#392: Prayer and Fasting for Your Future Readers

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 Shelley 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. Foreign.

Hey Kingdom Writers, this is Shelly Hitz, one of your hosts here at the Kingdom Writers Podcast and I'm super excited to share that we have another conference coming up. This one is going to be so good. It's called Write youe Story Edition, a free one day conference to help you take the courageous step of sharing your story so you can bring your writing dreams to life and leave a lasting legacy. With we are specifically focusing more on real life stories, your nonfiction stories versus fiction stories. But we invite all of you to join us. It's free to sign up and we will have a really special offer for you with the All Access pass if you want to sign up for that. But this is gonna be on September 14, 2023. If you're listening later, you can still sign up. You can go to kingdomwritersconference.com or forward/ story and make sure to register. Get your free ticket and we cannot wait to see you there again. Go and get your ticket. Share with your writing friends to sign up@domencewritersconference.com story I wanted to talk about prayer and fasting for your future readers. My name is Shelly Hitz. I'm the owner and founder of ChristianBookAcademy.com, the host of the Kingdom Writers Podcast and the Kingdom Writers Conference. And this is a topic I think that as writers we don't often talk about and we don't often focus on. We are very focused on writing our first draft, right? Editing, doing all the things to get the book published, whether we're self publishing or traditional publishing, and then doing a big launch and marketing. And you know, there's all of these tasks and there's all of these things, but I wonder, what if we spent even 10% of our time praying? And it's almost like a tithe when we're, we're, we're investing this time into the message God's given us, into our book, into building a platform to reach people, to impact lives. Ultimately, what if we invested even 10% of that time into prayer? Now, the prayer does not have to all be focused on praying and fasting for your future readers. It can be about a lot of the other things that we talk about in the Kingdom Writers Conference Prayer edition. You know, it can be our business meetings with God. It can be prayer journaling. It can be having our prayer teams, you know, pray for us as well. I mean, there's so many other things, but what if we spent at least 10% of our time on our writing in prayer? Now, Matthew 17, you know, talks about this prayer and fasting. It's Matthew 17, verse 21. Some translations do not have this verse, but there is a verse in some translations that say, that says, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting. And fasting is mentioned many times in the Bible. And it doesn't say if you fast. It says when you fast. And so honestly, this has not been something that has been something that's been easy for me or that I have really even wanted to do. It just. It hasn't been something that, that, that, like my flesh, my flesh cries out, right? And so I understand, I understand that many of you cringing right now, or maybe there's people who just totally skipped over this topic because it's like, no, I'm not even going to go there. One of our Christian Book Academy members, Jendi Harris, said that she was, like, stuck with her book. Her book is called Chubby Church. And I mean, her book helps people break free from the bondage of food and, you know, the things that are holding them back in the area of health. And it's a powerful book. And I will tell you, I really believe the enemy did not want her to release that book into the world. She said it took for her to spend time in prayer and fasting in order for her just to find us to find Christian Book Academy and get the, the support and the coaching she needed to finish the book. And so it can truly be powerful just in the process of finishing your book. But fasting can also be powerful in getting direction and being able to move to that next step. My husband cj, we went as missionaries to the country of Belize in 2002. It's hard to believe it was so long ago now, but we were there for two years. And when we first got there, there were really no specific tasks that we were gonna do. C.J. wanted to do youth ministry. I have a degree in physical therapy. I was still licensed at that time. And so I was looking for opportunities for that. And God led CJ to pray and fast for three days to really ask God, like, what is it you have for us here and what is it that you want us to do? During that time, God gave CJ this quote, prayer is the proof we are relying on God. And he printed it out on, like, these, you know, big bold letters and taped it to. I think it was our kitchen wall in Belize. And we had that in front of us the entire time. But you, you want to know the, the best thing about this is after he spent those three days in prayer and fasting, doors began to open for both of us. First of all, for CJ he got an invitation to speak in a local school that one of our missionary friends set up. That one school having him and giving him a good recommendation. It was a well known school in the country that literally opened up doors for him to speak. I think it was over 100 schools in the entire country of Belize during our time there. Like, it gives me chills just thinking about it. And it came after that time of prayer and fasting. I also got an opportunity through a nonprofit organization. I went to a Rotary meeting with one of the missionaries and they said they were looking for a physical therapist. And they said exactly what they wanted to do. It was exactly what I've been praying that I wanted to do. And it was like God set it up. He set me up. He worked in powerful ways. But, you know, CJ and I always looked back to that time that CJ spent in prayer and fasting and that it just opened a door for God to direct us. For God then, to open doors for us. Right? And you may be wondering, like, you may be looking for doors to open for, for you, like, maybe for marketing opportunities, maybe you're wanting opportunities to be traditionally published and you're looking for, for that. Maybe you're just wanting to finish your book and you're looking for an editor to help you and you want to choose the right one. I mean, there are so many things that we could talk about, but prayer and fasting is powerful.

