#198: 15 Prayers for Christian Writers

Welcome to Kingdom Writers, where we help equip and empower Christian writers of all genres to share your unique gifts with the world. We're your hosts, C.J. and Shelli Hitz.

This podcast is filled with spiritual encouragement as well as prayers to help you overcome the resistance you face as a writer. Your story matters.

Hey, Kingdom Writers. This is Shelly Hits, and in this special episode, we're sharing a online prayer meeting that we hosted live on our Facebook page, Christian Book Academy. And we wanted to share it here on the podcast as well so that it could bless you. And this is something I really believe that you can listen to over and over again. I put the timestamp in the show notes for when we pray for each specific different obstacles that you as a writer face. So you may want to scroll through at at a day that you're specifically dealing with procrastination and listen to that specific prayer again. But we just really pray that this blesses you because we did record it on Facebook Live. Know that we're gonna be asking you to comment and to share. And so we know that here on the podcast you can't do that. But if you'd like to interact with us, please come over to our Facebook page, Christian Book Academ. The replay will also be up there. That's also where we're going to be hosting live videos the next six weeks, diving in deeper to each of these topics. So if you want to hang out with us in person live, come over to our Christian Book Academy Facebook page and join us Wednesday and Friday at 3pm Eastern over the next six weeks. We are so excited for this breakthrough series, and we hope you love it. Thanks again and enjoy this on online prayer meeting. Hey, everyone, this is Shelly Hitz.

Hey, guys.

I'm CJ and today we are here to have an online prayer meeting for Christian writers. I've never done anything like this before, and I've actually never seen it done. So we're just so thrilled that you're here with us today and that you're joining us for this. We've spent a lot of time preparing, and I have been coaching and mentoring writers for eight years. And in the eight years that I've been working with writers, we have seen the obstacles that you face. I could give you training after training, after training, after training, which I do. I have a gift of teaching, but I've still seen people get all the training and still be stuck. And so we realize that there are deeper issues in mindset. There are deeper spiritual battles. And so we want Today to help you overcome those and help you to break through. So if you're ready to break through in your writing, just type breakthrough in the comments. That's our theme for today, is Breakthrough. This is also the start of our series Breakthrough, which we'll be doing on our podcast. Right?

Yeah. You know, and there's a lot of. A lot of things that do slow us down, a lot of obstacles. We're going to be talking about several of those.

In fact, we're going to hit.

15.

Different obstacles that we believe writers like ourselves have faced or are facing or will face. And we're going to pray through all 15 of those obstacles.

Yeah. And we've listened to you, so we've asked you. We've listened to you, and we are ready to help you have Breakthrough. Yeah. Theresa is saying breakthrough. Awesome. I love it. So we. What we're going to do is, first of all, I just want you to know, like, God speaks to me a lot of times in pictures. Are any of you also visual in your learning or the way that God speaks to you? If you're visual, just type visual in the comments. I am a visual learner, and so God speaks to me in pictures. And last night as we were praying, I really got a picture for today's call for this prayer meeting. And the picture that I got was of someone swimming in an ocean. You know, sometimes as a writer, it feels like we're in this big ocean, right? There's all of this stuff to learn. There's all of these things to do, and Amazon and all. Oh, it's just a big, big world out there, right? But I saw you. Some of you. So some of you, I saw that you were swimming, but there was this ball and chain around your ankle, and it was pulling you down, and it was causing you to sink, and you felt like you were starting to drown. And you weren't making progr in your writing, and you weren't making progress in publishing your books or finishing your books. And so for some of you today, what I saw is Jesus is coming, and he has a key, and he is coming to unlock that ball and chain around your ankle so you can swim back to the surface and start breathing again. Amen. Some of you, it is just time to come back alive. But I also saw another picture. I saw a picture. Some of you are to the surface. You're in the boat with Jesus. You're walking with him. You're good. But there's another step. He's calling you right now. And I'm getting Chills. Just saying this. There's some of you that God is calling you to step out on the boat and walk on water in faith. I saw some of you last night and God just gave me that picture that some of you are going to start walking in faith in ways that you've never walked before with your books, with your writing, with your marketing. And so we're just really excited to walk alongside of you and to really equip you and encourage you in this process. And so wherever you're at, if you feel like you're drowning or if you're in the boat and you just need to take that next step of faith, we're here for you. We're in this with you. We're both writers, we both publish books. Right. We have both faced all of these obstacles, too.

Absolutely. And you know, it seems impossible to walk on water, but I know that the Lord is going to call each and every one of you out to things that you don't think are possible. In fact, you've had a number of things.

Come up in your mind that prevent you from believing those things. And we're going to pray through all of those obstacles that prevent us from walking on water with Jesus and the things he's calling you out to.

Yeah. So if you're ready for that, just say, I am ready in the comments. Or type faith in the comments like, I know I'm ready. I'm ready to see God do miracles. I'm ready to see the supernatural in my writing. We always pray that God would reach the right person at the right time with the right book. But I'm ready to hear more of those testimonies of my books making impacts. Amen. Are you ready for that, too? So we want to get right into the prayers, but I do want you to know there is more for you. God has more for you in your writing. And so if you believe that, just type there is more in the comments. All right, well, we're going to dive into the first topic.

Yeah. And so the first of the 15 areas that we're going to look at is the area of self doubt and unworthiness. If this particular area is something that you are in desperate need of prayer for, type out self doubt. And you know, as we said, we're preaching to the selves here. All of these things we've dealt with in one way, shape or form. How many know there is a very real spiritual attack and assignment against everything you want to do that would glorify the name of Jesus? Of course I Mean, it's not going to just come easy. There is an attack. And that's why we want to have these prayer meetings.

Yeah.

Why we're doing this today is because we know it's spiritual, and many of you are going to experience these breakthroughs today. And so self doubt and unworthiness. In other words, am I qualified?

Mm.

Who am. Who am I? You know, I'm just a little peon. You know, you remember Gideon when he was. He was called, you know, to lead an army against the Midianites? He basically was like, who am I, Lord? I'm like the least of my tribe. And he had all the excuses. Of course, Moses, you know, had the same thing. Self doubt, unworthiness. What do I have to share that people actually want to hear? You know, what can I write in the book that people actually will read? You know, and so the scripture. There's a couple scripture themes that we're going to read here, and then we're just going to get right into praying sort of along the lines of those scriptures. And so the first One is Psalm 94, 16, 19. And it says this. Who will protect me from the wicked? Who will stand up for me against evildoers? Now, I want to just say right now, whenever you see that word wicked or evil doers or very real enemies, you know, when David's calling out these people in scripture, I want you to replace those things with the enemies that we face spiritually. You know, it's not a physical person, most likely, that you have an enemy, you know, like, I want to beat him, you know. No, it's. It's this self doubt. It's the unworthiness. It's, you know, could be anything, depression. There's a number of things we're going to cover in this case. I want you to replace evildoers with self doubt and unworthiness, because these are the weapons the enemy's throwing at us. And it says, unless the Lord had helped me, I would soon have settled in the silence of the grave. I cried out, I'm slipping. But your unfailing love, O Lord, supported me. When doubts filled my mind.

Your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer. And that's what the Lord wants to do with you today. He wants to renew that hope. When doubts filled my mind, it was the Lord. And that's the only hope that we have, is the Lord. And so the second scripture we want to look at is 2nd Corinthians 4, 7. And this is Paul writing. He says, we now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure.

I just, I'm sorry, I have to interrupt. I just am like so excited because there's so much treasure in each one of you.

Yeah. So this makes it clear that our great power is from God. That's key. Right there. Is from God, not from ourselves. Paul says. And so Shelley, I think you had a picture that had come to mind.

