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1. Intimacy. The main purpose of this journey is for you and I first to wrap ourselves up in writing to Him. Not for this group, the bloggy world, or for any audience other than an audience of one.
The One. So you can blog and share links but it is not mandatory or anything. However I know we are bloggers, it’s what we do. I will leave this for you to decide- to blog or not to blog…
(Let me know if you want me to add Link Up or if it’s just fine to share our thoughts/links in the comments)
2. Community. The second portion of the equation is to come together in community and share about the journey and process and to support and encourage one another here as we feel comfortable and led. Not out of compulsion. Consider this a place of grace- landing ground, springboard and place to embrace grace…and one another.
Intimacy with God fosters intimacy with others and ultimately leads to authenticity in relationships. But this journey is for you and the Lover of your soul first and foremost.
This journey will be unique to you, even though we are all writing from the same prompts.
Whether you are a seasoned writer, or a beginner desiring to put your heart on paper- I want you to ask God to take your hand and lead you on the path He has for you during the journey.
Schedule/
Welcome & Intro. 2/20-2/26 Days 1-7
Week 1. 2/27-3/5 Days 8-14
Week 2. 3/6-3/12 Days: 15-21
Week 3. 3/13-3/19 Days: 22-28
*Week 4. 3/20-3/23 Days 29-32; Palm Sunday through Wednesday (3/24-3/27) from Prayers and Prompts for Holy Week
*Week 5. Maundy Thursday through Easter Sunday (4/1-4/2) from Prayers and Prompts for Holy Week; Days: 33-34
Week 6. 4/3-4/9 Days 35-40
*Note the book uses “days” not pages -Holy week is a marked section that follows the 40 days in back of book. I hope all this makes sense. If anything seems awry just let me know!
I did have to adjust the date once I matched the prompts to the calendar.
Our last gathering here will be April 10th.
We are off on this journey…
I look forward to seeing you each Wednesday!
Now I am off to bed, and I look forward to my first prompt for Day 1, appropriately titled Caffeine!
If you have any questions or thoughts to share today, I will be dropping in and out with a cup of coffee between Home-school to check inhere. Oh and if you move ahead, or lag behind, please still join us here!
“In the space of Writing for God, give yourself the freedom to pray without judgement and to be creative with words as you converse with the Word Made Flesh.”
~ Rachel Hackenberg
Dear Lord, I do praise you the Living Word…who became flesh and dwelt among us. I do pray for each of those who are joining on this journey, that they might grow in intimacy with you during these next weeks. That you would bring fresh vision, insight and clarity, breathing new breath into stagnant places. Wake us up, Lord. Shake us up. Remind us of the early days, when we were filled with the excitement and wonder of your love, grace and mercy. Let our faith be new, fresh and tender again. Soften us where we need softening, refine us in the fires of your truth that we may shine brighter, in the darkest days. Breathe, a fresh breath of faith into our hearts, Lord as we humbly seek your face.
I ask that each one would keep this special time of writing simple, and uncomplicated.
A holy, intimate time with you, whether 5, 10, 15 or 20 minutes or anywhere between and beyond. Let them not worry about penmanship, grammar or getting it all right but instead let pen and heart unite. Draw close to each one. Thank you for all you will do.
I ask in Jesus Name, Amen.
Enthusiastically, Dawn 
15 responses to “Writing to God { Welcome & Introduction}”
I'm actually a day ahead. I was afraid I was behind so I started yesterday. I will just hold up on tomorrow's so I'll be on the same day as everyone.Can I just say that I LOVED Day 1?! The idea of God as my caffeine, that which gets me going in the morning is a good one for me as I am so not a morning person at 4:00 A.M.The reflections, scriptures, and prompts are great and give me a jump start on writing. I usually write a lot of my prayers anyway, but this gives me some focus and I feel like they are more…powerful? centered?…well, more something.I ended my Day 1 prayer with this: Breathe life, true, everlasting life into the farthest, deepest corners of my soul. Sweep through like the Spring winds, refreshing and clearing away dust, staleness, and darkness. Refresh my soul. Make me as excited as I once was. Create in me an endless hunger for you that I may FEAST on prayer and scripture. Fill my days and nights with the wonder of you, that you, my God in Heaven, would be all my soul requires to quicken and shout for joy!I think it's going to be an amazing 40 days. 🙂
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Adding an “Amen” to your prayer, Stacy! (Also, “Caffeine” is still one of my favorite prayer titles in the book.)
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Thank you, Rachel…and yes, I think it's the best title,too. 😉
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I read the intro and I'm ready to go 🙂
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Stacy, I knew you were kicking at the gates to run with this- what a wonderful start! I love the idea of God as the caffeine that gets you going and I really appreciated the way Rachel explores the prompt with her pen. Ironically my writing was not caffeine related at all as I thought it would be…I was really prompted strongly by the scripture in Ezekiel. I felt led to pray for those dry bones God revealed in my life…Blessed by you here, Stacy! I know it's going to be totally amazing , indeed!
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I prayed over those dry bones, too, Dawn. God led me through that valley and showed me the dead things in my life.I wish there was more than one of these a day! lol
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I thought for sure you would just blow through the first week…lol. When you said you were holding back I smiled as I can sense this is a great connect for you- what self control! Plus we are alike like that! I felt I could have written longer but decided to put the pen down and focus on my praying as I usually pray with the pen and go on and on in the journal. I am hoping that the boundaries of a page will help me with more focused praying. Well, He is faithful and will meet us and guide us- so just take it as you feel led. But one day at a time. 😉
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I am too late to jump in as I am struggling with reading through the lent study I choose a few weeks ago. You are doing some beautiful things in this space. I am looking forward to reading your posts. Please pray for me. My creativity is not flowing and I am discouraged as a writer. It's hard for me to rest and not write, but in this season, I can't seem to do anything else. Hugs!
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Barbie, I will continue to pray for you for sure. Thank you for your kind words. Praying. Sending Cyber hugs, wrapped in prayer.
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Dawn- Thank you for this place to dialogue with others about our journey in Writing to God. “Caffeine” is such a memorable prayer…I hear the refrain in my heart…”Wake up! Wake up, my soul…” whenever I feel like going back to sleep spiritually…winter often is a time when I want to check out or hibernate…so I like how the prayer encourages us to stretch and savor the season…the biggest challenge was to “shake off your routines…” I like routines, that make me feel safe, but sometimes they can be drudgery, so I appreciate the challenge to shake it up a bit…I have been staying home a lot and I feel the Beloved inviting me to get out and explore the town we live in…to imagine I'm a writer in a foreign city to keep the creative juices flowing…so that's the prayer's impact today…also I am combining this writing to God with Love Letters to God. I have posted some of those musings over at http://www.nourishsoul.blogspot.comI could go on and on…but I want to hear how others have been inspired or challenged…until next Wednesday. Kel
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Kel, I so agree- I loved that prayer. And you are so right…we need to shake things up. Let the old be new- fresh! Now I am thinking of a hot cup of brew, after all!
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Stacy, after you work your way through the book this Lent, drop me an email via my website — rachelhackenberg[dot]com/contact — because I continue to write new prayer prompts and distribute them via email!
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I don't remember where I read it, but someone wrote “I think that maybe it makes God a little sad when we don't acknowledge Him in the morning.. He is why we wake up. We open our eyes each morning because He wants us to..”I love the first prayer in the book!
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Oooo, Rachel….it will be like Christmas right after Lent!
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God is truly the only caffeine I need. He keeps me fueled for this daily race called life.
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