For you: Marty Duane’s “The Writer’s Prayer”

Many things will distract you from writing your memoir, and they might even be good things. For example, I just attended a women’s retreat and it was refreshing and inspiring. I also stocked up on groceries, went to church, monitored coronavirus cases,  emailed friends, spent a few hours with my granddaughter, texted my kids, watched a Hallmark movie, and carried out the inevitable cooking, dishwashing, cleaning, and laundry.

All good things. But I didn’t do much writing.

When life gets busy, busy, busy, let’s remember: Writing a memoir is a ministry. Like the Psalmist said, “O God, let each generation tell its children of Your mighty acts; let them retell stories of your power” (Psalm 145:4). (See also Deuteronomy 4:9 and Luke 8:39.)

Your stories can shape the lives—including the spiritual lives—of your children, grandchildren, great-grands, nieces, nephews, cousins, friends, colleagues, and even people you’ll never meet. Therefore, focus, exercise self-discipline, and manage your time well. Figure out priorities. Maybe for a while writing can’t be a priority, and that’s okay.

But because writing your memoir is a ministry, make it a prayer priority.

“Make prayer your first writing assignment every day,” Bob Hostetler says.

Lloyd John Ogilvie acknowledged that in his ministry he faced “soul-sized issues,” so he prayed:

“Sovereign Father. . . . You have given me . . .

an imagination able to envision Your plan

and purpose for me,

and a will ready to do Your will.

. . . I know You will go before me to show me the way,

behind me to press forward,

beside me to give me courage,

above me to protect me,

and within me to give me wisdom and discernment.”

(Quiet Moments with God, Lloyd John Ogilvie)

Your family has soul-sized issues today, and as new generations join your family, they, too, will encounter soul-sized issues. God has a plan and purpose for you, a role to play in your family.

As you carry out that plan, God will go before you, behind you, beside you, above you, and within you. You can count on Him!

You probably have no idea just how much God can use your stories to impact soul-sized issues in the lives of those around you, so today I share with you Marty Duane’s “The Writer’s Prayer,” a humble prayer for himself and for all writers:

Dear Author,

Today, the words I use, let them be Your words.

Words of Hope, of Love, of Faith.

Allow me, with trembling hands, to be Your voice. . . .

Let me never forget, the words I write today

May change the life of one, maybe two.

But as the Psalmist says, I bring You all my sheaves,

They may not be many, but they are Yours. . . .

You gave to me

this small talent of writing,

and it is through this talent

You have given my heart a voice. . . .”

(Click here to continue reading “The Writer’s Prayer”)

Take delight in what God has put on your heart.

Recognize He has given your heart a voice.

Focus. Be single-minded. Pray. Write.

A prayer for you as you write your memoir

Here's a special prayer for you, the writer of your memoir:

"Sovereign Father . . . I lift up my voice in confessing total dependence on You. I believe that You are the author of my life and destiny. I know that the work You began when You called me to follow You will continue to develop to fruition. Help me move forward in keeping with Your vision. . . . Think Your thoughts through me, speak Your truth through my words, and enable Your best for others through what You lead me to do." (Lloyd John Ogilvie, Quiet Moments with God)

I love that, don't you? I especially cherish this part: "Enable Your best for others through what You lead me to do."

What a privilege He has given us to serve Him and bless others through our stories!

There you have it, your little Tuesday Tidbit.

Come back Thursday 

when I'll have a special treat for you: 

 a poignant passage that will help you write your memoir.

Tuesday Tidbit: The secret to writing better than you are capable of writing

Are you struggling to write? Or have you given up on writing altogether? Lost hope? Walked away?

If so, you’re not alone. We all get discouraged from time to time, but author Bob Hostetler has a remedy for us.

In his blog post, “Your First Writing Assignment,” Bob tells of his own experience—getting burnt out on writing. Undone.

But then—and I’m sure it was a God-thing—he got a writing assignment that required him to pray—and it was prayer that refueled him and saved his writing ministry.

“I pray before I write. I pray while I write. And then I pray after I write that God will even further transform my offering through the work of godly publishers, editors, designers, artists….

“I pray, not to change God or others but to change me. I pray for wisdom to manage my time wisely, for discipline to apply my mind to my writing and my butt to the chair…. For some writing projects, I’ve assembled a prayer team to support my writing with their prayers….”

