Posted on by Cindy Sigler Dagnan

Before the Lord

Hezekiah is helpless. His nights have been sleepless; his days worried and stressed. And now this—an ugly letter full of threats and taunts from Sennacherib, King of Assyria. He has nowhere to turn, except to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the One who can do something about it.

He walks up to the temple, spreads the pages out before the Lord and bends low, hands spread out in petition.

“Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it.

Then he went up to the temple of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD.

And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD: ‘O LORD, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God…deliver us from his [Sennacherib’s] hand so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God.’” II Kings 18:14,15,19

The powerful example of this story affected me profoundly. I have since followed King Hezekiah’s example with various things that overwhelm me. Things I know I cannot possibly handle on my own: the endlessly large parade of medical bills following my husband’s recent kidney transplant; a painful letter from someone; a letter from a reader who is hurting, sharing with me, and who wants my prayers and advice.

And for the past seven years, I’ve also applied this to my writing as well. I have prayed over rejection letters and hopeful queries. Before I submit a piece, a proposal, or publishable material – paper pieces of my heart – I spread the pages out (or place my hand on the computer screen) and petition God to guide these pages into the right hands.

I ask Him for the right eyes to read this work.

For my agent to have wisdom and discernment on where my writing would be best sent.

For both my agent and me to have diligence and determination without undue discouragement.

For readers’ hearts to be touched.

For me to write to His glory alone, every word committed to Him.

For me to honor God with my every written word, my every action, my every thought. After all, what I want more than anything is for my writing to help “all kingdoms on earth to know that He alone is God.”

And then, I hit send, or carefully slide the manuscript into an envelope and seal it, trusting God for the outcome.

How do you commit your writing to God?

9 Replies to “Before the Lord”

  1. Cindy, I love this story, especially in reference to us writers. I do pray over my work, but this gives it a whole new perspective. Thanks so much for sharing! I also pray over the work of my fellow agency mates. 🙂

  2. Melissa — what a great idea! I pray for my WordServe colleagues, but hadn’t thought to do it for their specific submissions. God knows what they are, so I will endeavor to include that!

  3. Pingback: TRUST IN THE LORD | Words Rhymes and Rhythm

  4. Cindy, thank you for this post! I do pray over my work, but I also forget! Many time I’ll be struggling with wording or a paragraph until — duh— I remember to stop and petition the throne. I’ve seen the kinks iron out time and again because He is faithful. Love that Jesus, our ever present Help!

  5. This is so good, Cindy…I’m going to print your specific prayer requests and make them mine (if that’s okay). Even though these prayers are synonymous with my feelings about my work, I will specifically pray this way from now on. You were a blessing to me today!

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