PRAYING BEFORE YOU WRITE

Do you pray before you begin writing? I suspect most of you do. I do not see anything wrong with brief prayers. Some of you have prayed, "Lord, help me write." Or you may have prayed something like, "Father, guide my thinking." I pray prayers like that. Just acknowledging God has a positive effect on your thinking. And of course, God answers prayer.

But I would like to suggest that you at least try something a little more difficult. Could you spend extended time in prayer as you sit down to write. I  will let you decide how long extended prayer is for you. But I am suggesting that spend enough time to deepen your fellowship and pour your heart out in praise.  For me the main problem with this is time pressure. Even if you are not on a specific deadline, there are always things to do. Most writers, and I assume most of you, have a real job too. And there is only so much time to write.

I have been particularly driven lately. And even if I don't have an appointment or some other distraction in the next hour or so, I am anxious to get going. But there are blessings that balance the difficulty. The first, is peace. I write better when my heart is at peace. I just wrote something that I am unhappy with. Of course I am agitated that I may not be able to fix it. But I will be better able to improve it if I am trusting it to God.

Another benefit is inspiration. I have seldom come up with a wonderful idea while I was praying. In fact, some of my ideas that were obviously direct from God came at odd times when I was neither writing nor thinking about what I wanted to write. But prayer brings me close to God who alone inspires.

The final benefit I will mention here is a higher perspective. More than anything else, a devotional time helps me see from God's point of view.

Give this a try. You may find that it is not your best way of writing. Or you may gain some benefit from it. You may even find the breakthrough you have been looking for in your writing. I hope you are blessed by it.

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PRAYING ABOUT WHAT YOU READ

Up to now I have only written in this blog about my own experiences and disciplines. But I have to admit I don’t think I have ever prayed at all about what I should be reading. I recognize reading voraciously is essential to being a writer. And it is beneficial to my character and the enjoyment of life. A number of books have greatly impacted my thinking and writing. And I have prayed about the content of those that struck my spirit and drew me closer to God. But it has somehow never occurred to me to pray about everything I was reading or about what I would like to read, say this month, this year or before I die.

So, I admit that these ideas are not tested truths. I am beginning to tiptoe into them and I hope to test them out in the coming weeks and months. I would really like to hear what some of you think or how you may have prayed regarding your reading.

I intend to begin each year by spending time praying about what I would like to read in the year. We are two months into 2017, but I intend to try to carve out time to pray about what God wants me to read this year. I also would like to do this at the beginning of the summer and before a trip.

I think I should also pray about the kind of books I want to be reading. I usually read more than one book at once. Don’t be impressed. I am such a slow reader that it takes me forever to get through one. But I try to always be reading a fiction book and a nonfiction. I know a few people who never read one or the other of these. I don’t think that is a good plan, especially for a writer. Both will broaden your perspective.

I also want to pray to learn technique from things I read. I remember hearing Charles Shedd say he had fifty rules by which he measured and edited his writing. I certainly need to see things I should and should not do in my writing. This needs to be a work of God. I need Him to teach me as I read.

I could pose several other principles or elements of praying for my reading. But as I admitted I have never done it at all. And when I know so little about a subject I am in danger of writing on and on. So, I will end here. But I may take up this subject again after I have read some of your comments and after I have tried to do it for a while.

PRAYING ABOUT WHAT TO WRITE

The simplest way to do this is to ask God to give You ideas, and lead you to what you should write. But most of us will see this as more complex.

LISTENING TO GOD

One of the most common Scriptural principles is that God speaks. He seldom speaks twice in the same way. God can even speak to us in His silence. 1 Corinthians 9:24 says the things of God are spiritually discerned. If you understand something in Scripture the Holy Spirit is speaking to you. There are Many times I did not realize God was speaking to me until what He was saying had come about. I am reminded of Moses asking God to confirm His calling. In Exodus 33:12 the Lord told him the sign that His presence was with Moses was that when they returned the people  would worship Him on that mountain.

There are two principles to hearing the voice of God. The first is surrendering to his will. You do not ask God to show you His will about writing or anything else so you can decide if you want to follow through with it. If you want to hear the voice of God you must decide you are going to obey whatever He says. Another principle is to spend time in fellowship with God so that you will learn to understand when he is speaking to you.

WALKING IN THE SPIRIT

For most Writing the clear and direct voice of God does not apply. It is much more important to develop character by spending time with God and coming to see from God's perspective, especially through the difficulties of life. This may manifest itself in things like being humble enough to know that God gives me the capacity to come up with ideas. God gives me the capacity for all communication.

This will help me determine the purpose of my writing in general. And it will help me ask if a particular piece of writing is consistent with my purpose. Do you want to bring honor to yourself? Is publication your primary goal? Do you consider success your highest good? Do you want to impress people with your knowledge or writing talent?

I am embarrassed to admit that I spent a large part of the past several years writing something with a wrong motivation. Somewhere in the back of my mind I wanted to impress people that I was a scholar, that I too am smart. I poured a huge amount of energy into it before God finally got my attention. And as painful as this is to admit, it was quite as difficult to put it aside.

I don't really regret the experience. In fact, I would not have understood this principle to the same degree, had I never fallen into this mistake. And yes, this was more than a mistake. It was sin. It included a whole series of sins. But having returned to some extent to sanity, I want God to use this to help my sisters and brothers who write. You need to determine the right purpose for your writing.

It is interesting to me how closely listening and walking in the Spirit fit together. Do you remember Solomon’s prayer in 1 Kings 3. The Lord told him to ask for whatever he wished. And he pleased God by asking for a discerning heart. But the Hebrew word for discerning is “shimah.” Shimah means to listen or hear. It is the same word that is used in Deuteronomy 6:4 that begins, “Hear O Israel.” Literally, Solomon prayed for a listening heart. Spiritual wisdom is personal. It is a listening heart.

In John 15:7,8 Jesus told us,

“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

Fruit is produced in our writing and lives as we walk with Him.

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PRAY FOR EDITORS

Most of us who blog also deal some with editors. For more than forty years I had wonderful experiences with magazine editors, including those who didn't accept my offerings. To be honest my dealings with editors has been mixed lately. And it occurs to me that I have not thought much about the pressure and difficulties facing editors in these days. It is also important to note the crucial responsibility in the hands of Christian editors. Finally beginning to grasp these things, I have begun to pray regularly for editors. I don't mean I pray they will look favorably toward my writing. I have always done that. But I have begun to pray for their lives, their families, their relationship with God, and their sensitivity to the Holy Spirit.

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