Some time ago I mentioned my quiet time notebook in response to one of Linda Stoll’s thoughtful essays on Substack.
(DO visit her at https://lindastoll.substack.com!)
This notebook provides a place to keep Bible study notes, scripture memory work, prayer-starters, and more. Then when I sit down each morning to spend time with God, I have what I need in one place.
Linda replied to my comment, “One of these days you’ll have to tell us more about that notebook!”
Well, today is the day! Here’s a brief explanation of its contents.
First, I’ve chosen looseleaf over spiral, allowing me the freedom to move things around, even remove pages and file them to make room for newer material.
The set-up of various sections allows me to organize by category, making it easier to find what I need.
Below you’ll find more details for each section, plus suggestions for others.
THE COVER
Here’s a chance to be creative! It might be as simple as a scripture coloring page (Many free ones are available online.), a favorite Bible verse or quote written with colorful markers, or an inspiring photograph. Make your notebook a pleasure to pull off the shelf.
PROMPTS FOR PRAISE
Many of us follow the pattern-for-prayer based on the acronym, A.C.T.S. A = Adoration, C = Confession, T = Thanksgiving, and S = Supplication.
To add freshness to my praise, I decided to focus on just one of God’s attributes each day, to avoid a repetitious list-prayer.
For each trait I’ve collected scriptures and quotes that help me express adoration for who our God is. That collection is the first section in my notebook.
CURRENT BIBLE STUDY
If I’m not using a workbook—a study by the likes of Jen Wilkin or Priscilla Shirer—I keep my notes together in this section.
When I finish journaling or verse-mapping through a book of the Bible (for example), I file these pages so, if needed, I can find them again.
However! Purging has been necessary now and then. Had I kept every study throughout the decades of my life, I’d probably need two or three file cabinets!
Also in this section: ideas for scripture meditation, to add variety to the ways I study. These too are available online. (One example: https://biblicalspirituality.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Meditation-Methods-Summary-17.pdf).
MEMORY WORK
I keep a typed copy of each chapter I’ve memorized, the many shorter passages, and individual verses. Reviewing a page or two each day helps to keep the passages fresh in my mind.
PRAYERS
Some people keep a prayer list in this section. But years ago I transitioned to a prayer box of 3 x 5s. The cards provide more room to write, as some requests go through stages toward fulfillment. It’s encouraging to see God at work through the process, as well as in the final outcome.
So this section of my notebook isn’t for requests, it’s for model prayers that have especially touched my heart. I can turn to these when the words won’t come.
An index helps me find an appropriate one. For example, when I need discernment I turn to a prayer of Thomas Merton, for hope, John D. Rayner, and for peace, Teresa of Avila.
FROM THE INTERNET
Occasionally I come across articles and blog posts worth keeping close at hand: how to’s, poetry, inspiration, information, and more. (I need to create an index for this section too!)
WORD OF THE YEAR
Sometimes I participate in this practice of prayerfully choosing a word to focus on for a year. That focus can include searching out related scriptures, writing them out, journaling meditative thoughts, and then praying through them.
The goal is to allow such focus to form our character and enhance our relationship with God.
OTHER POSSIBILITIES
There are those who include a reflection journal, gratitude journal, written out prayers, and/or other personalized pursuits. I prefer actual journals or separate notebooks for certain endeavors.
One example: my God Is Faithful journal, mentioned here now and then.
The first pages are starting to show their age!
Dozens of pages offer a record of God’s faithfulness to our family since 1983. At first this journal did reside in my quiet time notebook. But it soon grew and required a notebook of its own.
And now, gracious readers, I’d love to hear how you organize your quiet time materials. Please share in the comment section below!
All photos: Nancy Ruegg
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I don’t have your organizational skills. I’m the one that flies by the seat of my pants. I have spiral notebooks that I fill up with prayers and my time in the word and thoughts. I write to God letters each day, seeking His leading, listening for His word to me, and then spend time going through particular books of Scripture. I’ve been in Isaiah for about nine months–small passages at a time so I can get it better and keep it longer. I love your ideas, though.
Thank you, Dayle. I love your idea of writing letters to God each day! That’s an activity I enjoy, but have never made it a daily habit. / I just read through Isaiah myself not long ago. In spite of all the “woes” to various groups, there are numerous verses of encouragement also. With you, I especially enjoy taking my time through a Bible book, to better understand and retain its truths.
