How to Journal Prophetically in the Month of Av
Av holds the deepest grief and the brightest hidden light in the Hebrew calendar — here is how to journal through both.
What the Month of Av Actually Is
Av is the fifth month of the Hebrew calendar, usually coinciding with July–August. Most Spirit-filled believers pass through it without knowing its name, let alone its weight. That is worth changing.
Av is most associated with Tisha B'Av — the ninth of Av — the date on which both the First Temple and the Second Temple in Jerusalem were destroyed, two events separated by roughly 655 years yet falling on the same Hebrew calendar date.
Over time, Tisha B'Av has evolved into a day of mourning not only for the Temple's destruction, but for subsequent tragedies that occurred on or near the ninth of Av. The pattern is too consistent to dismiss as coincidence.
The name Av means "father" in Hebrew. That is not incidental. Even in the month of concentrated national sorrow, God is not absent as a judge looking away — He is present as a Father who grieves with His children and purposes the grief toward something.
The month of Tammuz begins the descent with the fast of the 17th of Tammuz, which marks the breach of Jerusalem's walls. Tisha B'Av marks the end of this three-week period of traditional mourning known as the Three Weeks, an observance that begins on the 17th of Tammuz. Av carries that descent to its lowest point — and then the arc reverses.
What follows Av matters as much as Av itself. The Elul season of return and intimacy that follows begins on the first of the next month, ushering in 30 days of drawing near to God before the High Holy Days. Av is not a dead end. It is a threshold.
Most Christians have never been taught to mark Tisha B'Av, and this article is not arguing for religious obligation. But the prophetic pattern this month holds — concentrated grief, concealed glory, imminent reversal — is deeply relevant to anyone walking through loss, delay, or a season that feels like unanswered prayer. That is a universal enough experience to pay attention.
The Three Spiritual Themes That Define Av
Theme 1 — Mourning and lament. Av is the Hebrew calendar's appointed season for grief. The book of Lamentations was written for this very season. The Book of Lamentations, which mourns the destruction of Jerusalem, is read during this period, followed by liturgical dirges that lament the loss of the Temple. God does not skip grief; He schedules it. That alone should reframe how you approach a hard season.
Theme 2 — Hidden light. Jewish tradition holds that the primordial light of creation — the ohr haganuz, the concealed light — was hidden away after Adam's sin and is specifically associated with redemption and the Messianic age. That light is connected to Av. The darkness of this month is not the absence of God but the concealment of a glory that is about to be uncovered. What is hidden in Av is not lost.
Theme 3 — Reversal and redemption. The Talmud and Midrash note that the Messiah was born on Tisha B'Av — a notion typically understood to mean that the destruction of the Temple was a prerequisite for the coming of the Messiah. The lowest point is also the birthplace of breakthrough. This pattern runs through all of Scripture: "weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning" (Psalm 30:5), and "our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us" (Romans 8:18).
These three themes — lament, hidden light, reversal — give the prophetic journaler a framework, not just a feeling. You do not have to wander through Av emotionally. You can move through it with intention.
This is not about adopting Jewish mourning practices as religious obligation. It is about reading what the Spirit is saying through the rhythms God built into time. The biblical calendar is a prophetic map. Av is one of its most instructive coordinates.
Why Prophetic Journaling Is Especially Powerful in Av
Grief is one of the hardest things to journal through. Most believers either avoid it entirely or remain stuck in it, circling the same wound without trajectory. Av gives lament both a container and a direction.
The prophetic journal is not just for recording mountaintop moments. Habakkuk 2:1 — "I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what He will say to me and what answer I am to give to this complaint" — was written in a season of complaint and waiting, not victory. Habakkuk was journaling from the wall, not from the throne room.
Lament in Scripture is always addressed to God, not just vented into the air. The Psalms of lament — Psalms 13, 22, 88 — are not therapy sessions. They are confrontations with a God the writer still expects to answer. Journaling lament turns it into dialogue. It moves grief from monologue to conversation.
The hidden-light theme also means Av is actually a high-revelation season, if you are paying attention. What God shows you in darkness is different from what He shows you in celebration. The desert always produces what the palace cannot.
Finally, because Av ends and Elul begins, your Av journal entries become a record of what you carried through the valley — which makes the season of return more meaningful and concrete. You will know what you need to lay down because you wrote down what you were carrying.
How to Structure Your Prophetic Journal Entries in Av
You do not need a rigid formula. But structure helps grief move. Here is a six-step approach you can use throughout the month.
Step 1 — Open with honest lament. Before you ask or declare, name what is broken, delayed, grieved, or unresolved. Use the language of the Psalms as permission. Psalm 13 opens: "How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?" Psalm 88 ends without resolution. Write the unfiltered question before you write the answer.
Step 2 — Sit with the silence. In Av, the instinct to rush to encouragement is actually counterproductive. Spend deliberate time in stillness before writing what you hear. Record the silence itself if needed — what it feels like, what fears surface. God speaks through what emerges in quiet.
Step 3 — Ask specifically about hidden things. The theme of concealed light invites a specific prayer: What are You hiding here that You are about to reveal? Journal what surfaces — images, Scriptures, impressions. Do not evaluate them yet. Record them first.
