Grace for the Writer’s Journey: Asking

Dear Writer, I hope you had a good week and considered what step of radical obedience God might want you to take! This week, we’ll explore a critical key to partner with God’s grace for your life. That’s the key of asking.

That’s right, writer. We often find ourselves in need of God’s grace simply because we’ve forgotten to ask for it. You see, the Kingdom of God flows primarily through words. God spoke the world into being. Likewise, He charges us to boldly bring our words before the throne of grace to ask for the help we need.

When we make requests and speak out His word to us as prayers back to Him, we enter into the powerful act of co-creation. To do that, we have to push past our hesitancy to ask. But before we dive in, let’s look at some others whose asking changed history…

Asking in History

George Washington is a great example of asking. Appointed general of the fledgling Continental Army in the Revolutionary war, Washington and his men suffered defeat after defeat, hopelessly outmatched in both size and skill by the British forces. At last, Washington retreated to Valley Forge in an attempt to revive his battered troops.

During that bitter winter, Washington began to pray persistently for God’s gracious intervention on America’s behalf. As Washington prayed, the Continental Army won its first pivotal victory at Saratoga. When his troops finally left Valley Forge, Washington pushed back the British forces and won his first decisive victory at Yorktown. Many more followed, until at last the war was won in 1783. 

You see, writer, asking is about recognizing where God alone can help us and persisting in prayer even when we might not see the results right away. 

Asking in the Bible

Daniel is another beautiful example of asking. In his old age, Daniel received a revelation of a great war. The vision was so distressing that he fasted and prayed for three weeks . On the twenty first day of his fast, Gabriel appeared to Daniel with God’s answer. Gabriel’s astonishing interpretation described not only revealed what Israel would endure as they returned from exile but also provided an outline of all the end of the age itself.

Because of Daniel’s asking, he received God’s answer for Israel as well as revelation for the entire world as we face the Lord’s return.

You see, writer, when begin to persist in asking God for the wisdom and help we need, the answers we begin to receive can begin to reach far beyond us as God uses our prayers to further His purposes in our lives and in our readers.

Asking in Life

I first began earnestly “asking” when my mother discovered I needed a thick, thick glasses for extreme far-sightedness. As a six to seven year old, I hated the glasses those glasses with a passion. But when I complained, Mom told me I should ask God to heal me. So I did. Every day for months, I prayed and asked God to heal my eyes. When my glasses began to bother me, a trip to the eye doctor revealed that my prescription had improved dramatically. But I wasn’t satisfied with a thinner glasses. I wanted them GONE.

After a few more weeks of praying, when my glasses started bothering me again, my mom simply put them away. When I had my eyes tested nearly twenty years later, the optometrist reported that I have perfect 20/20 vision. And here’s the thing. That experience trained me to trust the God does indeed want to answer our prayers. More than that, it showed me that He loves to keep His promises to us if we simply continue to believe.

Asking in Your Life

You see, asking is all about expectation. Our expectation of who God is and of His willingness to act on our behalf. When trust He wants to do all He has promised, we begin to ask with boldness and endurance. And here’s the wonderful thing. As we persist in prayer for our God-sized goals, He uses our payers to align our hearts with His. Let me show you…

• • Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. – Matthew 7:7-8
  • Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. – John 14:12-14
  • Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” – Matthew 18:19-20
  • You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. – Jeremiah 29:13
  • Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. – Proverbs 3:5-6

You see, writer, when we begin asking God for help, we often enter into a process of seeking Him. And as we begin to actively seek God, He uses that process to position us for all that He has planned and weaves us into relationships that will accomplish His purposes.

Where to Start with Asking

So are you ready to begin asking God for the help you need in your writing journey? Here are some ideas to get you started…

1. 1. Seek Him. One key to asking is to remember that our first step in asking is to seek God Himself. God is the one who calls us as writers, and it’s critical as we pursue that call to keep Him at the center of all we do. He is the only one who is able to equip and guide us for the path He’s prepared for us. Take time regularly to pray over God’s call and goals for you. Journal the things you feel Him bring to mind in those times of prayer. Compare what you hear to the scriptures. Pause and pray before making large decisions in your writing journey especially. As you begin to practice asking and listening, you will begin to learn to recognize His voice and heart for you more readily.
   2. Seek Community. Another key way God guides our steps is through community and relationship. Engaging in community as a writer is critical to our growth. You see, God often speaks encouragement and direction through His body. Prayerfully consider who you should be in regular relationship with. Is there someone you need to pray with weekly for your goals and theirs? Is there a monthly writers group you should begin attending? As you begin to engage, you are expanding the avenues God has to speak into your life.
   3. Study His Word. Staying in God’s word is critical to developing a habit of asking. Jesus says if we ask anything in His name—according to His will—He will do it. When we study God’s Word it helps orient us to God’s will and ways so that we can more easily discern the inputs we receive in other areas of life.
   4. Ask Big. Another key to asking is to build our view of God. You see, often our failure to progress in life is actually a failure to maintain a high view of God. It can be a failure to truly believe all that He has promised us. You see, learning to ask well is really about learning to develop a mindset that aligns with His vision of us. Because here’s the deal…

Asking is about partnering with God to accomplish what could never have been done without Him. When we begin to ask God to enter our writing and to help us enter into His plans, we can never tell where that ask will take us. But we needn’t worry about all we don’t know, because the process of asking itself prepares us for the work ahead.

You see, asking is a form of prayer. Prayer paves the way for nearly every great work God accomplishes on earth. Just like Washington’s prayers paved the way for the Colonist’s victory against armies that wildly outnumbered and outranked them. Just like Daniel’s petitions paved the way for an astounding revelation that has anchored the church through the ages. Just like my prayers prepared my heart to trust God to be who He said and do what He promised. Because here’s the final thought…

Asking prepares us to partner with God and His people. The more persistently and faithfully we ask, the more we begin to see answers, and the more confidence we have for the next step God asks of us. And even when those answers are “no” or come in places and forms that are unexpected, God uses our asking to help us understand more of His heart and purposes in the process.  

So I encourage you, today, if you’ve felt a bit shy to ask much of God in your writing journey, remember that God is the one who invites us to join His intercession and activity on earth. He is the one seeking people to partner with Him in prayer. And as we are faithful to seek and to ask, He can open and expand our hearts to step into the grand story He is writing and pave the way for others to enter into it too.

Ask big, writer!

#ask #courage #EveryWriterWriting