Bob encourages all of us to “… make prayer your first writing assignment every day. Before you sharpen your pencil or turn on your computer, before you outline, before you jump into a writing exercise or research task, pray.

“Whatever it takes,” he says, “if prayer is not your first writing assignment every day… you’re cheating yourself, your readers, your editors, and even God, who will partner with you in your writing … for the asking.”

You’ll be inspired by Bob’s post, “Your First Writing Assignment.” It will take only a minute or two to read it, and it will be well worth your time.

Prayer revolutionized Bob’s writing.

It could revolutionize yours, too.

Tuesday Tidbit: We have no idea where our writing will take us

Mick Silva finds that his writing “is prayer and it’s abiding and it’s getting away to be alone with my Inspirer, the anchor of my life.”

Henri Nouwen recognizes that same type of prayerful abiding:

Is prayerful abiding a part of your writing?

Perhaps you’ve already noticed: When we start writing, we have no idea where our memories and ponderings and writing will take us.

Prayerful abiding can make a significant difference in our writing.

It can open our eyes.

Prayerful abiding can change how we hear.

It can adjust the way we remember.

It can transform our hearts.

Prayerful abiding can help us recognize the bigger, broader, higher, deeper story.

In those ways, prayerful abiding can change our stories.

Be a listener.

Listen to the Spirit.

Hear that deeper sound, that different beat—

and write your stories.

Be a listener.

Listen to God’s guiding, healing voice—

and write your stories.

  

And there you have it, your Tuesday Tidbit.

Tuesday Tidbit: Writing about prayer doesn't need to be stodgy or stuffy or boring

Did your heart make a little skip when you read Thursday’s post—about including stories about prayer in your memoir? I hope so. Such stories can be powerful for your readers.

Stories about prayer can:

• encourage readers to pray themselves,
• watch for God’s answers,
• enrich their relationship with God in infinite, eternal ways,
• and change their lives!

Stories that include prayer don’t need to be stodgy. Or stuffy. Or boring.

They can include humor, suspense, play, adventure, joy, drama, science, and all kinds of lively, fascinating, exciting stuff.

The following quotes will bless you and, I hope, inspire you to write those stories that include something about prayer.

“Prayer is … putting oneself in the hands of God … and listening to His voice in the depth of our hearts.” Mother Teresa

“It is impossible to carry on your life as a disciple without definite times of secret prayer. Prayer is not simply getting things from God—that is only the most elementary kind of prayer. Prayer is coming into perfect fellowship and oneness with God.” Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

“Prayer is the heart of fellowship with God. In it we open our total self to God in adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication. Prayer is communion with God in which He speaks to us through the thoughts engendered in our minds and the decisions of our wills. How wonderful: we can share life with the Lord and Creator of the universe!” Lloyd John Ogilvie, God’s Best for My Life

Teaching kids, grandkids, and others about prayer

is one of the most important things you can do.

Your prayers, and your memoir, can outlive your life.

And there you have it—your Tuesday Tidbit.

What can you write in your memoir about prayer?

Does your memoir include a story about prayer? If it has a spiritual dimension, and if our theme verse resonates with you:  

“Always remember what you’ve seen God do for you,

and be sure to tell your children and grandchildren,”

then you probably will include something about prayer.

To help you, here are some questions to ponder:

• Who taught you to pray? Or who modeled for you the importance of prayer?
• Was there a time you were flat-out helpless to do anything but pray?
• Think about key times in your life in which you prayed and you saw God answer.
• What happened when God responded to your prayer with silence? Or when He answered your prayer differently than you hoped for?
• When did a “No” to your prayer result in something even better?
• What’s the most important aspect of prayer that you can impress upon your kids, grandkids, and great-grands?
• What stories can you write about prayer (yours or someone else’s) to teach readers about forgiveness, grace, wisdom, and hope? And about loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength? (Mark 12:30)

Here are inspirational tidbits to get your ideas percolating:

“Dear God, so often in my prayers I present You with my own agenda. I ask for guidance, and strength, and courage to do what I’ve already decided…. Help me to think of prayer throughout this day as simply reporting in for duty and asking for fresh marching orders. I want to be all that You want me to be, and I want to do what You have planned for me. May this morning prayer be the beginning of a conversation with You that lasts all through the day…. Amen.” (Lloyd John Ogilvie, Quiet Moments with God, February 22 selection based on Ephesians 6:18 “praying always…”)

“Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my sighing. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray. In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation” (Psalm 5:1-3).

