Daily journal prompts can make the difference between staring at a blank page every morning and actually building a journaling habit that sticks.

Maybe you know the feeling.

You sit down with your coffee, open your journal to a fresh page, pick up your pen … and then stare at the blank page with slow blinking eyes, … thinking, now what?

You don’t know what to write.

If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone. One of the biggest obstacles to creating a consistent journaling habit is knowing what to put on the page once you have that journal spread open before you.

That’s why daily journal prompts can be incredibly helpful. Instead of asking your half-awake brain to come up with something profound at 6:30 in the morning, a good prompt gives you a place to begin.

And that’s really all you need: a place to begin.

And I’m here to help! 

I’m Jennifer Dukes Lee, author of multiple bestselling books including two guided journals, The Every Morning Journal and Stuff I’d Only Tell God. I coach people on journaling, but more than that, I’ve been doing this myself for years. I’ve filled numerous journals with prayers, Scripture reflections, gratitude, questions, worries, hopes, and the ordinary stuff of everyday life. 

So I know firsthand that journaling doesn’t have to be complicated, profound, or time-consuming to be meaningful.

Sometimes, you just need the right question to get you started. Let’s give it a go!

Why Use Daily Journal Prompts in the Morning?

I’m a big believer in paying attention to what gets our first attention, especially upon waking. 

The morning can quickly get away from us when texts start pinging and headlines start shouting. Before you know it, chaos has ensued, and everyone is telling us what they need from us, and we’ve accidentally skipped over something we consider important: talking with God at the start of the day.

There is something powerful about taking a few minutes in the morning to notice what’s happening in your heart, soul, mind, and body, … and then to bring all of it before God.

Morning journaling can help you with that. Journal prompts can help ask questions like:

What am I carrying into this day?

What am I grateful for?

What needs my attention today – and what doesn’t?

What is God saying to me through His Word?

How am I doing, really?

Your morning journal doesn’t have to become another item on your to-do list. And you certainly don’t need to fill three pages before breakfast.

I have learned that some mornings, a few sentences about how you’re REALLY feeling are more than enough.

What Should I Write in My Journal Every Morning?

This is where daily journal prompts can take away so much of the pressure.

You don’t have to sit down every morning and wonder, What in the world am I going to write about today?

The questions are already waiting for you.

I’ve got lots of journal prompts to share with you, but rather than simply handing you a giant list of random questions, I want to show you what this can actually look like in practice.

In fact, I’m about to share with you some of the exact prompts I created for you inside of The Every Morning Journal.

In the journal, each morning’s pages begin with a single Scripture and then guide you through four areas of your life: heart, soul, mind, and strength.

You’ll have space to pray, reflect on Scripture, notice what’s happening inside you, name your priorities, practice gratitude, and pay attention to the body God gave you.

And then comes one of my favorite parts.

Each day’s Scripture becomes the jumping-off point for a couple of unique daily prompts that invite you to go a little deeper.

Take a peek!

Daily Journal Prompts for Waiting on God

Let’s give it a try, with the first morning pages of The Every Morning Journal.

Day One begins with these words from Psalm 5:

“In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before you
and wait expectantly.”
– Psalm 5:3

Step 1: Before moving into the day’s unique prompts, you’ll have a chance to check in with your Heart and Soul, in the section titled “Heart and Soul.”

In this section, you write a simple morning prayer. Try it now on a piece of paper! Dear God, _____________.

Step 2: Jot down what stood out to you in the day’s Scripture show above (Psalm 5:3), and how it might guide you. 

Step 3: Answer this question from the journal, one that I especially love:

What is weighing on your heart – or lifting it up –this morning?

I love the or in that question, because not every morning is heavy.

Some mornings, something is lifting us up. Something has made us hopeful or excited or grateful. Journaling gives us a place to notice both.

Step 4: You’ll move into the Mind section, where you’ll consider your intention for the day, your top three priorities, and something you’re grateful for. Take a moment to jot down your answers on a piece of paper.

Step 5: You’ll fill out the Strength section of the journal – where you think about your physical self. Take a moment to answer these questions on paper: 

How do you actually feel today? Rested? Tired? Energized? 

What would it look like to honor the body God gave you through movement and nourishment?

Step 6: Only then do we return to the day’s Scripture and go a little deeper. In today’s Scripture above, Psalm 5:3, we are given this beautiful picture of someone bringing requests to God – and then waiting expectantly.

So here are two prompts to consider for Psalm 5:3:

Here’s a place in my life where I am waiting for God to move:

Here’s how God has met me in a past season of waiting:

See what we’re doing here? When we are journaling, we are paying attention, remembering, noticing. We are also looking back for evidence of God’s faithfulness.

