Today, I'd like to share with you a set of templates I came up with for my prayer journal. I really miss those times when, alongside self-reflection journaling and doing monthly reviewswrite down my prayers, having the most intimate conversations with God. It helped me grow not just intellectually and psychologically, but spiritually as well.

Every one of us has talents given by God, and from time to time, He gives us a profound wake-up call, so that we don't waste our talents and save our souls. During these periods, it is crucial to maintain a daily conversation with God, looking at our journal entries not only from an analytical point of view, but also from a spiritual perspective. Sometimes one act of repentance and a single prayer can give more than years of therapy.

Sadly, I paused this practice this year after losing my dad; I simply had no emotional or physical strength left for that. That's why I limited myself only to short Orthodox prayers and a simple internal dialogue with God. Now, I have the intention of bringing the practice of writing personal prayers back into my life. I have to admit, Jesus has turned out to be the most wonderful companion. He is simply so interesting to talk to, and I'm always hungry for new lessons and insights.

Besides, there is something deeply intimate and life-giving about writing personal prayers. In my experience, personal prayers have always had a greater impact on my inner growth, mostly because they are so deeply rooted in our real-life context. Before praying, I sit down, look at my journal entries, and face one simple question: What should I ask for? What is the next spiritual step required of me right now? In other words, by writing a personal prayer, we take into account our life circumstances and the condition of our soul. This makes our requests more targeted, and the answers we receive are uniquely ours.

Do you write your own personal prayers? How often? Share in the comments ❤️

P.S. Feel free to join my private blog 💌 It’s a safe, close-knit space for those who are interested in self-reflection journaling and developing sharp critical thinking. As someone with a PhD in Philological Sciences, now I look at journaling not just as a self-help tool, but as a textual practice to renew our mind and level up our lives through sharper and more precise thinking. In this private space, I want to share some linguistic tools that help you achieve that.

Here is a glimpse of the toolkit I’m thinking of offering:

Poor vocabulary means poor life experiences because we can’t recognize what we don’t have a word for. That’s why we’ll learn new words to help us describe all the intricacies and nuances of what we go through, enabling us to find more effective solutions to our problems and live our lives more fully.

We’ll dive deep into the specific words we use in our own journal entries. Many of our cognitive mistakes, as well as negative beliefs, happen simply because we misunderstand or misuse the true meanings of certain words. By breaking down our personal vocabulary, we’ll uncover hidden meanings and correct self-deception.

We’ll learn to direct questions to our negative beliefs that’ll help uncover the hidden reasons why they remain so strong, and find the most compelling arguments for our minds.

In addition to our personal journal notes, we’ll read a novel by Dostoevsky, a renowned Russian ‘master psychologist of the human soul’, slowing down to analyze his text line by line. Instead of just reading, we’ll learn to notice the hidden cues and nuances in his writing and begin making sense of these excerpts in relation to ourselves. This might be challenging but super exciting!

So, what is our week going to look like on the blog?

At the beginning of the week, you get:

• 1–2 language exercises based on a literary excerpt I provide

• 1–2 language exercises based on your chosen journal entries, complete with examples

At the end of the month, we also write a monthly summaryou spot hidden patterns in your thinking and behavior, and uncover insights that usually get lost in daily life.

At the moment, the blog offers two subscription tiers:

• Self-Guided Access 📝 Includes access to all exercises, the community chat, and support (no direct feedback).

• Personalized Mentorship 💌 Includes everything in the first tier, plus personalized feedback on your completed exercises.