Hello, 2024: Prayers and Scripture for Writers as we Welcome the New Year

The new year is upon us and with it comes expectations and plans for our writing.

Perhaps you enter 2024 with grand dreams and schemes; this will be the year you finally write your book! this will be the year you finally get published! this is the year you'll have the courage to finally say, "I'm a writer"!

But perhaps the new year comes with trepidation in regards to your writing. You know you should make plans and resolutions, but something is holding you back. You're fearful about what 2024 holds, and you don't want to let another year go by without realizing some of your writing dreams.

Let's be honest: the creative process can be a scary one.

When you put yourself out there...when you tell the world that you're a writer...there are expectations that come along with it. You should be writing; you should be producing good work; you should be finding success as the world sees it.

Wherever you are on the writing journey as we embark on this brand new year, you need some encouragement. We all need words of edification and inspiration; we need someone to remind us that we are where God has called us to be and that there is a future with our writing.

One of the best ways to find such encouragement is in reading what God has imparted to us through Scripture. The Bible is filled with encouraging words about our purpose and the future. It has wisdom to impart about making plans and dreaming dreams. It even has words that are particularly powerful and personal for those called to write.

When I need encouragement, here are some of my favorite Bible verses. And even more powerfully--they speak to me in a way that relates to my life as a writer.

(As you read upon these verses, consider how they specifically relate to your life as a writer; then consider committing some of these to memory for the new year.)

~~ Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, 'Do not imagine that you in the king's palace can escape any more than all the Jews. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?' (Esther 4:13-14)

~~ Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms. (1 Peter 4:10)

~~ 'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.' (Jeremiah 29:11)

~~ For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)

~~ Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters. (Colossians 3:23)

~~ In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps. (Proverbs 16:9)

~~ Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, 'Write all the words which I have spoken to you in a book.' (Jeremiah 30:2)

~~ And He who sits on the throne said, 'Behold, I am making all things new.' And he said, 'Write, for these words are faithful and true.' (Revelations 21:5)

~~ My heart overflows with a good theme; I address my verses to the King; My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. (Psalm 45:1)

~~ Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. (Psalm 16:3)

~~ May he give you the desire of your heart, and make all your plans succeed. (Psalm 20:4)

Another channel for encouragement for our writing life comes from prayers specifically designed, written, and spoken for creative people like ourselves. Saying these prayers over your writing is a powerful thing, and can bring you into the presence of God more fully.

This first prayer comes from St. Frances de Sale, who is known in the Catholic tradition as the patron saint of writers and journalist. Born in 1567 and ordained in 1593, he turned to writing as a way to share his faith after doors were (literally) slammed in his face. Instead of being dissuaded by those not responding to his message in person, he wrote descriptions of his faith and slid them under people's doors. When he became more well known, he wrote letters personally to thousands of individuals who wrote him with questions and for inspiration. He ultimately collected his letters in books.

The following prayer is a beautiful one that reminds us of the power our writing has to the world and individuals who are looking for truth and hope:

Ah, sweet Jesus, my Lord, my Savior, and my God, behold me here prostrate before your Majesty as I pledge and consecrate this writing to your glory. By your blessings give life to its words so that the souls for whom it has been written may receive from it the sacred inspirations I desire for them, in particular that of imploring your infinite mercy in my behalf to the end that while I point out to others the way of devotion in this world I myself may not be rejected and eventually condemned in the other, but that with them I may forever sing as a canticle of triumph words that with my whole heart I utter in witness of fidelity amid the hazards of this mortal life.

LIVE, JESUS! LIVE, JESUS!

Yes, Lord Jesus, live and reign in our hearts forever and ever. Amen.

A second prayer is this beautiful one from the collection Open and Unafraid: The Psalms as a Guide of Life by David Taylor. It's a powerful reminder of how God is a Creator; when we produce creative work, we join in God's purpose.

A Collect Prayer for Creation

Maker of heaven and earth, all your creatures, animate and inanimate, stand before you.

In Christ, who stands at the center of creation, we see how mysteriously well-pleasing it is to you.

In Christ, the mediator of the whole world, we see how broken it is.

In Christ. the firstborn of creation, we discover its final destiny: new creation!

May we take pleasure in your creation as you take good pleasure in it.

May we care for the earth as you lovingly care for it.

And may we offer up all the creative work of our hands in praise of you, in service of your neighbor, and in anticipation of that day when the cosmos shall be made forever alive.

In the Triune Name, Amen.

Happy New Year to all of our wonderful Southern Christian Writers Conference friends! We pray that these words will inspire you as you venture forward in your writing plans and dreams in the new year.