Your spiritual life as a writer is more than just about how often you read the Bible, pray, and go to church.
It’s also about how your whole internal life provides you the right environment to create what God has called you to create and how you will share what you create with others.
Our internal selves are made up of our mind, will, and emotions. And these must be in line with Him if we want to be able to hear what His Spirit wants to say through us. And this applies to whatever writing you've been called to: children's, YA, historical or contemporary fiction, academic writing, Christian living, spiritual growth—whatever God has called you to.
The Pray Hear Write practice focuses on three elements:
1. An unusual aptitude for understanding every aspect of literature and wisdom (Daniel 1:11-17)
Daniel 1 confirms the value of a writer’s education in a wide breadth of literature. In verse 4 (nlt) it says, “Train these young men in the language and literature of Babylon.” These young men were not only reading Christian living and spiritual growth books, but it was all strategically placed in their academic curriculum to enhance their ability to bring glory to God through their gifts of “knowledge and good judgment” (v. 4, NLT). [They became fluent in both the literature of Babylon and the literature of heaven.] This is why I coach my authors and writers to read lots of books, and not just Christian ones….Part of this fast is for you to pray that God will give you unusual aptitude toward writing, first supernaturally and then toward a practical yet better understanding the mechanics of good writing, of styles and genres, of writing and conventions of literature. Then you can pray that He will give you the wisdom to know which is right for your book and how you can best execute it.
2. Spiritual discernment and clarity (Daniel 10:1-3)
In Daniel 10, we discover…
Daniel fasted again when he was seeking the Lord for revelation concerning a matter that would affect the kingdom he served. You serve the kingdom of light. Your prayer and fasting during these three weeks, twenty-one days, or however you wish to name the time frame is for you to seek the Lord for His clear word concerning your call to write. Perhaps you’ve only heard so much, but you need more, such as timing or whom you should be writing to. Perhaps you need to be reminded of what was spoken. Whatever you need to know, God wants to tell you, and He meets with us in times when our spirits are humble, open, and focused.
3. A heart of compassion toward our readers (Isaiah 58:6-11)
One of my core beliefs concerning writing is that it is a generous work. It is not about you or me; it is about your reader. Fasting to break your stubbornness to write only what you want to write with little consideration about how your message will reach your reader is what this aspect of fasting for breakthrough in your writing is about. It is absolutely this attitude you should desire: “Not my will but Thine be done.”
Also called God’s chosen fast, [the fast God called Israel to in Isaiah 58] is what prepares your heart to write God’s word with the right balance, the right tone, and the right voice—writing the truth in love to those you’ve been called to set free, encourage, equip, empower, correct, entertain, heal, and so on.
Praying and fasting with your writing as the focused offering and petition held up to God is the foundation of the Pray Hear Write practice.
Fasting humbles us and gives us access to the supernatural grace of God. In Psalm 35:13 and again in Psalm 69:10, David says that he humbled himself fasting. And we know that from James 4:6, God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Grace is the supernatural ability to do amazing things for God. And as hard as writing is, we need His grace to do it well.
Prayer allows you access to what God knows. In Jeremiah 33:3, He says, “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.”
That we can know what God wants and that we can hear Him speak to us in the many ways He does identifies us as a prophetic people. This is the gift, available to us all, that you will be tapping into during your fast.
God's got a new thing He wants to do through you and your writing. Don't let the devil lie to you and tell you, there's no place for you. You don't have anything unique. It's all been done before. Solomon was the one who said, “There is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). Our God of the Universe said, “Behold, I do a new thing. Do you not see it?" (Isaiah 43:19).
Lean into Him through prayer and fasting, and let him share his heart with you for what He wants you to write to His people.
For more on the basics of Pray Hear Write, check out my workshop: “Pray Hear Write: Back to the Basics with Jevon Bolden.” While you’re there, subscribe to my YouTube channel for more content on building a successful writing life.
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Parts of this article were previously published in Pray Hear Write: 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting for Breakthrough in Your Writing by Jevon Bolden (Embolden Media Group, 2019).