And, you know, the moment you set about to write a book, you're essentially waging warfare on the kingdom of darkness. And even if you're not writing a spiritual book, you yourself are a child of the king, right? You are a son or daughter of God the Father, and so you are an enemy of Satan. And we will face resistance as a creative, like all creatives, whether you're a kingdom writer or not, you'll face resistance. CJ and I face it daily. But Satan will do anything and everything to keep us from praying. He'll keep us busy listening to podcasts and trainings and, and doing all the things and trying the next thing and, and, or just getting discouraged and scrolling on Social media or binging Netflix. Right? I mean, he will do anything and everything to keep us from praying, but he trembles when he sees the weakest person on his or her knees. Jack McAllister, he was the founder of an incredible ministry called Every Home for Christ. Said men have gone to every conceivable end to find gold and diamonds and uranium.

The world's most precious resource, however, is prayer. And you know, we will go to every conceivable end to finish our book, to get it published, to launch it, to do all sorts of marketing things. But right in front of us is the world's most precious resource, and that's prayer. Jack also said, prayer is powerful, but it is not the power of a sledgehammer that crushes with one blow. It's like the power of the sun's rays or raindrops, which bless the world because there are millions of them.

And SD Gordon said the real victory in all service is won beforehand by prayer. Service is just gathering up the results. So I just want to ask you, have you even considered praying for your readers? Have you even considered praying and fasting for your readers? Because, you know, just like SD Gordon said, the real victory in all of writing, I'm gonna exchange that word, service for writing. The real victory in all of writing is won beforehand by prayer. When you are writing or as you're marketing or launching or whatever you're doing, you're just simply gathering up the results.

Right. So have you spent time praying and fasting for your book, for your readers? And this isn't a guilt trip? No. It's like an invitation into something so amazing. Ephesians 3:20 says, we can't even think or imagine what God has prepared for those who love him. And he is inviting you, kingdom writer, into something so incredible, when you partner with him in prayer, he can accomplish more in one moment than what you can strive to do in a lifetime. And that's something God keeps saying to me over and over again. I'm a redeemed workaholic. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. The Lord has really healed me and broken that in my life. But it's still that thing that sometimes I think, oh, if I just work harder, if I just do more, if I just do this in. The Lord keeps reminding me. Shelley, listen. I can do more in one moment than you can do in a lifetime. And he can open up one door, just like he did for CJ In Belize. He opened up one opportunity in one local school that our friend, our missionary friend set up and that led to a snowball of him being able to share a message in over a hundred schools, a gospel message, because there was no separation of church and state at the, at that time of Belize. And so the gospel went out, but it just took that one opportunity, that one open door. And I really again believe that it was because, you know, C.J. spent that time in prayer and fasting. So what is it that you are asking the Lord for? We usually encourage you to pray this prayer. And I think I originally heard it from Mark Batterson, but it's just a good prayer to pray. So get out a pen and paper, get out your note taking device, write down this prayer.

God. May the right reader at the right time find the right book.

And read it. May you change their lives as a result.

That's how breakthrough happens. The right person at the right time with the right message and you can word that any way you want.