CJ is the one that researched the Scriptures. And then I just pressed in and asked the Lord for pictures. And we're actually just going to pray through these. So instead of reading them out, CJ will actually pray the Scriptures going forward. And I'm going to just, we're just going to start praying and CJ will start praying and then I'll pray the different pictures that God has given me to pray for you. So.

Yeah, so Lord, we come to you right now and we, we ask that you would vanquish these self doubts, this feeling of unworthiness if there's anyone listening or watching right now live, or even those who are going to be watching the replay. Lord, we ask that you would just speak into their situation. And we ask, Lord, that you would be our hope, your, that you would be our comfort, that you would renew our hope and our cheer as the psalmist says. And Lord, we just, we ask that you would flood that light into our hearts as Paul says in second Corinthians.

Even though we're fragile. Lord, we ask you to be our strength. We ask you to remove all self doubt, all unworthiness. Any of these things that the enemy has thrown at us, has drug us through the mud with that we've allowed him to do. Lord, we ask that you would remove those things in Jesus name. And we ask that you would replace all of the self doubt, all the unworthiness with a sense of hope and that I am worthy in Christ. I have been called upward, higher than I could lift myself. I've been lifted up by God Almighty to proclaim this message. Whatever message God has put on my heart. And I pray for each one of these writers, Lord, that their messages would get out to as many people as possible. That you want to bless with their message and encourage. And any of this obstacle of unworthiness or self doubt, we command you to leave in Jesus name. Thank you Lord.

Yes, and Lord, I just thank you that you are bigger than our doubts. You are bigger than the, you know, just ungodly beliefs or the lies of the unworthiness. And the enemy wants to hold us back and there are so many ways that he does that. And the picture that you gave me is that each one of us is. We're like a garden hose. And if we're not connected to the spigot, to the water, nothing's gonna happen. But when we're connected to the spigot, we turn it on. That's like being connected with you, Father God. And then your Holy Spirit is like the water that flows through us. And then your water, your Holy Spirit is able to write through us that then those books water and refresh and help many people. But it's not us.

It's not about the hose. It's not about us. We are simply the vessel. We are just simply the jar of clay. The treasure is you. The power comes from you. And so it's not about us and our worthiness. It is all about you and who you are and allowing your Holy Spirit to flow through us. And so we just allow you right now. We just give you permission, Holy Spirit, to flow through us fully. We turn on that spigot full blast in Jesus name, and allow you to flow through us, to bless many people through our books. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen.

Yes.

All right, if that blessed you, just type blessed in the comments. And if this is blessing you, please feel free to share with those that you feel would. Would benefit from it.

Yeah. So the second area or the second obstacle that we want to break through is just that obstacle of comparison. And what we mean by this is, you know, it's already been done. How is what I'm writing any different than what's already been written before?

Right.

You know, looking at best sellers and seeing their stuff as like, the standard, you know, that your book is supposed to be as well.

And so it's just this whole thing of comparison and looking at others. And of course, we even see this dynamic multiplied with our social media world.

Can we get some Amens?

So, you know, this whole thing of comparison. I'm going to read a couple scriptures here.

Let's just go ahead and have you pray through those.

Oh, yeah, yeah, I can do that.

We'll just pray the scriptures. Have you guys read that book by Beth Moore, Praying God's Word? It is powerful. When we combine God's word with prayer, it becomes like a dynamite. And so that's what we're doing today with these scriptures that CJ has come up with. So why don't you go ahead and do that?

So, Lord, we are coming to you with Galatians 6, 4 and 5, which we're asking Lord, that we would pay careful attention to our own work. Yes, for then you will be be able to get the satisfaction of a job well done and you won't need to compare yourself to anyone else. And Lord, we ask that that would be us as well, that we wouldn't need to compare ourselves to anyone else, but we would always look to you as our standard and also to you as the giver of any content or anything that we write. And as chapter or as verse 5 says, for we are each responsible for our own conduct. And so Lord, I ask that each of us would truly be able to rest in the fact that we are responsible for our own conduct, that we aren't to look to the left or to the right at other people and try to copy or try to, you know, compare ourselves or even feel ourselves slinking backward because, oh, we just don't measure up to this author or this best seller. And Lord, I just pray against that whole spirit of comparison. And even in the spirit of Hebrews 12, 2, which is basically keeping our eyes on Jesus, the author and the perfecter of our faith. And so Lord, I ask that each of us would fix our eyes on Jesus to such a degree that we, we don't even sense a need to compare. We just have our eyes fixed on you. And we are coming to you for all of the inspiration that you want to give us in terms of what you want us to write, subject matter, stories, whatever it may be. We come to you as our source. And we don't look to human beings as our source, you alone. So we ask this in Jesus name.

Yes, we just take authority right now over that spirit of comparison. We break it off, each person listening right now in Jesus name, be gone comparison in Jesus name. And I just pray God, you would flood each person right now with a joy and an excitement of what you have called them to specifically do in their writing. And the picture that God gave me is that we are each a different father flower. We're each a different plant. We are each a different color, a different variety. And there's a quote by Zenshin that says a flower does not think of competing to the flower next of it, next to it, it just blooms. And so I just saw each one of you, each one of us just blooming in the gifts, in the abilities, in what God is doing through us with his spirit, and just blooming and enjoy in joy, having joy and enjoying the process. So Lord, we just thank you that we can just bloom, that we don't have to compete there's no competition in the Kingdom of God. It is about collaboration. We're all on the same team. Lord, thank you that we are all on the same team. And we just pray this in Jesus name name. Amen.

Yeah. So if you've ever struggled with this whole thing of comparison, go ahead and type in comparison in the, in the.

Subject box and tell me what your favorite flower is like if, if you, if you got to be a flower and that was the flower that God allowed you to be to bloom. Share that in the comments too. I'd love to hear.

Yeah, so the third obstacle that we're looking at that we're going to pray through is this obstacle of fear.

This is a biggie, but we're focusing on just one area of fear. There's layers and layers, Right?

So really the specific area of fear that we're looking at today is the fear of sharing your story. You know, just this whole idea that, you know, I'm too scared to share the details or share or my story doesn't really matter.

I've heard that from a lot of people.

You know, my testimony isn't. Isn't that exciting. You know, maybe some of you thought that whatever it is, you know, this whole fear factor. And we're going to pray in the spirit of second Timothy 1, 7 and 8. And so, Lord, your word says, for God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love and self discipline. So Lord, we ask that you would remove all fear in Jesus name. The fear of sharing our story or the fear or the, the minimalizing that we do of our story, that it's not that important or that we're just fearful to share it and get that out there. Lord, we come against that in Jesus name. We pray that you would instill a power, a spirit of power, of love, of self discipline. And as Paul goes on to say so, never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord. And don't be ashamed of me either, even though I'm in prison for him. And with the strength God gives you, be ready to suffer with me. Lord, I ask that you would give each one of us the strength to stand in the face of an enemy that wants to beat us down with fear, wants to intimidate us, wants to get us to shy away from sharing our story. We come against that in Jesus name and we ask for power. You have.

Given us power and access to that through your holy spirit, and we ask that you would download that into each of us who have a story to share. In written form, or perhaps in spoken. Spoken for him in talks, whatever it might be. Lord, I pray that you give us a holy boldness to share the story that you have given us. Each of us has a story to share, and I pray that you would use that to the maximum degree and that the enemy would be on the run constantly because of our story. And also in the spirit of Revelation 12:11, which says, and they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony, and they did not love their life so much that they were afraid to die. And, Lord, we know that one of the ways we can overcome the enemy is sharing our testimony, sharing our story, getting that out so that you might be glorified through what you've done in our lives. You took us from this to this, and I ask that you would give people boldness to share that. And as we do that, we thank you, Lord, for the promise that we overcome the enemy. The enemy knows he can't overcome the blood of the Lamb, and that's why he constantly works to ruin our testimony and to even drive fear into us. And so we speak against that. In Jesus name. We thank you.

