diff --git a/jrnl/Journal.py b/jrnl/Journal.py
index a7b6521b..a405debe 100644
--- a/jrnl/Journal.py
+++ b/jrnl/Journal.py
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ class Journal(object):
         if n:
             self.entries = self.entries[-n:]
 
-    def filter(self, tags=[], start_date=None, end_date=None, starred=False, strict=False, short=False):
+    def filter(self, tags=[], start_date=None, end_date=None, starred=False, strict=False, short=False, phrase=''):
         """Removes all entries from the journal that don't match the filter.
 
         tags is a list of tags, each being a string that starts with one of the
@@ -141,6 +141,8 @@ class Journal(object):
 
         starred limits journal to starred entries
 
+        phrase limits journal to entries with the given phrase
+
         If strict is True, all tags must be present in an entry. If false, the
         entry is kept if any tag is present."""
         self.search_tags = set([tag.lower() for tag in tags])
@@ -155,6 +157,7 @@ class Journal(object):
             and (not starred or entry.starred)
             and (not start_date or entry.date >= start_date)
             and (not end_date or entry.date <= end_date)
+            and (phrase in entry.title or phrase in entry.body)
         ]
         if short:
             if tags:
diff --git a/jrnl/cli.py b/jrnl/cli.py
index 434cfc5c..b6507601 100644
--- a/jrnl/cli.py
+++ b/jrnl/cli.py
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ def parse_args(args=None):
     reading.add_argument('-and', dest='strict', action="store_true", help='Filter by tags using AND (default: OR)')
     reading.add_argument('-starred', dest='starred', action="store_true", help='Show only starred entries')
     reading.add_argument('-n', dest='limit', default=None, metavar="N", help="Shows the last n entries matching the filter. '-n 3' and '-3' have the same effect.", nargs="?", type=int)
+    reading.add_argument('-p', dest='phrase', metavar="WORD", help="Shows entries with the given phrase.", nargs="*", type=str, default=None)
 
     exporting = parser.add_argument_group('Export / Import', 'Options for transmogrifying your journal')
     exporting.add_argument('--short', dest='short', action="store_true", help='Show only titles or line containing the search tags')
@@ -64,7 +65,7 @@ def guess_mode(args, config):
     elif args.decrypt is not False or args.encrypt is not False or args.export is not False or any((args.short, args.tags, args.edit)):
         compose = False
         export = True
-    elif any((args.start_date, args.end_date, args.on_date, args.limit, args.strict, args.starred)):
+    elif any((args.start_date, args.end_date, args.on_date, args.limit, args.strict, args.starred)) or args.phrase is not None:
         # Any sign of displaying stuff?
         compose = False
     elif args.text and all(word[0] in config['tagsymbols'] for word in " ".join(args.text).split()):
@@ -233,7 +234,8 @@ def run(manual_args=None):
                        start_date=args.start_date, end_date=args.end_date,
                        strict=args.strict,
                        short=args.short,
-                       starred=args.starred)
+                       starred=args.starred,
+                       phrase=' '.join(args.phrase) if args.phrase is not None else '')
         journal.limit(args.limit)
 
     # Reading mode