• Skip to main content
  • Skip to after header navigation
  • Skip to site footer

The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World…Word by Word

The Steve Laube Agency

The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World Word by Word

  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Interview with Steve Laube
    • Statement of Faith
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
  • Guidelines
  • Authors
    • Who We Represent
    • Awards and Recognition
  • Resources
    • Recommended Reading
    • Christian Writers Market Guide Online
    • Christian Writers Institute
    • Writers Conferences
    • Freelance Editorial Services
    • Copyright Resources
    • Research Tools
    • Selling What You Write
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Twitter
  • FaceBook
  • RSS Feed
  • Get Published
  • Book Proposals
  • Book Business
  • Writing Craft
    • Conferences
    • Copyright
    • Craft
    • Creativity
    • Grammar
  • Fun Fridays
Home » Theology » Page 12

Theology

Your First Writing Assignment

By Bob Hostetleron October 25, 2017
Share
Tweet
99

If your writing doesn’t start with this practice, you’re cheating yourself.

Lauren Winner, author of the wonderful memoirs, Girl Meets God and Mudhouse Sabbath,  tells about an experience she had when a writing student of hers showed her part of a memoir that was astounding, far better than this student’s usual writing. Winner asked the student what had transformed her writing over the course of just a few months.

The student said she’d gotten stuck on a major piece she was writing and told her priest about it. The priest said, “Have you prayed about this?”

She hadn’t.

So she did.

And the quality of her writing soared.

Winner says, before that experience, and before she saw with her own eyes the transformation in that student’s writing, “It never occurred to me . . . that there might be a connection” between prayer and writing. But there totally is.

Fifteen or so years ago, I thought I was totally spent as a writer. I’d been through a three-year process of revision and revulsion on one book that had left me doubting my ability, and drained of all enthusiasm for writing.

So I prayed.

I do that when I get desperate and there’s nothing good on T.V.

And God sent me manna from heaven—in the form of an assignment to work on a project called The Prayer Bible. For the next couple months, I spent my workdays praying through the second half of the Old Testament and recording many of those prayers as prayer prompts for that Bible’s marginalia. It was a process that not only revived me, and stoked my prayer life; I believe it saved my writing ministry. It also changed the writing process for me. It made prayer an indispensable part of the process for me—so much so that I don’t know how I ever wrote a thing before I came to see the absolute connectedness between prayer and writing.

God was talking about writing as much as anything when he spoke to Zerubbabel through Zechariah: “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty” (Zechariah 4:6, NIV). If I truly believed that, why would I try to write anything in my own strength, apart from prayerful dependence on God? I pray before I write. I pray while I write. And then I pray after I write that God will even further transform my offering through the work of godly publishers, editors, designers, artists, and so on. I pray, not to change God or others but to change me. I pray for wisdom to manage my time wisely, for discipline to apply my mind to my writing and my butt to the chair. I pray for my memory (at least until I forget). For some writing projects, I’ve assembled a prayer team to support my writing with their prayers, and I’ve tried to keep them up-to-date via email.

If you are at least as wise as me (which is not a high bar at all), you will make prayer your first writing assignment every day. Before you sharpen your pencil or turn on your computer, before you outline, before you jump into a writing exercise or research task, pray. Pray before you write, as you write, after you write. Pray for self-awareness, for focus, for inspiration, for protection. Pray to hear God clearly and to respond to him fully. Pray (as I often do) to write better than you are capable of writing.

Put a Post-It note reminder on your computer screen. Set a reminder on your phone. Enlist a prayer partner. A prayer team, even. You might want to journal your prayers. You might learn to pray God’s Word, the process that rescued my writing. Whatever it takes, if prayer is not your first writing assignment every day, then please believe me when I say you’re cheating yourself, your readers, your editors, and even God, who will partner with you in your writing…for the asking.

 

Leave a Comment
Category: Career, Faith, The Writing Life, TheologyTag: Faith, Prayer, The Writing Life

The Damaged Reader

By Dan Balowon October 17, 2017
Share
Tweet
42

Not like I am some overly sensitive guy, but often when I hear a sermon in church or some Christian presentation, I cringe when a pastor or speaker might say something to the effect, “Raising a family is the most important thing a married man and woman do in their lives.” I agree it is very important, but I also think about the middle age couple four rows in front of me who had multiple …

Read moreThe Damaged Reader
Category: Marketing, Reading, TheologyTag: Audience, The Writing Life, Theology

God Does Not Need Your Book

By Dan Balowon September 5, 2017
Share
Tweet
52

The creator of everything, who spoke things into existence, who threw the planets across the solar system, tossed solar systems around the galaxy and blew galaxies across the universe like so many dandelion seeds, does not need anything. God does not need you to serve him in any way. He does not need your money. Or your prayers. God does not need your worship. Or your speaking ministry. God …