“He will respond to the prayer of the destitute; He will not despise their plea. Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created will praise the Lord” (Psalm 102:17-18).

“Our prayers may be awkward. Our attempts may be feeble. But since the power of prayer is in the One who hears it and not in the one who says it, our prayers do make a difference.” (Max Lucado, Discovering the Power of Prayer)   

“Have you ever found that your Father has answered a forgotten prayer? I have, and I always feel ashamed; it is so rude to forget.” (Amy Carmichael, Edges of His Ways, June 24 selection)    

“One of the experiences of prayer is that it seems that nothing happens. But when you stay with it and look back over a long period of prayer, you suddenly realize that something has happened.” (Henri Nouwen, The Genessee Diary)

“... Pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44).

“If you are having difficulty loving or relating to an individual, take him to God. Bother the Lord with this person. Don't you be bothered with him—leave him at the throne.” (Charles R. Swindoll)

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your  Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, don't keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matthew 6:5-8).

“Isn’t it amazing how often people try everything but prayer? It’s like the old saying: ‘When everything else fails read the instructions.’ The same with prayer. When everything else fails, try prayer…. But Elijah [in 1 Kings 18:22-40] didn’t use prayer as a last resort. Prayer was his first and only resort. A simple prayer of faith was his major contact with the living Lord. It set everything into motion.

            “Let me ask you a straight-out question: Do you, personally, pray? Now notice that I didn’t say, ‘Do you listen when the preacher prays or when your parents pray?’ I didn’t say ‘Do you know a good Bible study on prayer?’ I didn’t even say, ‘Have you taught on prayer?’ I asked, ‘Do you, personally, pray?’ Can you look back over the last seven days and pinpoint times you deliberately set aside for prayer? Even just a solid ten or fifteen minutes of uninterrupted time with God?” (Charles R. Swindoll, Great Days with the Great Lives, p. 176) 

“ . . . Pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances...” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).  

What stories about prayer came to mind? 

Quick! Jot down a few notes now 

and work on that story in earnest in the next few days. 

Tuesday Tidbit: Your stories serve an important purpose

Your story is important. God can use it to help shape the lives of your children, grandchildren, great-grands, and anyone else who reads your story, including the “spiritual” children God has given you. Not all of us have children, but we all have “spiritual” children who look up to us and model their lives after ours—more than we realize.

You know from personal experience

how powerful other people’s stories can be.

Many of them inspired you,

opened new worlds,

sent you in different and better directions,

and made you who you are today.

Believe this:

Your story can impact readers

in the same way.

Pray for God’s help in writing it.

Do you think of yourself as an ordained writer?

You’re writing a memoir. Is it a hobby? A pastime? Something you do in your leisure time?

If so, I encourage you to view your writing as a ministry. A sacred project. A high and holy calling.

Eugene Peterson suggests that the church should ordain writers in the way they ordain pastors. 

“There are never enough storytellers,” he says. “There are a lot of people who want to write stories but they don’t want to go through the discipline, the agony, the immersion in life it requires…. I think writing is one of the sacred callings. I wish, in fact, that the church would ordain writers the way they ordain pastors….”

 Is that a new thought to you?

If so, make time to answer this question:

How different would your writing be

if you saw yourself as ordained to tell your story?

Can you—will you—consider yourself

ordained to tell your story?

Will you believe you have a sacred, holy calling

to write your story?

I hope so.

We writers, like pastors, need God’s help to carry out our jobs.

We need His help to improve our skills—through classes, workshops, conferences, critique groups, and books and blogs by pros.

We need His help to be disciplined, committed, persevering writers.

We need His help to finish our manuscripts and publish them.

And to do all that, we need His encouragement, so here are verses to cheer you on:

• Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. (Galatians 6:4, The Message)
• See to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord. (Colossians 4:17)
• I want to suggest that you finish what you started to do…. Let your enthusiastic idea at the start be equaled by your realistic action now. (2 Corinthians 8:10-11, The Living Bible)

I pray you'll hear God’s voice while he helps you "remember the wonders he has done" (1 Chronicles 16:12), those important things he wants you to tell others. I also pray you’ll find the time necessary to write.

