things you are grateful for.

My experience with a gratitude journal started many years ago. In church, our Pastor would ask us to write our prayers and requests down so that when the answers came, we would be able to see how God had answered them. He would emphasise that we were to honour God by writing them in a notebook, and not on a scrap piece of paper. So, my Prayer Journal started in that notebook, with long letters that I wrote to God. Once in a while, I would review my prayers and I began to see how God was answering them. Then I began to write prayers of thanksgiving as well, and that is when, for me, my Prayer Journal actually became a Gratitude Journal. Each time I had cause to write down a prayer, I had faith that I would soon be back to write its complementary prayer of thanksgiving.

Over the years, I have seen how God has answered prayer upon specific prayer. There have been many things that I asked for and then moved on. I would come one day, review my journal, and then realise that my answer had come a long time ago and I had taken it for granted and never bothered to thank God. I have also experienced God surpassing expectations many times, upgrading the specifications when He delivered the answer, usually giving me a version 5.0 for the version 1.0 that I had asked for.

Now, I wish I could say categorically that all my prayers have been answered. But I can’t and honestly, I don’t know anyone who can make that claim. In my gratitude journal, there were lines I would just skip; letters I would actually begin to cry when I reviewed; pages that would make me ask God, “What happened to ask and you shall receive?” Those lines, those letters, those pages, they represent the prayers that are yet to be answered, struggles I am still having, things I wish were in or in some cases, out, of my life.

And then one day, it hit me. I was missing the point! Wallowing in self pity because of unanswered prayers was exactly where the enemy of my soul wanted me to be; he wanted me to dwell on what had not gone my way so I would be bitter and I would begin to wonder if indeed God is interested in the details of my life.

And so I switched my attitude. I stopped skipping those lines, or ignoring pages I did not like, and I stopped questioning God. I decided that when I review my journal, I will not only thank Him for the prayers He has answered, I will thank Him, period! Those requests, they are His to answer. It was an entitlement mentality that made me feel He owed me! A person has an entitlement mentality when he believes that privileges are rights, and that the privileges are expected as a matter of course. Even if God does not do another thing for me, there is more than enough to be grateful for!

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. (Phillipians 4:6, NIV)

Once I changed my attitude, I discovered that the gratitude journal is a fantastic tool for building up faith for new things – if He did it before, He will do it again! Delay is not denial!

And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. (Habakkuk 2:2-3, KJV)

I started out keeping my gratitude journal with paper and pen, and then as phones got smart, I moved to an app. Get a gratitude journal (app) today. One day, you will come back to thank me. I guaranty it!