The story behind Selah
A notebook that never really ended
Before there was Selah, I had a prayer journal — a simple little notebook in which, with a date at the top, I wrote down what was on my mind and what I wanted to bring before God.
It started during my university years. A friend gave me a notebook as a gift, and from then on I used it faithfully: on the days I made time to pray I would open it, write the date at the top and jot down what was on my heart. Every day? No. There were gaps — sometimes weeks, sometimes just two or three days in between. But the notebook was there whenever I needed it.
The beautiful part came when I flipped back. There were requests from weeks earlier — and I would pray for them again. Some I could check off. Beneath some entries I added a little testimony: how God had answered, when, in what way.
- Grandma — hospital↳ Doing much better. Thank you, Lord! (Nov 11)
- Dogmatics paper (20 pages)
- New flatmate — will she fit in?
- Small group tonight — mercy↳ Real conversation. Lukas opened up.
- Philipp — job application
- Mum — health
This is what the prototype looked like — flip through it yourself.
And this I didn't expect: it often wasn't the new entries that carried me most — it was flipping back. There it was, in black and white, how God had answered months earlier the very thing that had felt unsolvable at the time. Especially in the seasons when I wasn't doing well myself, the notebook was evidence: God is faithful. He is at work. Even when I can't feel it in the moment.
Selah is an attempt to translate exactly that into digital: one page per day, flipping back, checking off, writing testimonies. Nothing that complicates prayer — but everything paper could not: search, be reminded of old requests, share what God has done.