Remember, what you write on any given day does not need to be perfect. Just get it in writing, and edit and polish it later. When your story is the best you can make it, be sure to give it away!

Take in Casey Herringshaw’s words:

“We become obsessed with our words. We become caught up in the euphoric high of stringing 90,000 words together into a manuscript. And we forget the Orator of these words. Whether you are writing fiction or nonfiction, these are not your words. This is not just your passion…. Do you take time to hit your knees before you write? Because this isn’t about you and what you can do. It’s about what God can do through you as His vessel. Do you dedicate your writing time—no matter how small or large that might be—to your Creator? Without Him, there would be no you. No you to write these words and stories only you can write….” (emphasis mine)

Pray! And write!

Tuesday Tidbit: If you lack confidence, courage, and discipline to write

“Many beginning writers believe

the writing process requires great confidence

and unfaltering courage.

I’ve learned the writer’s journey requires

the ability to admit we’re not brave

or altogether perfect.

As Christian writers, we fare well

if we possess the wisdom to ask God

for the strength and discipline needed

to buckle down

and type the words He gives us.”

Xochitl Dixon

Tuesday Tidbit: Writing yourself to the other side of pain, continued

We've received a number of responses to our July 14 blog post, Writing yourself to the other side of pain.

Last Thursday you read Catherine P. Downing's response, and today you'll read Barbara Thomas's response:

As I read your latest blog, I thought, "How did Linda know that I cried many times when I drafted Through the Outhouse Floor?" Writing it was reliving it and the final book told only about ten percent of the pain.  But you are right, writing does lance the festering wounds. And in retrospect, one can begin to perceive that the Lord is working out his plans.

Perhaps you also have shed tears and relived pain in the way Barbara has. I hope you've also experienced healing and insights into God working on your behalf.

Many thanks to both Catherine and Barbara for enriching and encouraging our own memoir writing.

And remember: 

Write your story as a prayer to God 

and He can use the process of writing 

to help you make sense of events 

that knocked the air out of you, 

left you broken, 

confused, 

weary, 

hopeless, 

maybe even paralyzed, 

and to work through your grief.  

Related posts: 
Writing yourself to the other side of pain   
What is the point of writing about the hardships of life?

Writing yourself to the other side of pain

A friend of mine recently began writing his stories… but he started by writing about the most traumatic year of his life. Yikes!

I’ve seen people begin their memoir by writing super-painful stuff, only to become overwhelmed all over again with the devastation—and soon they give up writing altogether. Don’t let that happen to you!

Please hear this: Begin your memoir by writing your easy stories—the happy stories, the funny incidents, the fascinating experiences. That way you can ease your way into both writing and the reflecting that memoir is.

My heart wants you to fall in love with

remembering

and pondering

and discovering all the good stuff you didn’t recognize in the past,

and with making sense of what used to mystify you,

and with writing

            and choosing just the right words

                        to fashion your story as a gift for others to read.

Keep in mind that you don’t need to write your chapters/vignettes in the same order they will appear in your finished memoir. Write them in any order that’s easiest for you. Later you can organize them in the best way.

For now, give yourself permission to begin with easy stories. Tackle your hard stories later.

Also keep this in mind: Even if you’re not physically putting your painful story into words (with pen and ink or on a computer screen), you are working on the story. I can’t explain how that works, but behind the scenes your heart and brain are working on how to write your troubling story.  

So let your heartache marinate for a few weeks or months. One day you’ll be vacuuming out the car, or playing catch with your grandson, or folding laundry, and out of the blue your heart and brain will speak to you (or maybe it’ll be God who speaks to you—I’d like to think it’s Him), and will offer insights into your hurtful experience. Listen, and jot down notes to yourself: You’ll be mining treasures. Later, when the time is right, you can use those notes to compose your difficult story’s rough draft. 

Also keep in mind: Your rough draft is for your eyes only. Write it all—the seared, charred, blistered parts, the questions you never had the courage to ask aloud, the doubts you never admitted before, the anger you kept bottled up.

Work out the pain—

work through the pain—

by writing with God beside you. 

Wrestle with God 

and with yourself

as you write.

Go ahead and cry.

Why?

Because God can bring healing

through the process of writing.

And be gentle with yourself, extend grace to yourself: Reliving those emotions and writing those scenes and conversations can be overwhelming. I know of no anguish-free way to get through that writing process, but I can encourage you with this:

Write your story as a prayer to God

and He can use the process of writing

to help you make sense of events that

knocked the air out of you,

left you broken,

confused,

weary,

hopeless—

maybe even paralyzed—

and to work through your grief.

If you’ll give it the needed time and if you’ll peel back enough layers and dig deeply enough, writing your stories can lead to new insights, to answers that too long evaded you, and to resolution—to getting un-stuck so you can move on to healing and forgiveness and peace and hope for the future. Writing your story changes you. 

If you stick with  it, at some point you'll find the most profound, redeeming part of writing your story:

• You'll discover that God was beside you all the while, bringing you people and opportunities and Bible verses and Bible studies and sermons and working out His good plans—many details you probably didn't recognize in the midst of the incident, or saw only dimly. 
• You'll also discern how far you've come, how much you've healed.
• That, in turn, makes you overflow with gratitude toward God,
• and that solidifies your relationship with Him.

Mick Silva says it this way: “I’ve discovered that…protecting and preserving our stories is about discovering God’s story.” I call that your “God-and-you story.”

In that way, writing a memoir can be a journey of personal healing

—even if you originally set out to write it for others.

Let God teach and transform you,

and afterward,

your God-and-you story 

can help others heal.

Tuesday Tidbit: “Stories are our prayers….”

Stories are our prayers.

Write them and edit them with due reverence,

even when the stories themselves are irreverent.

Stories are parables.

Write and edit and tell yours with meaning,

so each tale stands in for a larger message,

each story a guidepost on our collective journey.

Stories are history.

Write and edit and tell yours with accuracy

and understanding and context

and with unwavering devotion to the truth.

Stories are music.

Write and edit and tell yours

with pace and rhythm and flow.

Throw in the dips and twirls that make them exciting,

but stay true to the core beat.

Readers hear stories with their inner ear.

Stories are our soul.

Write and edit and tell yours with your whole selves.

Tell them as if they are all that matters.

It matters that you do it as if that’s all there is.

Jacqui Banaszynski,

 “Stories Matter,” Telling True Stories: A Nonfiction Writers’ Guide

Duane Scott’s “A Writer’s Prayer”

Let’s begin this new year with focus. Single-mindedness.

Break through the chaos, the clutter, the distractions—and maybe even the flu bugs—of the past holiday season.

Focus. Re-focus. Keep in mind why you are writing your memoir.

It is not a hobby. It is a ministry: Remind yourself of Deuteronomy 4:9 in this blog’s header.

Writing your memoir is a ministry: Your stories can shape lives—including the spiritual lives—of your children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, friends, and other readers.

Because writing your memoir is a ministry, make it a prayer priority.

Lloyd Ogilvie acknowledged that in his ministry he faced “soul-sized issues,” so he prayed,

“Sovereign Father,… You have given me … an imagination able to envision Your plan and purpose for me, and a will ready to do Your will.

“… I know you will go before me to show me the way, behind me to press me forward, beside me to give me courage, above me to protect me, and within me to give me wisdom and discernment.” (Quiet Moments With God; emphasis mine)

Your family has soul-sized issues today and, as new generations join your family, they, too, will have soul-sized issues. God has a plan and purpose for you, a role to play in your family.

As you carry it out, He will go before you, behind you, beside you, above you, and within you. You can count on Him!

You probably have no idea just how much God can use your stories to impact soul-sized issues in your family’s future generations, so today I share with you Duane Scott’s prayer, a humble prayer for himself and all writers:

Dear Author,

Today, the words I use, let them be Your words.

Words of Hope, of Love, of Faith.

Allow me, with trembling hands, to be Your voice.…

Let me never forget, the words I write today,

May change the life of one, maybe two.

But as the Psalmist says, I bring You my sheaves,

They may not be many, but they are Yours.…

(Click here to continue reading Duane’s The Writer’s Prayer)

Focus! Be single-minded! Pray! Write!