I’m republishing a slightly revised copy of a post I wrote in April last year. I hope it blesses you!
If you are a Christian author or aspiring author, you are on an adventure.
You may have the courage of Robin Hood or your may be as timid as Bilbo Baggins, but you have embarked on a quest that is not for the fainthearted.
But as a Christian, you have a powerful weapon that will help you in your mission to serve God and others with your words.
You have access to the Throne of Grace, through the blood of Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
You can pray.
Before I go one step further, I need to make a confession: I am not an expert when it comes to prayer. Though I have been a Christian for over 20 years, I still feel like a complete infant in this area.
However, as some of you have asked me to write on prayer for writers, I decided to do my best to share what I have learned with you, in the hopes that it will encourage you.
But I want you to know that as I write this, I’m learning with you.
As I was preparing this series, my first thought was, “Where should I start?”
This is such a huge, deep, complex topic!
I decided to start where Jesus started.
When His disciples asked Him to teach them how to pray, He responded with what we know as the Lord’s Prayer.
The Lord’s Prayer is sadly often misused or neglected by Christians. On one end of the spectrum, there are those who regularly repeat the Lord’s Prayer without really thinking about its meaning. On the other end, there are those who neglect it altogether for fear of “vain repetition.”
Regardless of your understanding of the Lord’s Prayer and how it should be used, the truth remains that when Jesus’ disciples asked Him to teach them to pray, He said, “pray in this way,” and gave them these words.
This does not mean that we should only ever pray these exact words (though I believe we should pray them), but it is a guide for how to structure our prayers. Through it, Jesus also shows us what types of things to focus on in our prayers.
Gene Edward Veith puts it this way: “The Lord’s Prayer is the ultimate prayer, comprehending everything that we can pray for” (Reference).
The Lord’s Prayer can be applied to every area of our prayer lives, including our writing journeys.
There are many different ways and contexts in which we can pray about our writing, but I’ve found great value in spending time intentionally praying about my writing using the Lord’s Prayer to guide me.
Let me show you what I mean:
This is the Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. (Matt 6:9-13, KJV)
This is an example of how writers can base a structured prayer on the pattern of the Lord’s Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father,
Your name is holy. I praise You that You are the great I AM, that You are the almighty Creator and the great Author of history. May the work that I and others do bring glory to Your name.
I pray that Your kingdom would come — that Your glorious attributes would be evident in every word I write. I pray this for other Christian writers as well. I pray that You would use the words of Your people to advance Your Kingdom and to challenge and build up those within Your Kingdom.
As I write, please enable me to have a discerning heart so that I may write according to Your Word – Your revealed will. Keep me from delivering a message that is in any way contrary to Your revealed will. As I battle through this day, this project, this journey, grant me a quiet and contented heart that accepts Your plan — Your secret will — for my life, and that waits quietly as it unfolds. I pray the same for those writers I know who are seeking to serve You with their writing.
Please supply everything that I need physically, spiritually, emotionally and mentally in order to do the work You have given me to do. I know that without You I can do nothing.
Forgive me for my sins — for my pride, my selfishness, my worry, my doubt, my discontentment and all of my other sins. Help me to recognize my sins. Grant me a godly fear of sin so that I may strive daily to become more and more conformed to Christ. Help me to have a forgiving attitude towards those who have wronged me.
Lead me not into temptation. Protect me from prideful ambition, greed and arrogant self-satisfaction. Protect me from the attacks of the world, the flesh and the devil. Help me not to believe the lies of the devil that would hinder me from doing the work You have given me to do.
I ask all this in Jesus’ name, for to You belong the kingdom, the power and all the glory forever. Amen.
I’ve written the above prayer in first person singular, but it’s important to notice that Jesus uses the first person plural in the Lord’s Prayer.
As I was thinking about this, that fact really struck me.
As Christians, and as Christian writers, we are part of something so much bigger than our individual lives.
Let us never forget to pray for and with each other!
My Heroes of Wessex trilogy is an adventure series for teens set during the reign of Alfred the Great.
Currently, I’m celebrating the grand finale of the series with a special Kickstarter event.
If you love…
Fast-paced adventure without graphic violence
Intriguing, character-driven plots without a romantic emphasis.
Stories for teens that adults can enjoy too!
…you’ll love this event!
The campaign ends in a few days!
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