#175: Prayer for Finalizing Your Book

Let's pray for guidance as you finalize your book. You've gone now through the self editing process. Now it's time to hire a professional editor to prepare your final draft for the information that you put in the front of your book in the back, the front matter, your back matter, to make sure you're referencing your scriptures correctly in quotes and references and all those things. Sometimes this step can feel a little bit intimidating. Oh, is it really ready? Have you done enough? Did you get everything? And the enemy loves again to stir up doubt at this stage, but God is faithful and so we want to pray for you, for peace and wisdom as you finalize your book. CJ why don't you pray for us in this phase?

We're looking at Nehemiah 6, 15 and 16.

One of the highlight verses in this book about finishing this wall, and it Sundays so. On October 2, the wall was finished just 52 days after we had begun. When our enemies and the surrounding nations heard about it, they were frightened and humiliated. They realized this work had been done with the help of our God. Some of you are in this place right now. You can't believe how quickly things came along, how things came like puzzle pieces fitting into place. And yet at the end of this, as you stare this final draft in the face, you realize that the work had been done with the help of your God. Father, we thank you so much for those who are in this place where they have finished their final draft. They have had help from so many other people, just like Nehemiah. And this, the leadership had help from so many different workers in different sections of the wall, just like that. Lord, our books are not just in and of ourselves. There are a team of people helping us. There's a community here that's encouraging us, helping us continue what we're called to do. And. And we thank you, Lord, for the victory of those who have gotten through the final draft of their book. They have put the finishing touches on it, they've made the changes, the edits. Now they're looking at this and they just stand amazed because you, Lord, helped them get to this place. You alone, Lord, allowed them to write word after word, paragraph after paragraph, chapter after chapter, and now they're on the brink of being able to share this with the world. So we're going to give you the glory and the honor, Lord, for allowing us to not only finish, and for some it's been sooner than later, for some it took longer. And yet the word finish of the final draft is key. And so we thank You. And we ask this in Jesus name and amen.

Amen. So as I was praying for those of you finalizing your book, I got a picture of cake. Do you see a theme cake?

And I saw, like, your cake is your first draft. And you can, if you have your first draft. I always say this to people. If you finish your first draft, somebody else can take that book. Even if you would happen to go home to be with Jesus, somebody else can take that first draft, get it edited and get it published. But if you don't have that first draft, you really just have a bunch of ingredients laying around. So, like, the first draft is like the cake, but guess what? The final draft is like decorating the cake. Any of you cake decorators? I am not, but I'm an artist and I love the thought of just adding the frosting and then adding any final touches. And if you think about a wedding cake, there's so many layers, there's so many different types of even cake and decorations and flowers and all the things, but it comes together at the end to be something beautiful. Let me pray for all of you that are in that phase of decorating your cake. God, thank you so much that you will give us exactly what we need to put those final touches, those finishing touches that icing and decorating our cake, that first draft. Lord, we thank you that you are going to give us what we need and that it is to be beautiful. And that when people take a bite out of our cake and they begin to eat it, they will know that you have been part of it, that we've been partnering with God. They will sense the Holy Spirit. They will be. They will be impacted because we have been partnering with you. And we thank you for this. Lord, in Jesus name, amen.