But it's the right time for that person and that message and it hits them. Have you ever, has that ever happened to you? I mean, it's happened to me where I have read a book at a certain time and that was exactly what I needed at that time. And it brought breakthrough. The biggest one that I can think of is if you don't know, I had an addiction to Internet pornography. This was over 20 years ago. And know nobody was talking about it, you know, for women at the time, barely talking about it for men. And I was struggling and I went through the Bible study and read the book by Beth Moore, Breaking Free. That book for me at that time was the right book for the right person and the right time. And I read it, I applied it, I did it, and God brought breakthrough through that book. That was just one piece of the puzzle. But God did amazing things in my life. So, friend, my encouragement for you is what if you just spent 10% of your time that you invest into your writing, into praying and what if maybe just one lunch a week, you decide that you'll spend that time praying and fasting for, for your future readers? You know, you ha. You have no idea who is waiting on the other side of that prayer. You, you have no idea what one door God could open as a result of you just humbling yourself in that time of prayer and fasting. And I recently went through a training on fasting by Corey Russell and he encouraged us to say, you know, to pray this prayer when you fast. And I really have had a breakthrough myself in fasting from food recently. But he says to pray. God, I ask you for the grace of fasting upon my life, I declare that your strength is made perfect. In my weakness, I commit myself to prioritize weakness to see your strength manifested. And friends, this is what happens when we humble ourselves, when we fast from food, our bodies revolt. Our flesh says, no, our pride is no, I want food. But we are choosing to prioritize weakness because like 2 Corinthians 12, 9 says, God's strength is made perfect in our weakness. In our weakness, God manifests his strength. And so there are things that will happen that I just. I just feel like it's. It's not even. Like it's not this magic thing with fasting even. It's like it's. It's our humbling of ourselves and that in our weakness, God has the. Has the opening to come in. And Corey says fasting really can be a catalyst in our spiritual life, that God will use it to transform form us. But I believe it can also be just an incredible catalyst for seeing God work through our writing. And so I encourage you. And this is what Corey mentioned too. Like, just start with one, one lunch a week and use that time. You can pray for other things too. If you have family members, if you have physical issues, if there's other things going on in your life, pray for those things as well. But spend at least a little bit of that time praying for your future readers, praying that they would get the right book at the right time and that God would bring transformation in their lives. Pray that God would open that one door that could potentially open hundreds of doors, right? Just like CJ's story. Pray that God would protect you as you take these steps forward because you are in a battlefriend. Like you are using the gifts God's given you and you have a calling on your life. Ephesians 6 talks about the armor of God. You can pray that for the armor of God over your life, over your. Your writing, over, you know, your marketing. Spend some time praying and fasting and just see what happens. And Corey says, you know, sometimes it's not. There's nothing like miraculous that might happen in that moment, but it's like the, the effect, the after effect, right? It's like the, the effects that start to kick in afterwards. And I'll have to say, like, I started to have a breakthrough where I was able to fast without all the angst, without all the. Just the resistance and, you know, wanting to end early and all the things, because I began to change my focus. And, you know, it was. There was something I Don't know. I think for me, realizing that it's like as I humble myself and as I declare that God's strength is made perfect in my weakness, that that's when I'm going to see God begin to work. And I really believe that God is starting to do that in my own life, in a certain area that I'm in right now. And I just know there will be more testimonies to come. But let me just pray for you. God, we just thank you. We thank you that you have gifted us with the gift of writing or you've given us a message to share, you've given us a testimony, you've gifted us with the gift of teaching, whatever it is. Lord, thank you so much for what you have put into us. We are priestly pens in the hands of the author of life. And Lord, we thank you for that. We thank you that you are the one that is doing the work, that we are just the vessel, the jar of clay, to make your power known to the world. So, God, I just pray that. That if there's anyone listening right now and that. That fasting is something that they're to do, I just pray that you would just gently and kindly and lovingly invite them into this, Lord, that you would begin to do something powerful in their lives, Lord, that they look back and they think, wow. I remember that when I heard that talk at the Kingdom Writers Conference and I began to fast one lunch a week, or how, whatever it was, I began to see God move in amazing ways. So, Lord, we just. We just pray. Would you do it? Would you just do what. What only you could do, Lord, in changing lives? Lord, we cannot change a life. We cannot change a heart. But, Lord, you can. And so we pray God, that you would take our weakness and that you would manifest your strength, that you would open doors, that you would get the right person at the right time with the right book and completely change their lives because your spirit is working. So we thank you, Lord. We are dependent on you and we acknowledge that. And we pray this in Jesus powerful name. Amen. All right, friends, let me know. Let me know how it goes. If you take this encouragement and put it to action and start fasting, I would love to hear from you. And I pray that God would continue to lead and guide you in the path that he has for you.

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 of pair 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.