My quiet time materials can be compared to a laundry basket of clean clothes waiting to be folded. I’m in awe of your organizational abilities, Nancy. God blessed you with a focused mind that loves order. Thanks for sharing your “Quiet Time Notebook” with wonderful ideas for nurturing one’s faith. 🙂
Thank you Nancy for giving a positive perspective to my OCD tendencies! I do focus quite well and I certainly love order. As mentioned to R.H. above, I actually enjoy organizing things!! As for your laundry basket (😁), I’ve heard that some people do keep their quiet time materials in a basket. It could be a pretty display for some bare corner!
I absolutely love this. Thank you for sharing, Nancy. I will save this for future inspiration. Each year I acquire a new spiral notebook to use for journaling, prayers, gratitude, quotes, Scripture, etc. So it’s not as organized as your method. I think I will try to incorporate some of your ideas. Thank you.
There ARE advantages to the spiral, Bridget. Your entries are in chronological order, for example. And a fresh cover and crisp new pages on January 1st offer fresh enthusiasm for the discoveries, answered prayers, wisdom and more to be collected in the year ahead.
This is so good. I like this idea of putting it all together. Thank you for sharing.
You’re welcome, Manu. I’m so glad you found this post worthwhile!
A beautiful legacy….journaling your walk of faith. I might add – “You are the picture of organized. I envy you.” 😍😀
Oh, thank you R.H. I actually enjoy organizing things!! (Part of my OCD tendencies, no doubt!) As for the God Is Faithful notebook being a legacy, I didn’t start it for that purpose. It was to be an encouragement to myself so when circumstances seemed bleak, I could turn to that journal and remind myself with PROOF that God most certainly intervenes, answers prayers, and blesses beyond what we can imagine. All these decades later I do pray that the entries provide the same kind of hope and encouragement to our children and grandchildren.
I found all of this to be so inspiring for my own prayer practice and Bible study, Nancy. I love the idea of using a loose-leaf binder instead of a pre-bound journal so that we can organize thoughts and reflections into categories and find the scripture or prayers we need more readily. Thanks so much for sharing, my friend, and God bless!
Praise God you found this post to be inspiring, Martha. Indeed, there ARE pros and cons for notebooks, spirals, and/or journals. The use of a notebook for quiet time materials is just my preference!
How wonderful that you are digging so deep! Many, many seeds planted, great the harvest.
Thank you for the Merton prayer! Needed it today.
Thank you, Sheila. So glad the Merton prayer ministered to you today. It’s certainly been a meaningful one for me also.
You have beautiful handwriting 🙂 I love the intent to “add freshness to my praise” because you are subconsciously reinvigorating your faith as well. It reminds me of my habit of changing my blog header photo every year or putting up a new calendar for the New Year. New images and perspectives can be exhilarating, not to mention motivating.
Thank you for the compliment, Dave. My years spent teaching elementary school fine-tuned my handwriting! As for “new images and perspectives,” you’ve made a valid point: Anything we can do that reinvigorates our faith, our attitude, our determination, etc. is worth embracing!
This is so rich. Thanks for sharing. I too have been memorizing more and more last few years. Stretching the brain doesn’t it? You challenge me to do more with verse mapping though. Maybe a good challenge for 2025.
Thank you, Jean. Time to memorize more scripture has been one of the benefits of retirement, yes? And it surely helps to keep our memory stronger as we get older. As for verse-mapping, the pursuit does lead to discovery and inspiration! I’ve also found It’s a worthwhile way to add variety to Bible study.
Thank you for sharing this post with us!!! It is very detailed! I like keeping a gratitude journal, and I like to write my favorite Bible quotes in there as well. I meditate on a verse from scripture, and then ponder the meaning for my own life. God speaks to us from His Holy Word. Often, the more I write about it, the more I learn. Sometimes, I use different colored pens for certain details, and sometimes, I use a highlighter. (I save many of my journals so I can read them again.) That is another story altogether…where to keep all the journals!!! 🙂 (I like your idea on focusing on a word for the year.)
