5 Strategies to Help You Pray for Your Writing
If we want to be writing words that will impact lives for God's Kingdom, we need God to be co-writing with us. And that requires time in prayer, surrendering our writing to God, seeking Him for clarity, for His Words. It requires surrendering our books to Him when we launch them, and praying that they impact the hearts that need our God-given message, for open doors (through new opportunities or colloborations) for your book and it's message, and for all all other writerly things on your heart or mind.
We know prayer is powerful and it's important, but sometimes it can feel overwhelming. Here's a few strategies that can help:
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Have Prayer Meetings with God for Your Writing
Proverbs 16:3 encourages us to “commit your work to the Lord and your plans will be established.” Shae Bynes writes about a prayer practice she uses to help commit your work to the Lord. She calls them “business meetings with God,” a dedicated time in which you pray over your work, business, or ministry (or in this case, over your writing and writing ministry). These business meetings with God don’t have to be fancy or formal. Bynes writes about how her meetings include any number of prayer practices, such as praise and worship, asking for wisdom regarding business opportunities, journaling prayers for her ministry, and reading His Word.
There are so many things you could be praying for your writing, it might feel a little overwhelming. I recommend the book Prayers for Writers, a book with prayers compiled by members of my local Christian writing group to help you have powerful prayer meetings with God about your writing.
Pray Scriptures for Your Writing
One of my favorite ways to pray is to include God's Word in my prayers. When I do so, I know I'm surrendering my own desires for my writing, and aligning them with God's dreams and desires for my writing based on His very Word. God has given us the gift of communicating with Him through prayer, and the gift of His Word and when we combine them together, powerful things can happen.
Plus, let's face it, sometimes we may not know how to pray for our writing, or may feel like we're praying for the same thing over and over and so finding God's Word to pray for our writing is a great to refresh and focus our prayers.
Here's a list of some of my favorite Scriptures to pray for your writing to get you started.
Assemble a Prayer Team
Writing can be a lonely, solitary journey, but just as we may assemble a launch team (sometimes also known as a street team) to help us launch our book into the world, we can (and should!) assemble a prayer team to pray for us and our writing. We need others who will hold us up and encourage us in their prayers, like Aaron and Hur did for Moses when he was too tired to keep his hands raised (Exodus 17:12-13).
I recommend reaching out to people you know who would be excited to pray for you and your writing. These could be friends from church, family members, fans of your writing, etc and invite them to be part of your prayer team. You could also ask people on your email list or who follow your writing on social media if they'd be interested in being part of your prayer team. It doesn't have to be large, I have five people on my team, but they are five people I know are commited to praying for me, my family, and my writing.
Then, create a private Facebook group, or an email list just for them. Update them consistently (I send prayer updates once a month) and let them know how they could be praying for you, any praises and writerly updates, etc. Maybe you meet occasionally in a Zoom meeting where you can share your requests and then those who feel led can pray for you, and you can pray for them too. Do what makes sense to you.
Find a Writing Prayer Partner
I highly recommend connecting with a Christian writer in your local area or connect online with a writing friend you've met online or in a writing conference and set up regular meetings to chat about life and writing, share about your writing projects, and share your prayer requests with each other, and take time to pray for each other. This person becomes like a writing accountability partner, a true friend, and a prayer warrior for your writing all in one. You can also email, text, or call each other for check-ins, accountability, and prayer requests. It's nice to know you've got someone in your corner ready to pray for you.
Fast and Pray for Your Writing
I recommend taking some time to fast and pray for your writing. It may be before a book launch, or when you're struggling with writer's block or needing clarity in your writing and wanting God to move in your writing life. You don't have to fast from food, it could be from social media or something else that you find yourself turning to more than God, so that you can seek more of God and His wisdom and movement in your life.
If you do plan on a fast for your writing, I highly recommend you get a copy of Pray Hear Write: 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting for Breakthrough in Your Writing. This is a fantastic tool to guide you through a fast, provide you with prayer prompts and journaling space to help guide you in your time of prayer and fasting.
There's so many prayer practices, tools, and strategies, but find the ones that work best for you and stick with them. Which new prayer strategies do you want to add to your prayer practice for your writing, I'd love to hear it!