I wrote the following prayer on May 12, 2021 and kept it at the front of this binder, home to every jotted and typed out thought that ultimately became my debut novel, Unbridled Trust (originally titled Trust in Me):
My Father,
You are the most creative, the most beautiful, the most glorious.
How many times have I surrendered my writing and my book to You? I've lost count, but You haven't. I've told You I don't want to write or speak about anything that I'm not learning or willing to learn myself. I want to write from my heart, from the places You have healed and the places You are healing. From my fears and disappointments, and from the lies that You are shattering with Your truth. Anything short of Your redemptive story is not worth pursuing.
Besides surrendering the work of my hands and creative mind, I dedicate this book that we've titled (at least for now) Trust in Me. I give myself, my time, and my efforts to You, Lord, for Your purposes and plan. This book belongs to You just as I belong to You. My writing is for Your glory alone.
I'm choosing to believe that You have placed a calling on my life, that You are preparing and training me for this calling through my writing. This is why I write. I choose not to shy away from my assignment, whatever it may be. I choose to step into the greatness that I'm destined for through Your grace, and Jesus's love, and the power of the Holy Spirit.
Christ in me, I will do the work required to master the craft of writing. And I will seek help from others. I will seek community.
Lord Jesus - I pray for the future readers of Trust in Me. I'm told that I'm supposed to figure out my "ideal" reader - that one person I'm writing for. You know how difficult that has been for me.
I write for You, and I also write for the people who will one day hold my book in their hands. You are intimately acquainted with each of the readers, just like You are intimately acquainted with me.
Right now, Holy Spirit, I pray You would touch their lives, bless them, prepare them to receive your truth through the pages of this book. May they find healing. May they discover lies that they've agreed with and exchange them for Truth. I pray to inspire and challenge.
I see a reader cuddled in a chair, my book in her hands. While she reads the words printed on the page, she's hearing Your voice. There's a connection, and she's no longer holding a book but a treasure. She closes it and hugs it to her chest, not wanting to let it go.
I pray You will satisfy the souls of readers through the pages of my book. Lord, I give myself to You. Pour into me so I may pour into others through Kennedy and Dag and Lucy and Sam and Terra.
I pray this prayer of dedication in the mighty name of Jesus.
Amen. Let it be so.
P.S. July 4, 2023: This prayer is now at the front of Book #2's binder!