Thirty questions to write about

A journal is not a performance. Nobody reads it but you. Three honest sentences are worth more than a page of what you think you ought to say.

Pick one question. You can go in order or choose whichever catches your eye. Write for five minutes and stop. If a question does not fit today, skip it.

Several of these questions touch tender places. Go as deep as feels right and no deeper. If writing brings up something heavy, don't carry it alone. Talk with a trusted friend, a pastor or a counselor.

Questions for paying attention to your day and to the passage in front of you.

What word or phrase from today's passage stayed with you, and why do you think it did?

Where did you slow down today, even for a moment? What did you notice there?

What took most of your attention this week? Was it worth what you gave it?

When did you feel most alive in the last few days? What were you doing?

What in today's passage surprised you or cut against what you expected?

Looking back over today, where might God have been at work in a way you missed at the time?

Questions for saying what is true, including the parts you would leave out of a prayer in public.

What are you actually feeling right now, without cleaning it up?

What are you afraid of at the moment? Write it as plainly as you can.

What question about God or faith do you hesitate to say out loud?

Where are you pretending to be fine? Who are you pretending for?

What is one thing you need to confess? Write it to God directly.

What do you want from God right now? Not what you should want. What you want.

Questions for naming what is good. Be specific. Small things count.

Name three specific things from the last twenty-four hours that you are thankful for.

Who made your life better this month? What exactly did they do?

What is something you prayed for in the past that you now have and have stopped noticing?

What ordinary thing, such as a meal, a bed or a working body, do you rarely stop to give thanks for?

What hard thing from your past are you now, in some way, grateful for? If the answer is nothing yet, write that.

What about God's character are you most thankful for today?

Questions about the people in your life.

Who has been on your mind lately? What might they need from you?

Is there someone you need to forgive? What makes it hard?

Is there someone you need to apologize to? What would you say?

Who knows how you are really doing? If the answer is no one, who could?

Think of a person you find difficult. Write a short prayer for their good.

Who in your church or your neighborhood could use encouragement this week, and what is one way to give it?

Questions for turning what you have read into something you do. Keep the steps small.

What is one small thing today's passage is asking you to do? When will you do it?

What habit is helping your faith right now, and what habit is getting in the way?

What have you been putting off that you already know you should do?

What would it look like to trust God with one specific worry this week?

What do you want to be different thirty days from now? What is the first step?

Who could you invite to read or pray with you, and when will you ask them?

When you finish an entry, read it back once. If you like, tap the Turn this into a prayer button in your journal and the AI will draft a prayer from what you wrote. Adjust it until it sounds like you, then pray it.

Every few weeks, scroll back through your entries. You may see patterns, changes, or prayers you had forgotten you prayed.