What is a war binder, and how do I create one?

What is a war binder and how do I create one? Plus everything you need to create a war binder or faith journal, including free downloads!

UPDATE: I originally created this blog post back in 2018. At the time I had a little stationery shop and sold a war binder starter kit with traveler notebook inserts for scripture, prayer, gratitude. In 2020, the company I used to purchase the travelers notebook covers closed. I had 1 year old twins at the time and that side of my business faded away. Currently, this blog primarily shares home decor ideas and inspiration, but I also enjoy sharing my faith and inspiring others through my own walk with God. I no longer sell the starter kits, but over the years I’ve tried many different versions of a war binder. So I’m updating this post to include more options with pros/cons of each, along with links for shopping, and new digital downloads (coming soon!)

Let’s dive in!

Have you seen the movie War Room? The movie is all about the power of prayer, and it’s really good! If you haven’t had a chance to watch it, go check it out! I just loved it and it was such a good reminder to prioritize prayer in my life.

If you’ve watched the movie you might remember a prayer closet or war room of sorts. I know we don’t all have the space in our homes to designate a particular closet or room as a war room so creating a war binder is a great option! Plus, it’s portable and can go where you go! It’s one centralized place to keep your prayers, gratitudes, and scriptures your memorizing or leaning into.

With a physical war room, your walking into a certain place and designating it as your meeting place with God. You can do the same with a binder! Decide to limit all outside distractions and know that when you open up your war binder, you are sitting with God…listening, learning, and walking with Him.

I can’t want for you to get started. Let’s go over some basics!

So What is a War Binder?

A war binder, also known as a faith journal, is essentially a binder or notebook with multiple sections that you use to document, strengthen, and nourish your walk with Christ. I like to use sections for prayer, scripture I’m memorizing or meditating on, and gratitude. I use mine more like a daily faith journal of sorts. It’s not where I keep notes for deep dives into scripture, sermon notes, or specific prayers that I pray frequently over my family, etc. It’s more of a place for my daily walk with God….my daily gratitudes, prayers, and scripture I’m meditating on for the day.

This year I’m working through Heart Dive 365 and following her 2024 reading plan. Sometimes I’ll add in scriptures to my journal from my daily reading plan with Heart Dive. If you’re a visual learner, you will love her YouTube videos. Here is a link to the playlist I’m working through and here is a link to their Bible In A Year reading plan. The Bible Recap is another great resource. They have a reading plan and put out a recap podcast each day. But after trying both, I’ve decided I’m much more a visual learner and prefer the YouTube Videos!

For scripture deep dives and word studies, I love to use the James Method Bible Binders. Lauren teaches you how to really dig in and study the bible with verse mapping, word studies and more. I’ve learned so much from her Happy Mapper Course. I love her products!

For deep dive prayer journals, I keep a separate journal for each member of my immediate family, including myself. I love writing down prayers and being able to go back to them and pray them often over that specific family member. I write my own prayers, find prayers online that I love, or grab them from books. This book, The Power of a Praying Wife, is great for your husband. And this book, The Power of A Praying Parent, is a great place to start for praying for your children. This book, Psalm 91 for Mothers, is also a great one!

How do I create a War Binder? 

The opportunities are endless! There are so many different options for creating a war binder. And there are so many options when it comes to how simple or how detailed and artsy you want to be. You can simply use your handwriting to line the pages, or you can add in some paint, washi tape, stickers, or stamps.

Some days you might only have time to jot a few things down and other days you might want to sit for a few hours journaling and creating beautiful layouts. Either way, please don’t feel intimated by beautiful layouts on Pinterest or lengthy process tutorials on YouTube. It’s not what the journal looks like that matters, it’s your heart behind the process and the growth through the journey that’s worth noting.

With that being said, if you’re anything like me, you probably want your war binder to look pretty. So good news, whether you plan on filling it with handwriting, or if you want to work in washi, stamps, and stickers, you can make any of the following options beautiful.

War Binder Faith Journal Set Up Options

There are so many ways you can set up a war binder or faith journal! I want to share my favorite options here in bullet form and then go over a few of them in more detail.

• Spiral Notebook with Adhesive Tabs
• 3 Ring Binder with Sections
• Disc Binder System
• Travelers Notebook
• A5 Binder with Sections

Pros & Cons of the Different Set Up Options

There are many different ways to create and set up a war binder and all of them work. I’ll share some of the best options along with pros/cons for each so you can decide what would work best for you.

SPIRAL NOTEBOOK:

Many war binders are started in a spiral-bound notebook. This will be your most basic, inexpensive option to get started! This notebook is my favorite spiral bound notebook and would be a great starter option! It’s such a great size! Simply add adhesive tabs to create your sections (prayer, gratitude, scripture, etc). This one has divider tabs in it and it is from the same company so I know the quality is great!

