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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