Over the past year I have had the opportunity to be part of the Pray Now Writing Group. For those of you not in the know, "Pray Now" is a daily prayer resource published by St Andrew's Press, and those who form the writing group are ministers in and members of the Church of Scotland.
When I was first approached I wasn't sure if this was for me, but up for a challenge I thought I would give it a go.
A year on, and beginning to write for "Pray Now 2013", I still find the process a challenge. Writing for worship is entirely different from writing material that other people may use for prayer. When you write for worship, it is likely that it will only be you who will use it, and so right up until the moment when the words are spoken there is an opportunity for inspiration to whisk you in another direction.
However I've found learning this new process energising of the kind of worship I would hope to create. Writing Group meetings, where we have looked over each others' work, have been encouraging experiences. Criticism has been blended with what it is we like of another's writing, and often I have found myself inspired to look at a Biblical passage in a new way because of something someone else has written. The Group have been very kind to my strange habit of ending up with more writing than I need, and have suggested we should create an "out-take" book just for all the pieces that didn't make it out of the folder and onto a page to be shared.
Never having had my work published before, I'm quite excited. I see from Facebook today that "Pray Now 2012" can now be purchased on-line. Should you buy a copy, I hope you find something that offers you an encounter with the Spirit wrestling inside you.
http://www.standrewpress.com/Products/290-pray-now-2012.aspx