Yes. And Lord, I pray for fiction writers, for nonfiction writers, for children's book authors. Right now, those of you that are listening, just type in what type of genre? If you type multiple, type. You know, just write multiple. But whatever your story is, whether it's your testimony, whether it's a fiction story, whether it's a children's book story, young adult, we just pray right now that you would run swiftly, Lord, through these writers to help them to have the courage to share their written stories, whether it's for entertainment, which is still. It is so powerful to share your gospel and truth. And in fiction, or if it's nonfiction, Lord, we just pray that you would run swiftly. And the picture that I had was that each of you as a writer, you're right now, like on a battlefield, and you know, you're on the edge to where you're not really on the front lines, but, you know.

You'Re being asked to go to the front lines, and you're scared. But I see, like, God as being your shield. Like, he's like this big shield, and you're just walking behind that shield one step at a time, going up to the front lines. And you're not having to worry, though, because the shield is so big, it covers you completely. God is your shield. He is your refuge. He. He is your safe place, and he will protect you as you step out as you go to the front lines as you say yes to God and say, yes, I will publish my story. I will publish this fiction novel. I will publish this children's book. He is the one that's protecting you. He is the one that is your refuge. And so allow him to be your shield and to deflect any arrows that the enemy may send your way. And we just pray this in Jesus name name, Amen.

And so the fourth area that we're looking at is this whole area of people pleasing. And so type people pleasing. If that's ever been a struggle for.

You, it's been a big one for me. I know.

And what we mean by this is just the fear of what others will think. We're afraid of criticism, of being judged. And so we just sort of, you know, keep it on the low. We don't ruffle too many feathers. We don't, you know, try to stand out in any way, even if the truth is at stake. We just. We just want to please everyone. And, you know, so I'm going to pray. In the scripture of Galatians 1:10, Paul says, Obviously, I'm not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ's servant. So, Lord, right now we come against this whole spirit of people pleasing, which if we admit it is absolutely impossible. We cannot please everyone. We're always going to. I mean, if the Son of God could not please everyone.

Who are we, frail humanity, you know, going to please every single person. So we come against that, even that. I just picture people being enslaved. There's almost like, you know, a noose around our necks and we're being dragged around by the enemy of people pleasing and here and there, and it's just jerking us left and right. We even have neck problems, you know, because we're just constantly jerked based on pleasing others. And so we come against that, as Paul did, as he said, obviously, I'm not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. And so, Lord, we ask that we would go after your approval alone. And we do thank you that in Christ we are approved of. We thank you for that promise. And we just. We just want to be your children who want to please Daddy. We want to hop up on your lap. We want to do cartwheels for you. We want to run around the playground and say, look at me, Daddy. Look what I just did. And Lord, I just ask that we would find our approval alone in you and know that our Father God is looking at us and that he is pleased and he loves our creativity and he has birthed something new in each and every one of us to share. And that you alone, I pray that each and every one of us would have God as our only audience. Even though our books are going to go out to perhaps even masses. For some of those that are on this, this call or this, this prayer meeting, some of your books will go all the way around the world and they will bless so many people groups and your books will be translated into multiple languages and they're going to have large audiences. But Lord, may you be the only audience that we truly write for. And then we watch you encourage others through our work. So we thank you in Jesus name.

Yes. And Lord, I just sense that today is a turning point for some of these writers listening right now, either live or the replay. I just, I just have a sense that today is going to be a stake in the ground type of a day. Like something changed in me today, and that something is your spirit working through them in prayer. And so we just again declare breakthrough right now in Jesus name for writers and for each person listening. And the picture I got of people pleasing is like being in a classroom and, you know, being graded on your work, whether it's a test or an assignment. And you know, really it's the only person's opinion that counts is the teachers. No other student can give you a grade. They can criticize you, they can make fun of you, they can say things. But the only thing that matters in the end is what the teacher puts on that, that grade card at the end. And that's in a way, the same way it is with us. You know, we. The only person that matters right now is the approval of God is pleasing God. He's the one that matters. It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. And we are only responsible for what God is calling us to do. And we're not responsible for how other people think about us, how they judge us, how they, what they say about us, the reviews they give us, all we're responsible, Lord, is for doing what you've called us to do. And I just pray that there would just be a joy welling up right now just knowing that you are pleased with us. Lord, I just feel like you want each person listening right now to know that you are pleased with them. They are your son, they are your daughter, and you are pleased with them. And they are accepted 100% accepted, 100% approved, 100% loved, 100% validated by you, their father, and we thank you, God, for that love, that approval, that validation, that acceptance. And we pray this in Jesus name. Amen.

And I even thought of Colossians 3:23, which many of you are familiar with. And it says, you know, in everything you do, work at it with all your heart, as if you're working for God and not men. So, you know, ultimately that's all that matters. You know, God is our employer. You know, we're working for him, we're pleasing him, we're doing everything to lift his name up on high. After that, it'll all take care of itself, you know, as we do that for the Lord. So the fifth area that we're looking at is the area of insecurity. Insecurity. And what we mean by that is, is my writing good enough? Do I have what it takes?

Do I have the skills that I need to be a writer? So if insecurity has been one of your struggles through the years, go ahead and type in insecurity. And we're going to pray in the in the spirit of First John 4:18. Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment. And this shows that we're not fully experienced his perfect love. And so, Lord, I ask that we would jump into your swimming pool of perfect love, that we'd be surrounded in every aspect by your perfect love. And just drive out any insecurity. Drive out any fear, Lord, may our security be found in you alone. And I even just think of John 13:23, which, you know, it says now there was leaning on Jesus bosom, one of his disciples whom Jesus loved. And six times I'm reminded, Lord, that John wrote those words, the disciple that Jesus loved. The disciple that Jesus loved. He was known as the beloved disciple. And Lord, I pray that every one of us would find our security.

In those words. I am the disciple that Jesus loves. May our security be found completely in that love. And would you just drive out all insecurity right now in Jesus name? Each one of our writers that are watching that are praying along with us. If insecurity has been their issue, I pray that you just drive it out, dissolve it in Jesus name, that they would find their full security and worth found in Christ alone. We thank you, Lord, for what you're going to do in terms of our identity and how we are identified as the disciples that Jesus loves. And then to move out of that identity. We thank you, Lord.

Yes, and the picture that God gave me is that many of you have written many words and it's as if you've crumpled them up and put them in a trash can. Maybe you've deleted them, maybe they're still unfinished on your hard drive somewhere. But you never published them. You just discarded them. And you just feel like it's not good enough. Not good enough. Not good enough. And I just saw a picture of God and it's going to make me cry. But he went into the trash can and he started retrieving every crumpled paper and he began to make a scrapbook from your writing. And it's not so much what you write, it's that you write that you're creating with God, that you're writing, that you're using your gifts. And I just saw that, you know, God was just, just again, just wanting you to know. Like he. He's validating you. He is so proud of you. And, and he is retrieving those crumpled pieces of paper. And yes, it's a learning process. Yes, we grow as a writer. But he sees you and he loves you and.

He is just so proud of you. So I pray this in Jesus name, Amen.

Yeah, and I'm just. This is not a scripture, but I just sometimes picture, you know, God walking around heaven with a big wallet and he's got your picture in there. And he's also got a huge refrigerator with a lot of food in there, but.

Your, your picture is on his refrigerator, you know, and, and he thinks if you. Every second of every day. And it blows our minds away, we can't conceive of that. But, but that's, that's true. He loves you. You're always on his thoughts and you are secure in Christ. So the next obstacle that we want to break through is procrastination. And I raised my hand on this one. I have been a procrastinator. Yeah. Much of my life it's been something I've struggled with. I still remember specifically in college when I had 20 page papers due for my sociology major.

I remember this.

Guess when I started those papers, Shelley.

The night before, the night before, we started dating his senior year and he had these huge papers and I'm like, what in the world? That would stress me out? But he just, he got it done pulling all nighters.

And I actually had a friend of mine, bless her heart, she would type up my papers after I wrote them out and it didn't matter if she had to start at 4, 4 in the morning or 3 in the morning. Yeah, she would do it. Bless Monica's heart and I'd pay her a little bit for that. But procrastination is something I can relate to. So what we mean by this specifically concerning writers is I need to learn more before I can start. Or, you know, I'm just not quite ready yet. And we could go years by rephrasing those things over and over again. I'm still not ready. I don't. I don't have, you know, I need to learn a little bit more. I need to take, you know, two more courses, and then finally I'll be ready. And I think many times we just keep procrastinating what God has called us to do and get started on. And so we're going to pray in the Spirit of Proverbs 3, 5, and 6. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not depend on your own understanding, but seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. And so, Lord, we come with that scripture and we pray that for ourselves, for all of those watching and listening. And we ask, Lord, that our trust would be in you alone, not our own abilities, not our own hangups with procrastination or are delaying, you know, what probably should have been started already. Lord, I pray that we would just continue to seek you with all of our hearts and then watch as you guide, watch as you. As you. As you lead us. And I just actually got a picture of some of, you might recall, the Indiana Jones movies. You know, there was one particular scene where Indiana Jones had to cross a large chasm, and there was like a bridge there that he couldn't see. But one of the things he had to do was take that first step in faith and just step out. And as he did that, and he put his full weight into that step, all of a sudden there was this. This bridge that appeared. And it was almost like an illusion. You know, you couldn't see it. It just blended right in with. With the landscape. But he took that first step as was directed, you know, in the little map or whatever he had. And I picture a lot of us. We just need to take that first step. And as we do that in faith, the Lord is going to come through in ways you never expected. And we thank you, Lord. My goodness. Many of us could look back and say there was no way that could have gotten finished unless the Lord, like, met me where I took that first step. And Lord, we ask that you would just drive away our spirit of procrastination or anything that's delaying the message that you want to speak through us and Write through us and bless the world with. So we just thank you, Lord, that in you we can achieve one day at a time, your will. And we seek your face above all else. And we ask this in Jesus name.

Yes, Lord, we just pray right now that you would punch procrastination in the face. It would be a goner when it's in the ring with you, Lord, that you would just overcome it right now, breakthrough, whatever it is, whatever the deeper thing, because typically with procrastination, there's something deeper. There's a deeper reason that you're procrastinating. So ask the Lord, ask him, what is it? Why am I procrastinating? What is it? Is it fear? Is it doubt? Is it something else? Is it, I need more skills? Is it, you know, what is it? What is the root? And the picture that God gave me is that you're driving along in a car, and that car is your writing, your writing of books. And all of a sudden, what, fear or doubt or something, something comes up, Lack of skills, something comes up. And all of a sudden it's like you're pulling the emergency brake. And it's like, you know, it causes you to like, stop and to stop moving forward. And so we just pray right now that you would, Lord, help each of us to take off that emergency brake. And I just want to give just a moment of silence for you to ask God, ask him what is at the root, what is it that triggers my procrastination? And if you're comfortable, post it in the comments. We're just going to give you a moment to ask God what is the root? What is the trigger for me?

And if you need more time, we just pray. You would just spend more time doing that later. But we just pray this in Jesus name, Amen.

Amen. And you know, this next one, the seventh area that can be an obstacle that we want breakthrough on, I believe can be, and in my own case has been connected to procrastination, and that is perfectionism.

So this can be actually a root of procrastination.

And what we mean by that is my first draft needs to be perfect.

We have sort of a paralysis of analysis. We just keep looking over the details and it's just not quite right. Or I just, you know, I've got to take this course or do this or that before I'm fully going to be ready. And we just, we want perfection instead of sort of a working piece that continues to be refined. And that's really what those first drafts are all about. Anyway, you know, you just write it out. Get that stuff out of your heart, out of your mind, get it out, get on paper, on your computer, whatever method you use, and then after that, we can go back. But.

Right. No one's first draft is very pretty. You know, even the Stephen Kings of the world, you know that's right.

And you know, the spirit that we want to pray in comes from Ecclesiastes 11:4. Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud.

They never harvest. So, Lord, we don't want to be farmers or writers who are always waiting for the perfect conditions. We know that we live in an imperfect world, and yet you somehow take our imperfections and you do wonders with those things that we would have never even imagined. And so, Lord, I want to pray against that spirit of perfectionism that really sometimes paralyzes us, prevents us from really moving forward, because, well, unless I can do something just perfect, I can't go any further. Lord, I just pray that we wouldn't be afraid to just throw out our sloppiness out there, get it all out, and then allow the process of refining to take place. I pray that even if people have to just start dumping stuff on paper in all kinds of weird, jumbled ways and then go back and rearrange some of those thoughts, I pray they'd be able to do that and to look at that paper as a glorious work of art in process, not as something that has to be perfect right now. And I'm praying that for myself as many times that has been a connector to procrastination and just wanting to really be just right. And I don't want any errors, and I want to put something just in the right way and tweak it perfectly. And I just pray that we would be people that would be instruments in your hands. Even though we're imperfect, we are perfected in Christ. And in your hands.

We know you can do wonders through our lives, things that we'd never be able to do on our own. And so we thank you for this. In Jesus name.

Jesus name. And the picture I got was of a Transformer toy. And the reason is because I just really sense that many of you have a certain expectation of what your first draft should be, your final draft should be. You have a perspective, especially, that your first draft needs to be perfect. And God right now wants to transform that expectation into something completely different. Just like a Transformer toy is maybe a car. And then when it's a Transformer person or whatever, it gets transformed into that he is actually changing things in your mind, in your expectations, and changing the way you see things so that you just take the pressure off. There is no pressure. And we just claim that no pressure in Jesus name. This is a privilege to be able to write. It's a privilege to be able to. To share what God has given us, to share our gifts with the world. And so, Lord, I just pray right now that there would just be click after click after click after click after click of you just right now transforming expectations and perspectives so that that whole lie of perfectionism just falls away and it's not even an issue anymore. In Jesus name, amen.

And so the eighth obstacle that we want to break through is this whole idea of a lack of boundaries. And specifically, you know, things like, I don't have time, I just don't have time.

How many of you ever said, I don't have time to write, I don't have time to figure, you know, do the publishing. I don't have time, I don't have time. That's something I think we could all say we've said at one time or another, right?

Yeah.

And you know, we're just going to pray specifically in the Spirit of Matthew 6:33, which says, Seek first the kingdom of God above all else and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. And so, Lord, we are asking that we would have our hearts completely devoted to you, seeking you above all else. And as we do that, we even see that our time is arranged differently. We even see that we do have more boundaries. We have times of just sitting with you in your word, meditating, praying, really just uninterrupted time with our Father. And I ask, Lord, that each one of us would have implanted just a desire. Lord, even just as David was a man after God's own heart, I pray that each of us would be men and women writers after your own heart. And as we seek your heart above all else, you're going to then bless us with things that are inspired from your heart. And then we're also praying in the spirit of Ephesians 5, 15, 17. So be careful how you live. Don't live like fools, but like those who are wise, make the most of every opportunity. In these evil days. Don't act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. And I'm even reminded that in another translation, I believe the new King James. King James. It talks about redeeming the time. Lord, we know that the enemy wants to kill our time. We know there's a real enemy that wants us to waste time on fruitless endeavors. Even many times some of our social media habits can be wasted. Time of, you know, maybe looking at others and their achievements. But then we kind of wallow in and maybe some self pity of woe is me, you know, why I can't do that, or this or that. Lord, I just want to pray that you would redeem the time in us, anything that the locusts have eaten in the lives of these writers, in our lives. Lord, I pray you restore, Restore, just as your word says. And we just pray that as we look at our schedules, as we arrange our time, that we truly would seek after you with every ounce of our energy. And that as we do that things are going to rise to the service that are most important and we're going to have healthy boundaries of what to do, what not to do, how to arrange our schedules. And I pray that you would squeeze out the most amount. I even just think of, you know, juicing and how you're trying to get the most juice out of that lemon or that lime or whatever it might be. Lord, I pray you squeeze the juice, the sweetness out of us, Lord, that would bless the world and that we would make the most of the days that we have here on this planet. And we ask this in Jesus name.

