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Have you ever watched the movie War Room and wished you had a prayer closet of your own like the one in the movie War Room…
…but realized you simply don’t have the space?
Maybe you live in a small home.
Maybe every room is shared.
Maybe privacy feels impossible to find.
That was exactly my situation after watching War Room for the first time.
Why I Needed an Alternative to a Prayer Closet
I was deeply inspired by Elizabeth Jordan’s prayer closet and longed for a dedicated place to pray and battle spiritually for my family.
But in our tiny home, creating a physical prayer closet just wasn’t realistic.
And that’s when I realized something important:
The power was never in the room itself.
The power was in having an intentional place to meet with God.
So instead of building a prayer closet, I created a prayer journal that became my portable war room.
In this post, I’ll show you:
✔ How to create a prayer journal for spiritual warfare
✔ What sections to include
✔ How to organize prayer requests and answered prayers
✔ And how journaling can strengthen your prayer life and spiritual focus
What Is a Prayer Journal?
A prayer journal is a notebook or binder in which you can keep track of all of the things you are praying for.
Have you ever promised to pray for a need, and walked away and forgot about it?
I think we’ve all done that a few times.
I have learned to keep a notebook at hand in which I can write all of the needs I have promised to pray for.
But I also include a section where I can write down answered prayers, and this has been a great encouragement to me.
In your prayer journal, you can also write down meaningful Scripture, words God has spoken to your heart, or struggles that you are facing.
What to Include in a Prayer Journal
A prayer journal can include:
✔ Daily prayer lists
✔ Answered prayers
✔ Scripture writing
✔ Spiritual warfare verses
✔ Gratitude journaling
✔ Prayer requests
✔ Battle plans for specific struggles
✔ Prayers for family and loved ones
Supplies You Need for a Prayer Journal
You really only need:
✔ A notebook or binder
✔ Pens or highlighters
✔ Printable prayer pages (optional)
✔ Sticky notes or tabs
✔ Your Bible
How to Create a Prayer Journal for Your War Room
1. Create a Daily Prayer Section
In this section, you will keep track of the daily, ongoing needs of your friends and loved ones.
- Special prayers for your husband and children
- Salvation prayers
- Financial needs
- Daily burdens
2. A Prayer Requests Section
In this section, write down those needs you’ve promised to pray for.
If your list grows long, you can take this section and divide it up into days of the week, and then assign certain requests to certain days.
This way, you can easily pray through your entire prayer list each week.
3. An Answered Prayer Section
In this section, write down the answered prayer and the date it was answered.
There are times when we get discouraged. Maybe we’ve been praying for a need for a long time, and it seems that God isn’t answering our prayers.
Like David, who encouraged himself in the Lord, we can turn to this section and see all of the amazing ways God is answering our prayers, and we are encouraged.
4. A Spiritual Warfare Journal
Don’t forget to include a space in your journal where you can write about your struggles and battles.
If you are not sure what to put in this section, you can download this free Prayer Strategy Worksheet, which helps you work through how to do spiritual warfare over areas of your life that need warfare.
5. Scripture and Battle Verses
I love to keep Bible verses on hand that speak to different areas of my life that need to be strengthened.
I have put together several sets of Bible verses as free Scripture cards that you can download and print off and put in your journal.
They help you to easily memorize and meditate on Scripture, to renew your mind, and grow in Christ.
6. Gratitude and Praise Pages
Don’t forget to add in pages for gratitude and praise, thanksgiving, and worship.
When I was a young adult, my dad challenged me to write down five things everyday that I was thankful for.
And I wasn’t allowed to repeat anything I’d already written.
You see, there is great power in a thankful heart.
You can grab this free Thankful Journal here to use in your prayer journal. It has several colorful pages on which you can write things you are thankful for each day.
Why Prayer Journaling Changed My Spiritual Life
One of the greatest benefits of prayer journaling is that it helps me stay spiritually intentional.
So many times, we become so overwhelmed by life’s battles that we begin thinking like victims instead of victors.
But Scripture reminds us that Christ already defeated the enemy.
Prayer journaling helps me:
✔ Keep my focus on truth
✔ Track God’s faithfulness
✔ Recognize answered prayers
✔ Stay spiritually alert
✔ Continue moving forward in faith
Do you use a prayer journal?
Which section has become the most important or most used section of your journal?
Resources for Prayer:
