How to Love a Writer
Hey writers and all people who love books!
Question for you… What do you think would happen if the body of Christ made it a routine habit to pray for the men and women who teach us through the written word? What if we routinely offered a prayer of thanksgiving and covering over the writer or speaker or pastor or Bible study leader who just brought God’s word to us?
I think we’d have a lot more protection over those who are leading the flocks! But somehow, if we received our teaching not in person, like through a blog or podcast, we become more disconnected and forget that these are real live actual people teaching us. We forget that writers and speakers are people with actual trials and opposition and heartbreak and children and jobs, just like us. They are people who sacrifice some of their privacy and personal space by sticking their necks out into a public sphere. They are people we dearly appreciate and need to pray for.
Today, I have the honor of passing on some encouragement from Quin Sherrer. You’ve heard me talk about her books before. The couple of books she wrote that changed the trajectory of my life are A Mother’s Guide to Praying for Your Children and A Beginner’s Guide to Receiving the Holy Spirit. With 29 books, Quin Sherrer is an experienced writer and prayer warrior. I am honored by her encouragement. She recently shared with me a prayer for writers and gave me permission to pass it on to you:
A Prayer for Writers:“In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray for the right ideas to come to me: in perfect sequence and in perfect order, and in the right time and in the right way. I pray for my actual needs to be met by the right supply in the right way and at the right time. I pray for my will to be completely and utterly Your will. I pray that You, O Father, will open the door to the right work that will enable me to make my finest contribution to mankind. Amen.”
(See Scriptures: Mark 11:24;,John 11:22; 14:13,14;15:16; 16:23. 1John 5:15 )
[This prayer was adapted as a Prayer for Writers by Quin Sherrer from, “I Will Lift Up My Eyes” by Glenn Clark, Harper Brothers, 1937, page 19.]
It’d be great if you print this and keep it as you pray for the writers you know and love. (Wink. Wink.)
Let’s also remember to pray for the writers who have profoundly touched our lives but we only know through their books on the shelves. As they pour out their lives to touch ours, let’s pray protection and faith and grace for them. Like right now. Ask God to cover over the writers that the Holy Spirit is bringing to your mind right now. : )
I’ve recently started trying to develop this habit after reading a blog post or a devotional or a magazine clip. In the same way we build prayer muscles of praying for people as they come to mind, I’m trying to practice praying for the people who are teaching me through magazines, devotionals, podcasts, blogs, etc.
Praying for writers is a beautiful way to bless the people who are ministering to us through the written word.
Praying for writers is also a beautiful way of not taking for granted the freedoms and access we have to God’s word and teachings in our country.
Thank you, Ms. Quin for sharing this with us today! We are grateful for you and the legacy you are sewing into so many of our lives. And we pray for you today.
What other writers are you lifting up by name as you read this? Love to hear some of your favorites!! I listed some of mine in the sketch above: Elliot, Barton, Mackenzie, Voskamp, Meyers-Proett, Sherrer, Eldredges, Edwards… Oh, I could go on forever!
Here are some of my favorite books by Quin Sherrer: