5 Questions Writers Should Ask God Every Day
by Joshua J. Masters @JoshuaJMasters
Learning the disciplines of writing is important, but it’s even more essential for Christian authors to develop an ongoing focus on God as they use their gift.
Here are five questions every Christian writer should ask God to start their day.
1. Aside from writing, how do You want to spend time with me today?
God designed every talent He’s given us to glorify His name and draw us closer to Him. It’s important that we have a regular writing time, but don’t mistake writing with God for relationship building. Ask Him how He wants to spend time with you today.
We sometimes get into a routine.
Make coffee. Check.
Read the Bible. Check.
Read today’s devotional. Check.
Run through my prayer list. Check.
But a healthy, growing relationship with God will never emerge from checklists. It evolves in deep, meaningful encounters. Ask God what He wants you to experience with Him beyond your writing today.
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing (John 15:4-5 ESV).
2. Is there anything in me You want to address before we write?
Before we ever open our laptop, we should ask God to help us examine anything in our actions or heart that would prevent us from hearing His voice as we write.
Did anything happen yesterday I need to make amends for?
Is there anyone I’m withholding forgiveness from?
Is there a sin issue God wants me to surrender to Him or confess to another believer?
Is my heart prepared to write His words instead of my own?
Even the most well-structured plot outline or chapter summary is easily thwarted by a chaos-filled soul.
Let’s make this passage our prayer before writing a single word today:
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life (Psalm 139:23-24 NLT).
3. What do You want me to learn from our writing time together?
Many of us became writers because we believe God’s put a burden on our heart to share something with the world. Whether we’re writing nonfiction or Christian romance, it’s incredible to think He’s chosen us to reflect His glory to a broken world with the written word.
But you can’t give what you’re not receiving.
It’s not uncommon for me to pray things like, “Father, help me write the words You want written,” or “What’s the message you want revealed in this story?” Those are good days. Sometimes it’s, “Dear Lord! Help me finish this stupid chapter.”
But the message God has us writing to the world should be secondary to the lesson He’s trying to write on our hearts.
A missed word count will never threaten God’s plan. He doesn’t need us to accomplish His will, but invites us to be part of the work He’s doing to develop a relationship with us and help us become more like Christ.
I think we’ll struggle less in our writing if we focus on what He’s trying to teach us over what we’re trying to teach the world.
Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long (Psalm 25:5 NIV).
4. What do You want to say through our writing today?
After all these deep questions, it’s almost time to put fingers to keyboard. Having invested in our relationship with God, tested our spiritual condition, and sought what God is asking us to learn, we’re in a better position to partner with Him in our writing.
“What do You want to say,” is always a more powerful question than, “How do I get this done?”
Sometimes I struggle in my writing because I’m disconnected from what God wants to communicate through it. Worse still, sometimes I don’t care. Good Christians probably aren’t supposed to say that out loud, but I’ve been known to think I have a great idea that doesn’t require God’s input. I’m always wrong.
Let’s be intentional in seeking what God is trying to say through our writing every day, taking seriously His grace in speaking to and through us.
So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” (2 Corinthians 5:20 NLT)
5. Who do you want me to encourage today?
Finally, as we serve God in our writing, we should remember that we’re also called to serve others. The natural tendency of many writers is to isolate. That’s not true of every person called to write, but any of us can get wrapped up in our own goals.
God designed us to live in community with one another, strengthening one another. And one of the surest ways to overcome our own stumbling block is to encourage someone else in theirs.
The Christian writing community is filled with incredible people who love giving a kind word or loving advice to other authors in the faith. Seek them out and become one of those people.
Be specific in asking God who He wants you to pray for, and who He wants you to reach out to today. Ask Him to put people in your path that need encouragement. Then be His ambassador off the page.
Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing (1 Thessalonians 5:11 ESV).
Joshua J. Masters is a pastor, author, and speaker with a heart for encouraging others. His book on prayer, AMERICAN PSALMS, was a Serious Writer’s Book of the Decade finalist, and his book FRANKLIN THE PUP is a 2022 Selah Award Finalist. He’s been featured on CBN Television, HIS Radio, the Light Radio Network, and worked in the film industry as a member of SAG-AFTRA performer. He is a regular teacher and speaker for large groups. A self-proclaimed sci-fi and comic book geek, Josh loves film, pop culture and is known in some circles as THE BAT PASTOR. Joshua was raised in the White Mountains of New England and now serves as a pastor in South Carolina where he lives with his wife, Gina, and their miniature poodle, FRANKLIN THE PUP, who is the subject of his latest book. Josh would love to connect with you on his website, JOSHUAJMASTERS.COM