Have you ever felt fear about publishing your words in a book? Whether you write nonfiction or fiction it can feel like a daunting task. And many times fear stands in our way like a bully trying to get us to quit.
In this episode of our Breakthrough series, CJ and I are going to help you as Kingdom Writers overcome this obstacle of fear. What makes this series different than most training for writers is that we integrate the powerful combination of Scripture and prayer to help you breakthrough the obstacles holding you back.
Interact with us as you watch the video here.
Prefer YouTube? Watch on YouTube here.
Prefer podcasts? Listen on iTunes here.
Notes from this episode:
2 Timothy 1:7-8 – “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. 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. With the strength God gives you, be ready to suffer with me for the sake of the Good News.”
- Satan tries to intimidate us in order to prevent something good from happening, or even beginning.
- Sometimes we need to ask ourselves, “What’s the worst thing that can happen if I share my story?” Or “What’s the best thing that can happen?”
- You don’t need to share all the details. Focus on the hope and healing you’ve found.
- Remember who you’re writing for. Your story is specifically tailored to help individuals around the world who need encouragement and someone they can relate to.
- Use content from your journals so you’re not starting from a blank slate.
- Healthy fear drives us to lean even more on the Lord. Example: nervousness before speaking
- Pray! Have a small, private prayer team that can support you (example from Broken Crayons Still Color)
- Nehemiah and exiles who returned to rebuild the wall. Opposition to this project tried to scare & intimidate. Nehemiah 4:1-15
- Just because you have a story doesn’t mean you’re supposed to tell it. Ask God for it; pray and ask Him. Pray and He’ll show you what you’re to share and what you’re not to share.
- Ultimately Jesus is the main character of our story. It’s not about us. It’s about glorifying Him.
Revelation 12:11 – “And they have defeated him (devil) by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die.”
Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. (John 8:32)
The truth:
2 Timothy 1:7-8 – “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. 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. With the strength God gives you, be ready to suffer with me for the sake of the Good News.”
Prayer to Conquer the Fear of Sharing your Story
Transcript of the prayer:
The third obstacle 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 are layers and layers, right?
So, the specific area of fear that we’re looking at today is the fear of sharing your story. This whole idea that I’m too scared to share the details or that my story doesn’t really matter. Maybe some of you think that your testimony isn’t that exciting?
Whatever it is regarding this whole fear factor, we’re going to pray in the spirit of 2 Timothy 1:7-8.
“Lord, your word says, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity but of power, love, and self-discipline.
Lord, we ask that you would remove all fear in Jesus’ name. The fears of sharing our story or the minimalizing that we do with our story and the idea 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 spirit of power, love, and self-discipline. 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, and wants to get us to shy away from sharing our story.
We come up 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 you to download that power into each of us who have a story to share in written form or perhaps in spoken form, 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. I pray that you would use it to the maximum degree and that the enemy would be on the run constantly because of our story.
In the spirit of Revelation 12:11, which says, “And they have defeated him by the blood of the lamb and by their testimony. They did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die.”
Lord, we know that one of the ways we can overcome the enemy is sharing our testimony, our story and getting that out so that you might be glorified through what you’ve done in our lives. I ask that you would give people boldness to share their testimony. As we do that, we thank you Lord for the promise that we overcome.
The enemy knows he can’t overcome the blood of the lamb. That’s why he constantly works to ruin our testimony and to even drive fear into us. We speak against that in Jesus’ name. We thank you.
Lord, I pray for fiction writers, for nonfiction writers, for children’s book authors right now. Whatever their story is, whether it’s a testimony, a fiction story, children’s book or young adult, we pray right now that you would run swiftly. Lord, through these writers, help them have the courage to share their written stories, whether it’s fiction or nonfiction.
The picture that I had was that each of you as a writer, you’re right now on a battlefield. And 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 God as being your shield. 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 because the shield is so big. It covers you completely.
God is your shield. He is your refuge; Your safe place and He will protect you as you step out 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. The one that is your refuge. Allow Him to be your shield and to deflect any arrows that the enemy may send your way. We pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.”
Free Download: 15 Prayers for Christian Writers
Download the PDF transcript of all 15 Prayers for Christian Writers, here:
https://www.trainingauthors.com/breakthrough/
Share Your Breakthroughs
Share what impacted you from this post and any breakthroughs God gave you as a result in the comments below.
Leave a Reply