Yes. And as I was praying about this, I just felt like the Lord really just said that most of you, it's not that, it's not that you don't want to, and it's, you know, it's like you're just over committed. And the picture that I got was, you know, of you standing there and you have this backpack on that's pretty heavy. And then you pick up a bag and you put it over your left shoulder, you pick up another bag, you put it over your right shoulder, you pick up a bag and you hook it into your elbow. You take another bag and you hook it in your elbow. You grab several, you know, have you ever done this, trying to bring all your groceries in in one trip? You know, several bags in your left hand and several bags in your right hand. And you're standing there and I come up to you and I ask you if you can roll this big suitcase which is your writing, you know, and do that. And you literally look at me and you're like, no, of course you can't. You have no free hands. You just are so committed to so many things. And so I just saw that you began to look more closely at every single bag, every single thing. That you're carrying, and you began to actually give some of those bags to other people and allowed them to carry them. And you begin to consolidate some bags. You begin to take some things out of bags so they weren't as heavy. And then you put. You were able to get it to where everything was just on your backpack and the one arm which freed you to now pull the suitcase, which represents your writing, publishing, marketing, and you're able to have that time. And so, Lord, we just pray right now that you would give each other person, each one of us, C.J. and I included wisdom in what it is that we need to actually let go of. What is it we need to give to someone else? What is it we need to maybe just take, you know, do less of or consolidate. And Lord, I just pray that right now you would give each person insight through the Holy Spirit. And we're just going to give you just a few seconds of silence just to ask God, what is it that. That you could do even today to free up some of your time?

And go ahead and post in the comments if you get a revelation.

So, Lord, we thank you that you are the author of time. We thank you that you can do more in one moment than we can achieve in an entire lifetime of struggling and trying. And so as we also think about our time, we just thank you that there is such a thing as supernatural productivity, that there is such a thing as your favor and your spirit is doing things through us that we could never even just imagine accomplishing in our own strength. So we thank you for that. And we pray in Jesus name, amen.

So the ninth area that we're looking at that has been an obstacle for many of us that we want to break through is the whole area of writer's block. You know, go ahead and type in writer's block. If that's been something every one of us, right, could, could write that one in there. You know, I'm stuck and nothing seems to be flowing. And you just sort of sit there and I recently.

You know, saw a blog post where the person was, was talking about one of the worst things to do, you know, when you have writer's block, is just stare at a.

Blank screen.

Because there's that blinking cursor.

There's not a whole lot that's going to happen there other than, you know, the spiraling. You know, if you have writer's block, this is just a practical thing. Just, you know, go for a walk, get out and just, just spend some time with the Lord. Maybe, maybe an activity you really enjoy outside of writing.

This isn't a practical, you know, session that we're going to give you a whole bunch of practical tips. But those are coming.

Those are coming. In the next six weeks, we're gonna have 12 podcasts and live videos. So if you're enjoying this, make sure you are either subscribed to our podcast writers, Kingdom Writers, or to our Facebook page, Christian Book Academy. Because there's lots of goodness, we're gonna give lots of practical tips. Today is mostly about prayer, but all of that practical stuff is coming, so stay tuned. If you're excited about that, just type excited.

So, Psalm 45. 1. We're gonna pray in this scripture, which this is the Niv. One of the scriptures I've been reading, by the way, have been from the new living translation, with the exception of a couple that are NIV or New King James. But this is niv. And it says, my heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses for the King. And I love this part. My tongue is the pen of a skillful writer. And, Lord, we ask that our tongues, our thoughts, our.

Pen. Lord, we pray that it would all be that of a skillful writer, of you speaking through us. Lord, I pray that you would just capture the minds of each one of these writers of our hearts. Lord, I pray. Pray that you would bring that flow, that when we do find ourselves stuck, that we would be able to get unstuck with your help, Lord, that you would allow that dam to be opened, so to speak, so that the river can just flow. And I even pray that it would flow at flood stage, that each one of us would overflow into the lives of other communities.

Not in a destructive way, but that all of the goodness that you want to bring about through our lives, all of the inspiration, I pray it would just flood.

Not only our own communities, but lives that are around the world with the messages that you birth in us. And so we are praying that our tongue is the pen of a skillful writer and that there would just be flow. And I'm even reminded that Jesus even said that, you know, there would be rivers of living water that would flow, you know, out of us, and that, you know, he's referring to the Holy Spirit, you know, being in us and overflowing. But we're asking, Lord, that as we set our minds to write, that you would just allow us to flow and have those times of flow. And we just look back and say, thank you, Lord, thank you. You are the one that gets people unstuck and we just ask this in Jesus name.

Yes, I just pray if you're able right now that you just raise both of your hands and just receive the flow of the Holy Spirit right now for your writing. Just receive it in Jesus name flow. Come, Holy Spirit, come in Jesus name. May today be a turning point that things would be different. And we just thank you Lord for that. And the picture that God gave me is like some of you are just in a dark room. And a dark room can be kind of scary. It can be kind of, you know, just leads to these negative, you know, feelings or emotions or you feel and you feel alone and uncertain and all of these things that come up. But God steps into that room and he right now through his Holy Spirit is flipping on the light switch. Yes, he's flipping it on. In Jesus name. Holy Spirit is there with you. Holy Spirit is going to give you what you need and the words and the inspiration and the God ideas and the book ideas and the things that you need right now. And Holy Spirit is going to be the wind in your sails right now. Some of you are a like a ship just stuck. You're not going anywhere and there hasn't felt like there's been any wind. There's no motor and you're just sitting there. But the Holy Spirit is coming in right now breathing fresh life into your writing, breathing fresh life into you and into your life. And he is the wind in your sails and he is now propelling you forward. He's moving you forward. And we just thank you for this, Lord. In Jesus name, amen.

Yes, Lord. And so the tenth area that we want to look at and see breakthrough in is that whole area of regret, you know, in other words, I miss my chance. You know, I feel behind and what's the use? You know, I have to admit, and I'll share my own testimony that that has been me.

I hadn't published a book since 2016 and the last time I published a book was my latest Smoothies for Runners book. So it was geared toward runners. And I went through a period where I really got busy with a running coach business and I was putting all my time into my own training as a competitive runner and really just got into a good groove there and I enjoyed it. It was a great season. But I of kind kept feeling like there's something else that I know God wants to write through me. And yet when I set about to begin on the next book, which is about ready to be published, it's a book on prayer, I Sat there and I thought. And Shelley even, you know, heard me say some of these things. I said, man, you know what? I think I missed my chance. There was a window there where, you know, I probably let pass and I'm just. I'm not going to be able to. To write anything really significant anymore. It was almost like I was kind of putting myself out to pasture.

And he's only like, what, 40?

I'm 46.

46. I'm already forgetting. I'm like 45 or 46. He just had a birthday, he's only 46. And he's thinking, I'm done. I have nothing more to give, nothing more to contribute.

Yeah. And so kind of crazy. But now I'm feeling like the Lord has opened up more flow in my life and. And also helped me dismiss this regret of. Oh, man, I wasted some time that I could have been practicing the writing process. But anyway, there's no regrets, you know, in Christ. You know, we. In the Spirit of Philippians 3:13, it says, no, dear brothers and sisters, this is Paul. I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing, forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. And also, first John 1:9. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. And so, Lord, I just pray that if there's anyone out there dealing with this whole thing of regret, and they've been sort of in there, the quicksand of regret, they just can't move. They're just stuck, and they just find themselves sinking into that mire. Lord, I pray that they would reach up and grab your hand and allow you to pull them up out of that. That regret. And I even just picture a city, you know, if you're going through the city of regret, don't stay there, you know, keep moving forward. You don't want to stay in that city too long because it's just a paralyzing city. And Lord, I just pray that you would allow people to walk in freedom, to rest in the truth, that we can forget the past and we can actually move forward in the calling that you have for our lives. And that again, as we said previously, you can redeem the time. You can restore what the locusts have eaten. And, Lord, I even just pray regarding the previous one, the writer's block. And I connect it to First John 1:9 of if there's anything that's between us, Lord, if there's anything we need to confess, if there's Anything that's just not allowing a smooth flow of your Holy Spirit between us and you. That connection, if there's a disconnect in any way, Lord, I just pray that you'd reveal that to each of us and that we would be able to just to confess that, get it out, but then move on in freedom and the cleansing that we have in Christ. And so I just pray for each and every one of us. These writers that they've been in that city of regret, I pray that you'd allow them just to move out of there and move into their calling and excitement that that brings. And we just ask this in Jesus name.

Yes, and Lord, the picture that I got is that some, some people that are listening are. It's almost as if they've had. They received an envelope and they know there's a coupon inside, but it's been years and years and years. And so they are 100% sure that that coupon has expired, it's done, they can't use it anymore. So they don't even open the envelope to see. They don't even open it. But what they don't know is there is no expiration date on the coupon. Type that in the comments. No expiration date. And that it is now time to open that envelope. It is time to claim that coupon. It is never too late. Now is the time. And there is no expiration date on what God has for you. He can do more in one moment than we can do in a lifetime. He took Joseph from the prison to the palace in one day. He can do more in one day than you can ever imagine. And so just because it may have been months or years that have been passed and you haven't been marketing your book or writing your book or doing anything, there is something there still for you. So take that envelope right now and open it, claim that coupon, claim what God has for you, and move forward today. In Jesus name, amen.

So we're moving down the home stretch and as we mentioned, we've got 15 areas or obstacles that we are.

Thank you for hanging in here with us. It's been an hour and I knew this was going to be kind of webinar style, which I tend to do about 90 minutes in webinars. And this is a no pitch video. We won't be selling you anything, but it's probably going to be about 90 minutes. But thank you for hanging in there with us. If you're enjoying this, just let us know in the comments. We would love to Just hear your feedback on this.

Yeah. So again, we've got 15 of these, and we're now on number 11. So again, the homestretch and the 11th obstacle that we want breakthrough in is that whole area of shame.

Yeah.

And what we mean by that is, you know, if my book doesn't become a best seller, I am a failure. You know, you start saying I am a failure, and you're living again. That's another city you don't want to visit very long, is that city of shame and wallowing in shame. And Romans 8:1. So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And so, Lord, we ask that you would free us from the bondage of shame. We come against shame in Jesus name, and we proclaim the truth that there is now no condemnation in those who are in Christ Jesus. That we have been set free, footloose and fancy free, and we don't have shame.

That we're chained to, you know, almost like a dog chained in the backyard can only go so far. Lord, I just pray that you bring freedom. Let freedom ring, Lord, in the lives of every single Christian writer that is proclaiming your message and glorifying you. And we also pray in the Spirit of Proverbs 24:16. The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again. But one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked. And so, Lord, we. We claim the truth that we are part of the godly in Christ Jesus. We are.

Those people who can rise up over and over again with your help, with your strength, as you're holding your hand out and saying, come on, son, come on, daughter, get back in the race. We're not finished yet. And I just pray that shame would just fall off of each and every one of us who endeavor to write that we wouldn't wallow in any kind of failure or any kind of sense of shame. We just thank you, Lord, that we are no longer condemned and that we stand clean as blood bought citizens of heaven. And we thank you, Lord, for that truth.

Yes, I just feel like some of you have been just breathing in, like, toxic air and it's time to get out into the woods, into nature and start breathing in that fresh air again. And you know, God is the one that he gives you your identity. He gives you that freedom from the shame. And I also got this picture that, you know, the whole thing of, like, if I don't. If my book doesn't become a best seller, I'm a failure. You know, what God calls us to is obedience. Amen to God, success is obedience. And I got this picture like when I was a physical therapist, I worked in that career for 12 years before, you know, we started our own business full time in 2011. And if I showed up for work and no patients came that day, I still got paid, right? Because I showed up. And whether, you know, you're. It's a retail store, and if you come to work and nobody shows up, you still get paid because you showed up. If it's a restaurant, whatever, I mean, you may not get as many tips, but you still get your pay. And God was just showing me. It's like the issue right now is that we show up and leave the results to God, that we release that need for a certain result, that we're just obedient to do the work that he's called us to do and to leave the results to him. And so I just pray this over each other person listening in Jesus name, Amen.

Amen. So the 12th obstacle that we're overcoming and seeing breakthrough is that whole area of overwhelm. Feeling overwhelmed. You know, I feel overwhelmed with what it takes to self publish my book. And so we start seeing like this big monster growing almost. And like, it's just too big, you know, and I can't face it and I can't handle it. I'm just. I'm overwhelmed.

There's too much.

And we're gonna pray in the spirit of Isaiah 41:10. Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand. And Lord, when I picture your right hand, I'm picturing Jesus right there.

Yes.

And we are in Christ who call ourselves Christians, and we have access to your strength. And so, Lord, I pray against the spirit of overwhelm that sometimes causes us to be intimidated. And we start making excuses like, I can't do this, or it's just not going to work out, or it's just too much. Lord, I pray against that. And I pray that you would give us the right perspective. I pray that we would even see through your eyes. And I even think of the story. I believe it was Elisha and his servant that were actually looking out and, and his servant, you know, as they're looking out at this army, you know, he's just overwhelmed. He's just like, oh, my goodness. You know, there's just. There's just so many. And it was. It was like, Eli, Elisha then prayed, Lord, show him. Show him what's really out there. Open the eyes. And as he did that, there were angel armies surrounding that earthly army, and they were. They were ready to destroy the earthly army. And Lord, I just come against any principalities, any earthly type of overwhelm that wants to intimidate us. And I pray that you give us that perspective that in Christ we're able to accomplish anything.

Yes.

There is nothing too big that you can't handle. And I just pray that we'd stay connected to you and that as we do that.

We have the perspective of looking out and seeing you defending us, seeing you go before us, seeing you strengthen us. And so, Lord, would you do that with each and every one of us? Would you just remove that spirit of overwhelm and replace it with a holy confidence in our God, who is easily big enough to handle any obstacle? Thank you, Lord.

Thank you, Lord. And the picture God gave me is that it's like you're a jar. You have all this water in it, but there's this mud. And it's like you shake it up, you know, and that's, you know, like the overwhelm. It's like the shaking it up. And it's like. And then what happened? What happens? Right? It's like it gets all muddy and you can't see through the water and everything. It's. You're just stirred up. And right now I just feel like the Lord wants to allow that to settle. We just ask God that you bring your peace over this. In Jesus name.

Yes.

Just, you know, just right now, open your hands and just, even if you can, just out loud say, I receive your peace.

Take a deep breath. Deep, deep breath.

Almost picture yourself breathing out. Overwhelm. Yeah, it's just, it's. You're breathing it out.