And tomorrow, the questions on the pages of the journal will be different, something like this: 

Daily Journal Prompts for Noticing Gladness

Let’s practice again, this time with Psalm 118:24:

“This is the day the Lord has made.
We will rejoice and be glad in it.”

You’ve probably heard that verse dozens – maybe hundreds – of times.

But what happens when we slow down long enough to ask ourselves what gladness actually looks like in our own lives?

After your heart, soul, mind, and strength check-in, consider these two prompts, taken straight from The Every Morning Journal:

1. This is the last time I felt truly, deeply glad — the kind of glad that I felt way down in my soul:
2. Here is the name of one place, person, or memory that prompts deep gladness in me:

Don’t rush past those questions.

Maybe your answer is a person sitting across the breakfast table, or it’s a place you’ve loved since childhood. Maybe it’s the sound of your grandchildren laughing, or a memory from a vacation, or a walk through the woods just outside the city. Think about a hymn you haven’t heard in years. Does that bring gladness? Or even consider an ordinary weekday afternoon when, for just a moment, everything felt right.

Write it down and linger in the gratitude it brings to your heart.

Having a meaningful journaling practice isn’t simply documenting what happened.

It’s learning to notice your life while you’re living it.

20 Daily Journal Prompts to Start Your Morning

Here are 20 more daily journal prompts you can use first thing in the morning. These prompts aren’t taken from the pages of The Every Morning Journal. But they are great questions to help you pay attention to God, to yourself, and to the day ahead.

And don’t worry. You don’t have to answer all 20 before breakfast! Choose one or two that speak to you today, and start there. Then come back tomorrow to answer two more!

1. What am I most grateful for this morning?
2. What am I carrying into this day that I need to give to God?
3. What am I looking forward to today?
4. What feels heavy right now?
5. What is one thing I know to be true about God, no matter how I feel today?
6. Where have I noticed God’s faithfulness lately?
7. What deserves my attention today?
8. What does not deserve my attention today?
9. What am I worried about that I cannot control?
10. What do I need from God today?
11. Who is on my heart this morning, and how can I pray for that person?
12. Who could use some encouragement from me today?
13. What is one small thing I could do today to make someone else’s day better?
14. What is something good in my life right now that I don’t want to take for granted?
15. What am I learning about myself in this season?
16. What am I learning about God in this season?
17. Where do I need wisdom today?
18. What am I tempted to rush through today that I could slow down and enjoy instead?
19. What is one ordinary thing in my life right now that I someday might miss?
20. When my head hits the pillow tonight, what would make me look back and say, “That was a good day”?

Want even more journal prompts? I have a bunch more waiting for you in this article, Morning Journal Prompts: What to Write to Start Your Day with God. 

Why The Every Morning Journal Follows the Shema

You may have noticed that the daily journal prompts I shared from The Every Morning Journal are organized around four words: heart, soul, mind, and strength.

There’s a reason!

The framework comes from an ancient Jewish prayer called the Shema, which begins in Deuteronomy 6 with these words:

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”
– Deuteronomy 6:4–5

For centuries, faithful Jews have recited the Shema as part of their daily prayers, including in the morning.

Here’s a cool fact: Jesus knew these words, too. In fact, as a devout Jew, He likely would have prayed those words every morning. We know these words were important to Jesus, because when someone asked Jesus which commandment was the most important, He answered by reaching back to the Shema:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”
— Mark 12:30

Heart. Soul. Mind. Strength.

Those four words became the framework for The Every Morning Journal.

I wanted our morning ritual to echo the morning ritual of Jesus, helping us begin each day by offering our whole selves to God. 

Our hearts.

Our souls.

Our minds.

Even our bodies.

That’s why the journal gives you space to notice what’s happening in all four areas. We get to love Him with every part of who we are and every part of the day ahead.

Want Daily Journal Prompts Waiting for You Every Morning?

If these prompts have been helpful to you, I’d love for you to consider The Every Morning Journal.

I created this journal for people who want to spend meaningful time with God in the morning but don’t always know where to begin – or what to write once they get there.

Inside the journal, you’ll find:

• Scripture for every morning

• guided space to check in with your heart, soul, mind, and strength

• and unique journal prompts every single day that help you go deeper with the day’s verse.

In other words, you don’t have to come up with the questions. They’re already waiting for you. Yay!

My hope is that The Every Morning Journal becomes a place where you meet with God, pay attention to what He’s doing in your life, and begin your days with the One who loves you most.

You can learn more about The Every Morning Journal and get your copy here.

A quick note: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.