Do you put off doing things because you don’t believe you can do them? Do you have half-written manuscripts waiting to be finished? What about ideas that you’ve tucked away – somewhere? Has an editor or agent you met at a conference requested your manuscript, but you’ve never gotten around to finishing and submitting it?
Yes, procrastination is a very real foe, but I am convinced the real reason we procrastinate is because we don’t believe we can do something. And actually, that’s true! We need God’s enabling to do the work He calls us to do. The key is knowing what He is calling us to do. The Living Bible paraphrase of Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do everything God asks me to do with the help of Christ who gives me the strength and power.”
It comes down to faith – to believing in the One who calls us and choosing to say “yes, Lord, here am I.”
I want to encourage you to read aloud the “Writer’s Statement of Faith” below. You may need to read it aloud several times a day. I know I do! I also want to encourage you to watch this video of pre-teen Jackie Evancho singing “To Believe.” Yes, Father, help us to believe that we really can make a difference and bring peace – Your peace – to our troubled world.
A Writer’s Statement of Faith
I have strength for all things in Christ Who Empowers me-I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength in me, [that is, I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency]. Phil. 4:13 amp
Are you called to help others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies, so that God will be glorified. 1 Pet. 4:11 TLB
[Not in my own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in me – energizing and creating in me the power and desire – both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight. Phil. 2:13 AMP
My strength must come from the Lord’s mighty power at work within me. Eph. 6:10 TLB
In Him in every respect I am enriched, in full power and readiness of speech (to speak of my faith), and complete knowledge and illumination (to give me full insight into its meaning). 1 Cor. 1:5 AMP
Now I have every grace and blessing; every spiritual gift and power for doing His will are mine during this time of waiting for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Cor. 1:7 TLB
I actually do have within me a portion of the very thoughts and mind of Christ. 1 Cor. 2:16 TLB
I can be a mirror that brightly reflects the glory of the Lord. 2 Cor. 3:18 TLB
I will commit everything I do to the Lord. I will trust Him to help me do it and He will. Ps. 37:5 TLB
I will lean on, trust and be confident in the Lord with all my heart and mind, and choose not to rely on my own insight or understanding. Prov. 3:5 AMP
I will commit my work to the Lord, then it will succeed. Prov. 16:3 TLB
Sharing Christ is my work, and I can do it only because Christ’s mighty energy is at work within me. Col. 1:29 TLB
I will be strong and courageous and get to work. I will not be frightened by the size of the task, for the Lord my God is with me; He will not forsake me. He will see to it that everything is finished correctly. 1 Chron. 28:20 TLB
I need to keep on patiently doing God’s will if I want Him to do for me all He promised. Heb. 10:36 TLB
I m convinced and sure of this very thing, that He Who began a good work in me will continue until the day of Jesus Christ – right up to the time of His return – developing [that good work] and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in me. Phil. 1:6 AMP
His mighty power at work within me is able to do far more than I would every dare to ask or even dream of – infinitely beyond my highest prayers, desires, thoughts or hopes. Eph. 3:20 TLB
From Write His Answer – A Bible Study for Christian Writers. For more excerpts, click here and scroll to the bottom of the page.
Words of power . . . thank you, Marlene . . . an encourager of many, we appreciate you!
These are literal pats on my back—-some pats high up encouraging me to
keep Writing His Word and some hearty pats to ‘get me to ‘gitten’…..thants for
both. Prayers and a hug Marie C. Senter
Thank you Marlene . . . AGAIN you encourage me . . . AGAIN you help our Lord to lift me up. The exigencies of life just now give me precious little time to Write His Answer . . . but you remind me through these beautifully written messages that HE has, indeed, called me to write . . . and so, I WILL.