A Writer’s Prayer

ByDeborah Raney
38 Comments

A few years ago—more than fifteen years ago, to be exact—for the first time since I’d begun writing in 1994, my job as a novelist was beginning to be more than a part-time pursuit. I had several contracts to fulfill, and my calendar was filling up with speaking engagements. Our oldest son had his degree, but our middle son and daughter were in college in Missouri and Iowa, and our youngest daughter was still at home. I was feeling very conflicted about being a full-time (and long-distance) mom while trying to also be a full-time writer to help pay those skyrocketing tuition bills.

Alas, the writing life wasn’t quite the bowl of cherries it had been in the beginning, and I was letting a lot of things distract me from what I had originally trusted to be a calling.

One morning I was praying—feeling overwhelmed and pouring my heart out to the Lord about a pressing deadline. I asked Him what I should be doing. I rarely write down my prayers, but for some reason, this time I went to my computer and began to type the words I was praying.

God met me with comfort and peace as I prayed that morning, and I’ve gone back to pray these same words many times in the years since. I suspect this prayer expresses the fears and desires of other Christian writers who long for their words to stay true to God’s Word. Without him directing our fingers on the keyboard, we are nothing more than noisy gongs and clanging cymbals.

So once again, as I begin my work on this Monday morning of the fresh new week God has given me, this is my prayer…

 ~Deborah Raney, July 29, 2002

Throughout the coming months, as I find myself in a similar situation with editing and writing deadlines pressing down, with meetings and speaking events on the horizon—and in the midst of it all, the holidays to prepare for—I’ll pray many versions of this prayer. Because I never want to lose the joy I’ve found in the writing life, but neither do I ever want to take lightly the responsibility of writing for God’s glory.

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DEBORAH RANEY's first novel, A Vow to Cherish, inspired the World Wide Pictures film of the same title and launched Deb’s writing career. Forty books later, she's still creating stories that touch hearts and lives. Her novels have won RWA's RITA Award, the ACFW Carol Award, the National Readers Choice Award, and the HOLT Medallion. She is also a four-time Christy Award finalist. Deb is on faculty for several national writers’ conferences and served on the executive board of the 2,500-member American Christian Fiction Writers organization for 18 years before retiring in 2022. She is a recent transplant to Missouri, having moved with her husband, Ken Raney, from their native Kansas to be closer to kids and grandkids. They love road trips, e-biking, Friday garage sale dates, and breakfast on the screened porch overlooking their wooded backyard.

38 Comments

  2. Hi Deb, what a beautiful prayer! I’m saving it to remind me what’s important on this writing journey! Blessings to you, Carrie

  6. I loved this post and especially the prayer. It made me realize something that I’ve never thought of before. All my life I’ve wanted my books to sell, to be the author others would recognize – and in my heart I knew my books were my Christian witness that I wanted so desperately to make. BUT, apparently, God didn’t feel that was right for me. Maybe He, knowing all things, knew I wouldn’t be able to handle such a hectic schedule, that for reasons I might never understand, this wasn’t supposed to happen for me. All who read my books love them, but I’ve never been able to get many sales outside my immediate family. SO, your post has made me realize I need to leave it in God’s hands and accept His will. I thank Him for authors like you, Deb, and the other Christian authors I’ve come to love to read and I wish you much success in the future. God bless you always.

    1. And I thank Him for authors like you, Joan, who write out of obedience and let God take your stories where He knows they are needed. You are an inspiration and I wish YOU much success…and may we both let God define “success” for us.

    1. Thank you, Melissa. It’s been good to be giving it all over again into His hands. I wish I could just live in a constant state of having that attitude. :}

  9. Amen!! God has answered your prayers many times over. Your words (and you) are a blessing far larger than you know.

    1. Roxy, you are such a blessing in my life. And I could say the exact same thing about you and your words. I know they have changed lives that you’ll likely never know on this side of heaven! But mine is one of them. Just so you know. 🙂

  10. Thank you for being a writer of Christian Fiction and for all the work and hours that go with it. Thanks for sharing your prayer with your readers. We love you.

  11. Lovely prayer…words that we can all apply to our lives. Thank you for those thoughts and for your books as well. Thanks to all Christian authors that make our lives so much richer.

  12. Love this, Deb! Thanks so much for sharing. It is always encouraging when the Lord reminds us of prayers we’ve prayed/written long ago that speak again to our ‘now’. And I so agree with your prayer. MERCI for your life, your writing, your witness.

  13. Lovely post! It is so applicable to many other situations as well. My heart responds to your words today also. Thanks!

  17. Thank you, my friend, for sharing your special prayer. I’ll use it as I begin my own editing journey today. Your encouraging words and the reminder to place my trust in Him, makes my task less daunting. Blessings!

    1. Well, I’m late seeing this, Susan, but thank you SO much. That means more to me than you can know! Thank you for always being such an encourager to me!

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