PROS: Inexpensive and easy to get started. Great for a trial run to see if this is something you want to commit too.
CONS: You will likely fill up certain sections before others forcing you to get another notebook or mix sections together. If you don’t plan to carry your war binder around, you could get 3 different color notebooks and designate each notebook its own section. One notebook for prayer, one for gratitude, one for scripture, etc. It would be difficult to carry them all around, but if you plan to journal in one spot and leave them at home, then that might be a good option for you.

beautiful options to consider:

Scroll to the right to browse the collection.

THREE RING BINDER:

A simple 3 ring binder is a great option since they are easy to find, and easy to customize your sections with pocket tabs. I’d recommend a 2″capacity. I think you’ll find you can’t fit very much in a 1″ binder.

PROS: Inexpensive and easy to get started. Easy to customize sections. You can add and remove pages easily!
CONS: The 8.5 x 11 binders tend to feel a bit large and cumbersome. They take up a large amount of room when you open them flat to journal. You could journal on your pages outside of the binder and then insert them afterwards though!

beautiful options to consider:

Scroll to the right to browse the collection.

DISC BINDER:

A disc binder is another great option. You can find discs, covers, dividers, and hole punchers on amazon. You can also start with something like a Happy Planner Journal and then customize from there.

PROS: Easy to find all the tools you need. Can customize every part of your binder. Easily add and remove pages from your sections easily.
CONS: The 8.5 x 11 binders are a bit bulky with the large disc size to hold enough paper for all of your sections. But you can fold the cover back when writing so they don’t take up as much space as a three ring binder. I also find the pages don’t always turn nice and smooth and you can usually only turn a few at a time. As silly as this sounds, it can be a little frustrating to try and get to another section of the binder.

beautiful options to consider:

Scroll to the right to browse the collection.

TRAVELERS NOTEBOOK:

Travelers Notebooks are so fun. They are typically quite a bit smaller than a regular spiral notebook. They come in so many different sizes, styles, and colors and you’re sure to find a travelers notebook you love on Etsy. If you’re just hearing about a travelers notebook, it’s essentially a cover with elastics on the inside that you use to hold smaller notebooks. This is great because you can have multiple notebooks but easily carry them all around together. You want to make sure you pay close attention to the size you end up purchasing so you can find the right size of refills. I personally like the A5 size traveler notebooks.

PROS: Customization is endless. Easy to switch out journals as you fill them up. Typically small in size and easy to take with you wherever you go.
CONS: Page size is much smaller. (This could also be a pro because sometimes a large blank page can feel intimidating.) Due to the travelers notebook size, the amount of pages in each journal is usually around 80 (front & back) so you might find you fill up journals quickly. Hard to tear out individual pages if you mess up or want to trash a page.

beautiful options to consider:

Scroll to the right to browse the collection.

A5 3 Ring Binder

An A5 3 Ring binder is a great option and what I’ve chosen to use. The size is similar to an A5 Travelers Notebook, but has the 3 ring binder on the inside. You can easily add and remove pages, customize sections, and carry it on the go. Consider purchasing a binder with larger than 1″ rings so you have plenty of room for your sections.

PROS: Easy to customize. Great portable size and easy to add/remove paper and customize sections. If you mess up on a page you can toss it.
CONS: Page size is much smaller. (This could also be a pro because sometimes a large 8.5 x 11 blank page can feel intimidating.) If you want to keep your sections after you’ve completed them, you’d have to use a binder clip, or use small ring binders to keep them together. You could use something like this soft binder cover to store old sections and then keep them in a storage box. Or these A5 Kraft Binders or Clear A5 Binders would work as well!

beautiful options to consider:

Scroll to the right to browse the collection.

So what do I put in my war binder? What sections should I include in my war binder?  

The beautiful thing about your war binder is that it is YOURS! You can create whatever sections or use whatever journals you want, and play until your heart’s content! I recommend starting with these three journals: prayer, gratitude, and scripture. You can also set up your spiral-bound notebook with these three sections. Once you get started you will develop your own system, and know what journals and sections you want to add. 

• Gratitude
• Scripture
• Prayer
• Bible Reading Plan
• Daily Prayer Plan (Praying for specific people on specific days of the week.)
• Answered Prayers
• God Winks

Favorite Accessories & Tools

Here are a few of my go to tools and accessories that I use in my war binder.

If you’re starting a war binder, you might be interested in adding some of my digital downloads. You can access the files by signing up below! Simply click here to join.

I’d love for you to say hello down below and let me know what you think! And if we’re not friends over on Facebook or Instagram, what are you waiting for?! ☺️

Are you on Pinterest? Come follow along for more home decor inspiration.

Blessings,
Kayla C.

Shop This Post

Some of the brand links I share are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. These links provide me with a small compensation (at no additional cost to you) when you purchase items through my links.