Jewish Personal Prayer - Keep A Notebook

We've talked about writing down our Jewish personal prayers. And then we went a couple steps further and looked at the idea of reading those prayers aloud, and even recording them while reading aloud.

For the moment, let's set everything aside except the writing. You've heard me say it more than once, but I'll say again - writing out personal prayers is my favorite way to communicate with my Almighty God. 

As the words flow out of me and onto the page, I am deeply involved with them. Time seems to stand still as I write, and it brings me closer to myself as well as closer to God. For me, writing is more natural than speaking. So, it makes sense that writing to God feels more natural than speaking, too.

My written prayers are often letters, beginning with, "Dear God." Many sentences begin with, "Thank you for..." followed by ideas, requests and situations which may or may not have already occured in my life. God knows I am fond of writing thank you notes in advance. 

My letters to God are usually hand written in spiral notebooks. When completed, each letter is torn from the spiral notebook and inserted into a 3-ring binder which I call my Prayer Pages. 

This photo is one of my Prayer Pages, but it is not a letter to God. It is a humble request for help understanding Parsha Yitro. When I get stuck reading the weekly Torah portion, or confused while listening to video or audio Torah teachings, sometimes I ask God for help.

Author and writing professor, Janet Ruth Falon, shared some of her written prayers in a post on The Jewish Writing Project. She calls this one A Prayer for My Elderly Mother:

Fortify me, Compassionate One, as I help my elderly mother make life-altering changes.  Teach me patience as I support her in keeping true to herself.  Help me make my contact with her loving and clear in spite of complications we’ve had in the past.  Be there with me as I hold her hand as she moves forward, and given her age, support me in trying to make each communication with her end with loving words.  And please, help me balance the needs of my mother with the needs of my daughter, and nourish me with a bottomless well of courage and stamina. Amen.

Janet has published two books, The Jewish Journaling Book and In the Spirit of the Holidays which are filled with her creative wisdom and poetry. Her books may inspire you to fill up your own notebook with poems and prayers, too.

I've received dozens of beautifully bound journals as gifts over the years, but rarely used them. Spiral-bound notebooks are inexpensive, lightweight and reminiscent of my school days long ago. They are not objects of beauty at all. The written words provide the beauty, not the binding. 

It's what's inside the notebook that matters most to me. My notebooks hold my prayer thoughts and feelings. like my body holds my soul.

Many people choose a beautiful journal because it motivates them to write, and because looking at the outside of the journal is inspiring and comforting. They really enjoy selecting and using a journal that looks classy and artistic. 

And some people create their own Jewish prayer notebook/journal as an art project. Watch Australian artist, Talia Carbis, paint her journal page on Parsha Shemot. 

Just choose a notebook or word processor and make some time to write in a prayerful way. Let the words flow out of you and onto the page or the screen, and take note of how you feel during and after the writing. 

The end goal is not perfect writing. The goal is not the writing at all. The goal is YOU, relieving and revealing you, as only the love and wisdom of your Creator can do. 

On Julie Danan's blog post called, Keeping a Spiritual Journal, she shared an important idea about writing by hand, " I think that the hands-on experience of journaling in one’s own handwriting can itself be a spiritual practice."

These notebooks give me a safe place to store my strong emotions expressed in writing to God. I can re-read them and see: 1) answers to my prayers, 2) ways I've grown and changed, and 3) tangible evidence of a real relationship with my Almighty God.

Looking back at my Prayer Pages is also a powerful experience, and a subject for another lesson in the future.

This is my seventh post sharing about my own experiences with Jewish personal prayer and the experiences I'm collecting from others. Please feel free to share in the comments, or leave a message on 903-642-1449.