Read moreGod Does Not Need Your Book
Category: The Writing Life, TheologyTag: Faith, The Writing Life, Theology

Writing Thoughtful Books

By Dan Balowon August 15, 2017
Share
Tweet
29

There has always been a hierarchy in fiction distinguishing “literary” from “popular” books, with lines drawn between both topics and reading levels.  Authors of each are different, somewhat like actors who work on stage versus those who work on screen. Comparisons of literary vs. popular and stage vs. screen are often done in a derogatory manner. Christian authors describing non-fiction might use …

Read moreWriting Thoughtful Books
Category: Art, Faith, The Writing Life, TheologyTag: Faith, fiction, Nonfiction, Theology

What Book Changed Your Life?

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon July 20, 2017
Share
Tweet
54

A few weeks ago at the Blue Ridge conference, Steve Laube gave a keynote speech during which he asked, “Except the Bible, what book changed your life?” More than one book changed my life, but the first one that popped into my mind was Looking Out for Number One by Robert J. Ringer. Despite the ruthless title, the content is practical. The message isn’t, “Step on anyone and everyone to get to the …

Read moreWhat Book Changed Your Life?
Category: Personal, Reading, TheologyTag: Books, Reading

Is Your Glass Half Empty?

By Steve Laubeon June 12, 2017
Share
Tweet
29

Over the decades it has been interesting to listen to and read the various pundits regarding the publishing industry. Typically those who spell out doom and gloom get the attention (fortifying the idea that “if it bleeds, it leads”). At the same time there is the optimist position which is often derided for being unrealistic. After awhile I’ve learned to smile and simply get back …

Read moreIs Your Glass Half Empty?
Category: Christian, Encouragement, Faith, Inspiration, Personal, The Publishing Life, The Writing Life, TheologyTag: Encouragement, Faith, The Publishing Life

A Green-Eyed Obstacle

By Karen Ballon May 24, 2017
Share
Tweet2
16

I know better. And yet I did it anyway. Not my fault, really. I never would have given in if I hadn’t seen that best-seller list. With that name. That author who started years after I did. Who was getting all the accolades, all the lists, all the awards… I mean, I’d had a book on the bestseller list. So what if it was years ago? So what if the book that mattered most to me got panned by an …

Read moreA Green-Eyed Obstacle
Category: The Writing Life, TheologyTag: Jealousy, The Writing Life

The Lies That Bind

By Karen Ballon May 10, 2017
Share
Tweet
64

 Years ago at a writer’s conference I was confronted by a pastor who demanded to know why I promoted lies to God’s family. As you can imagine, I was somewhat taken aback at this accusation and asked the irate man to explain what he meant. “Those books you write. Those novels. They’re lies!” I pointed out that if I was lying by telling stories, then so was Christ seeing as He did the same with the …

Read moreThe Lies That Bind
Category: Career, The Writing Life, TheologyTag: Career, Faith, The Writing Life

Dark Friday

By Steve Laubeon April 14, 2017
Share
Tweet
14

Contemplate the sacrifice. Contemplate the mystery. While you contemplate, listen to this instrumental piece called “Gethsemane” from Jeff Johnson’s album “No Shadow of Turning.” A new version of the piece can be found on Jeff’s album “Thin Places” You can listen to it at this link. Then please listen to this classical song “Go to Dark …

Read moreDark Friday
Category: Christian, Personal, TheologyTag: Christian, Theology

Maundy Thursday

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon April 13, 2017
Share
Tweet
10

Today is Maundy Thursday, a special day during Passion Week. As you feel led, visit this passage regarding The Last Supper, and meditate upon it. I can never read this passage without thinking about how often I have disappointed Christ. And no matter how much I deny it, no matter how much I wish I were perfect, I am not. I will wretchedly and miserably betray Him again. And yet He forgives. I am …

Read moreMaundy Thursday
Category: Theology
  • Previous
  • Page 1
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 10
  • Page 11
  • Page 12
  • Page 13
  • Page 14
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 18
  • Next
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Interview with Steve Laube
    • Statement of Faith
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
  • Guidelines
  • Authors
    • Who We Represent
    • Awards and Recognition
  • Resources
    • Recommended Reading
    • Christian Writers Market Guide Online
    • Christian Writers Institute
    • Writers Conferences
    • Freelance Editorial Services
    • Copyright Resources
    • Research Tools
    • Selling What You Write
  • Blog
  • Contact

Copyright © 2025 · The Steve Laube Agency · All Rights Reserved · Website by Stormhill Media