You don't need it. It's not a part of your story.

It's.

Putting our trust in you, Lord.

And what I saw is that as you receive this piece, it's like you can just set down the jar and then you're not shaking it, but it just starts to settle. And all of a sudden the mud settles back down to the bottom and clarity comes again. And that clarity then gives you the ability to see what is your very next step? Not what are your next 100 steps. What is your very next step? It could be a five minute task. It could be a one hour task. What is your very next step? And so it removes all the things that are not for now from clouding our view. And we just see what is the very next thing. What is the very next thing? And then we have that peace to hear from God, to hear his voice. And so I just pray right now that you would receive that clarity. We're going to give you just a few seconds to ask God, what is my very next step? And if you feel comfortable, post it in the comments.

Yeah.

Jesus name we pray. Amen.

And I'm just reminded that Chinese proverb that we're all familiar with. Journey of a thousand miles begins with what? One step. And that's what we're about. One step at a time. And we're going to be able to look back at this journey and see how God led us step by step, to accomplish the work that he put on all of our hearts. And so the 13th obstacle that we are desiring breakthrough for is that whole obstacle of scarcity, having a scarcity mindset. In other words, I don't have the money to invest in writing and publishing a book. And so we sort of, you know, have that. That scarcity mentality instead of, you know, the abundance mentality that says, According to Psalm 50, 10, and 11, for all the animals of the forest are mine, and I own the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird on the mountains. Imagine that every bird and all the animals of the field are mine. And so, Lord, we pray this scripture for our own lives. We believe that you are bigger than any need that we have. You're able to accomplish anything that we need. You're able to provide. You are our Jehovah Jireh.

You are our provider. And so, Lord, I ask that each of us would have the confidence.

To know that it's you alone, you're our sustenance, you're our source. And that we begin to.

Take our eyes off ourselves and our situation and begin to put them on you and keep our gaze fixed upon you and what you're doing through us. Because we know that impossible things are going to happen through us with your help.

Amen.

But in and of our own strength, we're essentially going to accomplish things that might be good for a little while, but there's nothing as much eternal value. And, Lord, we each want to be about eternal mindset and eternity and in the things that we write. Yes, and that's why we call ourselves Christian authors. You know, Christian writers, kingdom writers of all kinds and fiction, nonfiction, poetry, short stories, essays, you name it. We want to glorify your name with our writing. So, Lord, would you remove this scarcity mentality that says I'm limited by my own resources by what I can do, Lord, would you expand our vision to realize, wow, there is nothing. I mean, the God who created the universe and every galaxy and every planet and put every star in place, that same God is certainly big enough to handle what it takes for me to invest in my writing and invest in what it takes to self publish my book. And so Lord, would you give us a bigger perspective? Would you just blow our minds.

And allow us to have that view of where you are and how you see things? Really just know that, hey, my daddy's certainly big enough. And Lord, would you just beat up every scarcity bully that the enemy tries to throw our way? And we just ask this in Jesus name?

Amen. The picture that I got when I was asking the Lord about this topic is I got a picture that many of you are standing in a room, but you have these really big blinders on that limit your view. You don't have any peripheral view and you just see what's right in front of you in the table right in front of you. And there's a few coins, just a few, not much. And you're kind of starting to freak out like how, how God, how? I don't see it because you don't see it in that very limited view. But then I saw God coming and taking off those blinders. Right now he's taking off those blinders and all of a sudden you see and you realize you're actually standing in a room of treasures. It's like I almost think of like that movie like the Goonies or some of those pirate movies, like where there's this big room of just like jewelry and gold and you know, just all diamonds and treasures. And you're surrounded by treasures that, guess what, they're yours. And they've been there the whole time. And that you're standing in this room and that you're finally able to see and realize the abundance that's available to you in Christ. And so we just pray right now that you would take off those blinders of scarcity and trust God, if he's called you to it, he will provide. Do you believe that? If you believe it, just type I believe in the comments. And we just pray this in Jesus name.

Yes. Amen. So moving on to the 14th obstacle that many times slows us down that we want breakthrough on, and that is distraction. Distraction, you know, in other words, I have so many ideas it's hard to focus or know where to start first.

Anyone else have like a million and two ideas?

Yeah, by the way write those ideas down where you're gonna find them and see them, and maybe the Lord will revisit those. But I found, and I know Shelley's found that we do our best work when we do focus on one thing at a time. And I've learned before, there's really no such thing as, you know, doing something really well when you're trying to multitask. It really takes focus.

There's even research on that.

Yeah, yeah. But Isaiah 30:21 is how we're going to pray. Your own ears will hear him right behind you. A voice will say, this is the way you should go, whether to the right or to the left. And Lord, we ask that we would hear your spirit leading us and giving us that laser beam focus, knowing which direction to take one step at a time. I just pray that more than anything, we would be focusing on you and allowing you to lead and guide our writing, ministry. And, Lord, that anything that would serve as a distraction, Lord, I pray that you would just remove those things and help us to really, again, be able to prioritize and focus on one thing at a time. And really to seek your clarity on what it is right now that you want us to focus on. You know, July 6, 2019. What do you want right now from me, Lord?

Or whatever date you're listening to this.

Yeah. And, Lord, we just ask for not only that focus, but really ears to hear and eyes to see where you're leading us. And that we would be a people that would follow you, that we wouldn't just follow every little. You know, I almost just think of.

A dog who is running loose, running wild, running. And their. Their nose is just taking them from one tree to the next or one bush or one smell to the next. And they're. They're having a great time. They're all over the place. But I almost just picture, you know, us. You know, we want to be focused and we want to, yes, enjoy the journey. We want to be about that, but we want to focus on the things that are most important in terms of what you want to accomplish through us, Lord. And so I pray that we would be able to overcome any spirit of distraction in our lives. And we ask this in Jesus name.

Yes. And, Lord, as a creative person, as a person who's creating whatever it is you're creating, many times our superpower is having vision and having ideas, and we don't want those ideas to stop. We don't want that vision to stop. That is actually part of the gift and the strength that you have given to us as creators, as creatives, as writers, and so continue to pour out your ideas. But Lord, we pray for wisdom and discernment right now in Jesus name of which are for now, which are for later, or which are just a discussion card. And I just got this picture of like that, each of you, each of us. It's like we're shopping with God in a jewelry store and we're walking by each of the display cases and, you know, discussing each of the options. This ring, this watch, this, you know, if you're a woman, earrings, necklace, you know, whatever it is. And God eventually stops and he points to the one that you will get today. And it's going to be different for every single one of you. Amen. It's going to be different, but you excitedly put it on and you can't wait to show everyone because you know, you have that peace that God has said, this is the one for right now. This is the idea to go forward with. This is the book to do right now. This is where to market right now. And you have this peace because you can come back to the same store for the next item later. The store will still be there. It's not going anywhere. And so you just have that peace that passes all understanding as you start to just work on that one thing that God has shown you for today. And we just thank you for this, Lord, in Jesus name, amen.

Amen. And so, moving now to the very last obstacle, the 15th obstacle that we want breakthrough in is physical pain. Physical pain. And when we're talking about physical pain, we're talking about health issues.

We sometimes might say, I can't concentrate on my book because I'm in pain.

And if any of you do have a health issue or pain, share that specifically in the comments and begin praying for one another too. Because we really believe that we serve a God who heals.

Yeah.

Like he is a healing God. And so we want to pray over each of you if this is something that you're. You're dealing with.

Yeah. You know, Paul, he had what he called this thorn in the side, and it says in 2nd Corinthians 12, 8 through 10, 3 different times I begged the Lord to take it away.

Yes.

And each time he said, my grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness. So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses.

Yes.