Step 4 — Record the reversal signs. Look back over recent entries and journal entries from the previous Av if you have them. Where have you seen a pattern of breakthrough emerging from the lowest point? Document it as prophetic evidence. Evidence builds faith.
Step 5 — Write a Tisha B'Av entry on the ninth. The observance of Tisha B'Av is a 25-hour period — but even setting apart a portion of that day for prayer and journaling is meaningful. Write a lament, then write what you believe the Father is birthing in this season. Date it. Return to it next year.
Step 6 — Close toward Elul. In the final days of Av, begin journaling the question: What does repentance and return look like for me this year? This bridges naturally into the Elul season and keeps the month of Av from feeling like a dead end.
The 10 Entry Categories and How to Use Them in Av
God365 has ten journaling categories, and Av has a specific relationship to several of them. Here is how to use them intentionally during this month.
Journal (Lament / Prayer). This is the primary category for Av. Write your honest complaints as prayers, not just feelings. The difference matters — a complaint addressed to God is an act of faith; one addressed to no one is just pain.
Prophetic Words. If you receive a word in Av, note the context carefully. Words received in the valley carry unusual weight and tend to have unusual longevity. A word that comes in the darkness rarely needs embellishment — it tends to be clear and specific.
Dreams. Av is associated with heightened dream activity — log and date everything. Warning dreams, directional dreams, and grief-processing dreams all tend to surface in seasons of spiritual intensity. Do not skip the unsettling ones.
Scripture. Record Scriptures that arrest you during this season. Lamentations, Psalms 74 and 79, and Isaiah 61 are particularly resonant in Av. When a verse stops you mid-reading, write it down and stay with it.
Answered Prayers. Even in a season of lament, track what God does answer even in a season of lament. This prevents the journal from becoming only a record of grief. Answered prayers in Av are especially worth marking — they are evidence that God is working even when the arc feels bent toward sorrow.
Visions. Hidden-light experiences often come as brief impressions or partial images rather than open visions. Log partial impressions and visions even when they are incomplete. The incompleteness is usually intentional. You will return to them.
God365's Hebrew calendar integration and categorized entry system lets you tag entries by month and track patterns across multiple years of Av — so your journal becomes a multi-year prophetic record, not just a single season's document. Over time, you begin to see what God consistently does in this month in your own life. That is prophetically significant information.
Tisha B'Av for Christians: What to Do With It
The question comes up often: Should Christians observe Tisha B'Av? The answer is not about religious obligation. It is about prophetic awareness.
The Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans on 9 Av in 70 CE, scattering the people of Judea and commencing the greatest Jewish diaspora. For the early church, this was not distant history — it forced the community into full dependence on the indwelling Spirit rather than a physical house. The destruction of the Temple is, in one sense, the moment the New Covenant became the only covenant operating. That has theological weight for every believer.
Many Spirit-filled Christians find that setting apart time on Tisha B'Av produces unusually clear prophetic encounters — possibly because they are aligning with a moment God has already marked in time. You do not need to adopt a full liturgical fast to honor this. A half-day of prayer, lament, and listening is enough.
Practically: use the 9th of Av as an anchor day. Write a lament. Sit in silence longer than feels comfortable. Then write what you hear the Father saying. Date the entry. The prophetic word you receive on Tisha B'Av is often directly related to what that day is asking you to release.
Zechariah 8:19 promises: "The fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth months will become joyful and glad occasions and happy festivals for Judah. Therefore love truth and peace." The fast of the fifth month is the fast of Av. The prophetic promise embedded in Tisha B'Av is not grief forever — it is grief that becomes a feast. The mourning is not the destination. It is the passage.
A Sample Av Journal Entry Framework
This is a scaffold, not a formula. Use what serves the moment. Skip what does not.
Date: ________ | Hebrew Date: Av ___, 57___
Lament section — "Lord, I am honest about..." Write what is broken, unresolved, delayed, or grieved. Do not soften it. Name it directly.
Stillness section — "In the silence I noticed..." Record what surfaced when you stopped talking — fears, images, a sense of absence or presence, a specific word or phrase.
Hidden light prompt — "What I sense You are concealing that is about to be revealed..." Write impressions, partial Scriptures, images, or any sense of something not yet visible. Even fragments belong here.
Scripture anchor — "The verse that grounded me today..." One verse. Write it out by hand. Note why it arrested you.
Reversal declaration — "I believe this season is turning because..." Write one concrete piece of evidence — something you have seen, heard, or received — that points toward a shift. Even a small sign counts.
Return to this entry in Elul. See what has moved.
Start Journaling the Av Season Now
Av is a 30-day month. But the quality of what you journal through it can reset the spiritual trajectory of an entire year. The Hebrew month of Av's prophetic meaning is not just for Jewish mourning — it is a gift to any believer who wants to move through hard seasons with intention rather than drift.
The prophetic journaler who learns to steward lament well becomes someone who can carry others through their valley seasons. You cannot give away what you have not processed. Av is where that processing happens.
God365 was built for exactly this kind of calendar-aware, categorized, multi-year prophetic journaling — with Hebrew month tracking, ten entry categories, and the ability to look back across years and see what God has consistently done. Currently available on iOS, with Android coming soon.
Download God365 and begin your Av journal today. The month is short. The record you build is not.