I’m so glad I started a daily gratitude journal over seven years ago. I only write about an item or two, but just reviewing the day with a thankful heart, to decide what to write, is an uplifting exercise. / You’re right, Linda about “the more I write, the more I learn.” I’ve experienced that too. Valuable discovery comes out of my pen almost before I realize it! / That’s a great idea to color code certain elements in our journals, notes, etc. Another strategy that helps us find what we need in previous writings. / As for Word-of-the-Year, I’m not sure who first started that pursuit, but please know it wasn’t me! From what I’ve read on blogs, a lot of people participate these days.
I get the impression you were a very organized student 🙂
Yes, my schoolwork was generally organized, but don’t ask about my room, Matt! 😆 I was “selectively organized” through high school. Once I went to college, though, a tidy room became important too. Maybe because it was so small!
Thank you for sharing your notebook. I like the way it can be personalized for each individual and by seasons of life if necessary. I use several notebooks as well.
Indeed, such notebooks are often works-in-progress. Variety can be the spice of our quiet times as well as life in general!
Thank you for sharing your wonderful suggestions for note-booking. You are an inspiration!
You’re welcome, Cheri. I do praise God for HIS inspiration to make my quiet time more meaningful and useful to me–in the moment and beyond.
I admire your detailed quiet time notebook. You are a blessing and a great example of being organized. I have the materials to create a new prayer journal and you have given me some great ideas. Thanks for sharing, Nancy! By the way, for some reason I wasn’t receiving your blog updates for the past few weeks so I re-subscribed and hope that solves the problem.
May your new prayer journal be a blessing to you, Patty. I’m honored that some of the ideas presented here inspired you. As for having to re-subscribe, I’m so sorry. That happened to another long-time follower a few months ago. I don’t understand how that can happen with people who visit and comment regularly! It’s a WordPress mystery!
WordPress has lots of mysteries lately. I can’t get my photos to center, for instance. Oh well!
Well, that’s a new problem I haven’t encountered. I hope it’s a short-term glitch, Patty!
I wish it was, but it’s been going on for a long time. Oh well!
Oh no! What did their hot-line helpers have to say?
I looked and looked for help but didn’t know about hot-line helpers. I’ll have to check into that.
I’ve used the WordPress Help Center several times, accessed by the question-mark-in-a-circle at the top right of the home page. If the question isn’t answered, they provide a place to email the question to a tech person (My nickname for them is hot-line helpers!). I’ve received quick assistance from them. I hope you’re able to fix the problem, Patty!
Thanks, Nancy! I did reach out for help at one point but I don’t remember if that was how I did it so I’ll try that.
I’m afraid I score quite low on the “organized” spectrum. I do have 3 ongoing journals positioned in various areas of the house to write in at any given time I get the urge to write something that seems momentarily profound, or just some random idea I may want to pursue.
Lots to be said for keeping writing materials handy, Gary. We never know when inspiration or worthy sound bites might occur!
Nancy,
I used to keep a journal and yes it was helpful. It all changes but stick with it.
Gary
Gary Avants Forbear Productions * *garyavants66@gmail.com garyavants66@gmail.com
Maybe just once a week, Gary? It doesn’t have to be long either. Maybe one highlight and a sentence-prayer of praise. Even that little bit can offer dividends of encouragement.
Yes. My wife is really good about that. Thank you,
Gary
Gary Avants Forbear Productions * *garyavants66@gmail.com garyavants66@gmail.com
I’ve always loved the thought of journaling, but I’ve never been good with dedicating time to sit down and meditate. We’ve been doing some major fall cleaning, and as I hear the carpet cleaners downstairs and my kids laughing in their room, I really want to do better with journaling. It’s obviously great for family history, but I also think writing down your thoughts can be very mentally healthy. Thanks for this post, you are an inspiration even when you may not feel it!
Even if you only write now and then, Jeanie, you’ll have a record of precious moments to encourage you on days when the kids are bickering in their room instead of laughing! It doesn’t have to be long either. Sometimes my gratitude journal is just one line, even just a phrase. And yet those few words can be enough to trigger my memory and bring back a moment of contentment, joy, or peace from years ago. I agree with you–writing down our thoughts can be very good for our mental and spiritual health. / Thank you for your encouragement, Jeanie. Praise God you find encouragement here!