So that the power of Christ can work through me. That's why I take pleasure in my weaknesses and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ, for when I am weak, then I am strong. Lord, we. We give you all of our physical issues. We give you anything that we're dealing with that's been painful. And Lord, I just ask that if there's anyone out there who is feeling physical debilitation and you desire to heal them, Lord, I just pray that you bring healing in Jesus name. But Lord, if there are others of us who might be dealing with an issue. And man, we have prayed for years, and yet you have specifically told us, no son, no daughter, I am going to use this for my glory. I am going to use this out of your weakness, out of your ailment. There are going to be glorious things that I bring about in order to reach.

A lost and dying world that can identify with that pain, that can identify with that struggle. Lord, we give you all of these physical ailments. I even give you mental issues or.

Emotional types of distress, any of those things. Lord, we ask that you would bring healing if you will be more glorified in that. But Lord, if you will be more glorified in any of these weaknesses, just as Paul had lifted up how he begged three times and you said, hey, son, my grace is sufficient. You're going to make it. If that's your answer for us, Lord, then I pray that we would accept that with grace and peace and that we would be able to operate in such a way that we rise above that in order to accomplish what you're wanting to do through us. So, Lord, would you just do supernatural things.

In spite of any of these physical ailments or obstacles that have come our way? But Lord, would you bring healing to the person, maybe even on this broadcast right now? Would you be glorified through any healing right now that someone is dealing with and has dealt with for a long time? And we speak that healing in Jesus name, and we thank you. You are the great physician and we do thank you for.

Men and women who are doctors. We thank you for all of them. And yet we also know, Lord, that you can bring about a supernatural healing if that's what you desire as well. And so we just, we lift your name up on high in spite of anything that we might be dealing with. We ask this in Jesus name.

Yeah. Lord, we pray for healing for Pamela, who has the occasional migraine, or that you would just remove, that you would get to the core of what might be causing, that you would give wisdom to Pamela, to any doctors, and God, that you would just break that cycle, that it would end in Jesus Name and pray for Rebecca, who has head, neck, back and shoulder pain, and also Jennifer that struggles with that as well. Where we pray for from the tops of their head all the way down their spine, their neck, their shoulders, and their back, Lord, for there to be healing, God, in that. Lift the pain, Lord, almost like there's, like a cloud and you just remove that cloud. And we just pray, God, that you would even give them wisdom if there's any ergonomics, any changes in their, you know, workstation, anything, you know, anything that they need to do. But, Lord, we just ask for healing in Jesus name. We pray for Larry, who has pain in his back, hips, feet and hands, but that his greatest pain is in his heart. So we do pray, Lord, for the physical healing as well as the emotional healing for Larry right now, in Jesus name. We know that you heal the brokenhearted and you set the captives free. And we know that you are the healer. And so we just ask for you to heal Larry right now.

Yes.

And, Lord, we pray for Gwen, who has some pain in her neck and shoulders and makes it difficult to write on the computer. We just pray, Lord, that you would just break through whatever is the issue, that that's holding her back and that's causing this pain. And we just pray that you would bring healing to her in Jesus name. And I just got a picture as I was praying about this one, and it was like, each of you are in a race, and maybe those of you that do have some physical pain, it's like you got injured in the midst of that race and you're thinking, I can't finish. I can't finish what I started. I can't do all the things that God calling me to do now, you know, it's like, I'm done. And all of a sudden I saw Jesus come up and he started carrying you. And he carried you.

Yes.

Across the finish line.

Yeah.

And he, through his power, is carrying you right now. Whatever you need, wherever you're at, he is there for you. And so we just thank you, Lord, that you are our healer. You are the one that gives us what we need to cross that finish line and wherever we're at today. And we pray this in Jesus name. Amen.

Yeah. Amen. Well, we have covered 15, and what I'll do is I'll just quickly recap every single one of those.

And for those of you watching on Facebook, all of this is in the description, description of the video. For those of you listening on the podcast, it would be in the podcast notes a list of the things and then the list of the scriptures.

Yeah. So all of these 15 obstacles we covered. First one is self doubt and unworthiness. The second is comparison. The third is fear. The fourth is people pleasing. The fifth is insecurity. The sixth is procrastination.

7 Perfectionism 8 Lack of boundaries 9. Writer's block 10. Regret 11. Shame 12. Overwhelm.

13. Scarcity mindset. 14. Distraction and 15 physical pain. You know, these are just 15 obstacles that we've sensed in our own lives that can be hindrances to what God wants to do through our writing and that he wants to bring breakthrough in one way, shape or form.

It's the most common things that we hear from you.

Yeah.

So you know, we've had authoritance Academy now for over four years, moving into Christian Book Academy, been mentoring writers in some capacity for over eight years. And so we've heard these same things from you over and over again. So if any of you felt that you got a breakthrough in a certain area, we would love to hear tell us in the comments, share a testimony of anything that you felt like was like an aha moment. Maybe it was a picture that was shared or scripture that was shared. What is your takeaway from today? What kind of breakthrough did God bring to you? Because I am truly believing that whether you're watching this live today or you're watching the replay five years later that the Holy Spirit is going to work and he's going to flow through this prayer meeting to bring breakthrough for each of you in a certain area. And I know that for some of you this is going to be a turning point moment for you. And so we would love to hear your. What was your takeaway? What, what kind of breakthrough did you feel like you got today through this time? This is going to be living forever on our Facebook page and on our podcast so you can listen to it over and over and over and I will put timestamps on it so that you can go back to that specific prayer for that specific thing. If one day you're feeling self doubt, you can go specifically right to where it is and in the prayer meeting. And so this is a resource that you can come back to over and over again. You can share with people. And we want you to also join us. This is the kickoff for our breakthrough series. So we're actually going to go through. It's going to be the first 12 that we covered today. We're going to be going through those in more detail. We're going to be recording them here on Facebook Live. And then the recordings will go to our podcast, Kingdom Writers. And so set your calendars for Wednesday and Friday at 1pm Mountain, 3pm Eastern. We're going to be coming and bringing you more detailed, like, tips and training on each of these obstacles so that it's going to be more practical today. We just want to get in there and like, you know, get the initial prayer and the breakthrough and then we're going to like, you know, really go through each one in more detail. So it's really exciting. The next six weeks are going to be jam packed with helping you to really move forward as a writer. Tell the Christian writers, you know, it can be any genre, fiction, nonfiction, children's book, poetry, bloggers. I mean, it can be any writer. Tell them about this series and so that they can also get that breakthrough. And again, let us know in the comments. Share this with your friends. Thank you guys so much for being here. It always is so fun. One of my love languages, and I think CJ's too, is quality time. And so just to be here live with you and then to interact with you on an ongoing basis as you watch the replay on Facebook is so fun. And it's really been a joy to be here with you today.

And I just want to reiterate that the reason we started off with this, this whole prayer meeting is we really believe prayer is the key that will unlock those stubborn doors.

Amen.

That.

Just need to come open and that the Lord wants us to walk through in terms of our writing. And every one of us have dealt with these obstacles that we listed. But I just want to encourage all of you, just keep praying, keep coming to the Lord, keep mentioning your prayer requests. And we're a team. We're all on Team Jesus, and we want to fight for one another. We're comrades in battle and with prayer and with us allowing the Lord to go before us, nothing, nothing can overtake us. And so God bless you guys and we're excited for what's ahead.

All right, thanks guys. Bye bye.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Kingdom Writers. We believe that you, as a Christian writer, have a specific role to play in the Kingdom of Heaven to impact lives for eternity.

And because of this, we choose to pour out our lives into encouraging writers like you to not only tell your stories, but to take the courageous step of self publishing your stories in books that will outlive you and leave behind a powerful legacy. This podcast is sponsored by Christian Book Academy, where we help you give birth to your books. We invite you to join our community of Kingdom writers.