Please Pray for Me
Please Pray for Me
Praying requires effort, and I appreciate yours
Today, I write and ask YOU to keep me in your prayers. I do not ask you to pray for me lightly. I know it takes effort to pray, and I really appreciate you praying for me.
So much goes into launching a blog and a website — at least the way I have chosen to do it. Sometimes, bloggers know they want to blog, but they are not sure what they want to write about. In that respect, I was fortunate because I have always known what I want to talk to you about — I want to talk to you about prayer, and more importantly, I want to encourage you to pray.
Climbing a steep learning curve
So, unlike some bloggers, I did not need to hone in on a communication concept, BUT also unlike some bloggers, I had no technical background. I didn’t even know the difference between a website and a blog. (For those of you who don’t know, there isn’t much difference . . . as near as I can tell a blog simply has a scrolling page, and the writer uses a series of posts to communicate to her readers — ideally, on a consistent schedule. Oftentimes, blogs are contained within a website. A website has static web pages that can be edited or changed but they do not scroll. My Fervent Prayers is a blog within a website). I digress.
Can someone tell me what all those initials mean?
Again, I didn’t even know the difference between a blog and a website. I did know how to turn on my computer — most days, and I had been using a word processing program since college. That was pretty much the extent of my knowledge base related to blogging. Very early on, I took a six-month digital marketing course to learn about all those initials: SEO, PPC, CPC, SERP, CTR, et al. I also learned about content marketing and permalinks and social media marketing. The learning curve was steep, but I knew and still know that I must learn the tools of the trade — as they exist today. If I do not, then I can write all I want, but I will have an audience of one because no one will find my writings.
Parting with my quill pen
As I climbed the very steep digital marketing learning curve, I thought about early writers, such as Thomas Jefferson, who wrote with a quill pen, and I felt a deep connection with them because I felt like I was just about as out of date as they would be if they tried to be a writer in today’s world; nevertheless, as I suspect they would do if they were here, I persevered, and I continue to persevere because things change everyday. My quill pen has been put to rest.
Good attorneys don’t represent themselves: the legal matters
Being an attorney, I next turned my attention to all the legal matters of setting up an organization: trademarks and copyrights and various other matters. Even though I am an attorney, I didn’t practice in the area of trademarks or copyrights, and so I had another, though smaller, learning curve.
Scaling the mountain of learning website design
Next, I came to terms with the fact that if I were going to start a website/blog, then I needed to choose a host and actually create a site. I tried hiring someone to build the site for me, but I apparently was not able to communicate the look I was trying to achieve. Ultimately, I decided I would have to build the site myself. Hmmmm. There was no learning curve here. The learning curve was a mountain that I needed to scale — and I am still climbing it.
Branding isn’t just for cattle ranches inWyoming
As I began creating the site, I learned that I needed to do what is called branding. Branding allows your readers to connect with you and get to know you and your concept. I began thinking about creating a logo. I wanted the logo to communicate the purpose of the My Fervent Prayers endeavor. Being more of a writer than an artist (much more of a writer!), I held a design contest to create a logo for My Fervent Prayers.
Along with creating a logo, I had to envision and put into practice a brand palette which included choosing colors and fonts and templates. In addition to choosing the elements of the My Fervent Prayers brand kit, I also needed to learn a software package that would allow me to use the brand palette to create graphics and manipulate photos to build the site, maintain the blog, and do social media.
I thought I was supposed to be writing about prayer, God
Before, during, and after the time I was learning all of these tools of the trade, or as I took short breaks from learning and doing them, I was actually trying to do a little writing about prayer. I began penning the initial chapters for a book I hope to publish soon. My To Do List had and still has the potential to be overwhelming — even though I love what I am doing!
Please pray for me and for My Fervent Prayers
As I sit here today, working on the next blog post, I tell you all this information to give you insight and to ask you to pray for me as I continue to launch this endeavor. I really want to encourage you to pray, and I really want to help you get the prayer life you want to have . . . AND I really believe that the Adversary does not want My Fervent Prayers to be successful. Satan trembles when Christians pray. He definitely doesn’t like it when one Christian encourages another to pray.
Satan will use any tactic he can to thwart the success of My Fervent Prayers
In the realm of spiritual warfare, the Adversary uses many tactics. He likes to tell me and other Christian writers that we ought to just give up because our endeavors will never be successful. He likes to tell us that we have no writing skills, and we have nothing to say that anyone would want to read. I imagine he likes to put fear in the hearts of other Christians writers, both established and aspiring, that a new writer could be a threat to their enterprise. The enemy Adversary will use any tactic he can to keep a writer from encouraging people to pray or know and serve God better.
Our God is greater than our adversary. Please pray.
Please pray for me to keep the faith and do what I feel God has called me to do. Please pray that other Christian writers will come alongside me and encourage me and help me navigate the sometimes murky waters of blogging and speaking. Pray that I will be an encouragement to them as well. I covet your prayers.
In the meantime, I am already praying, and I will continue praying for you as a reader of my blog. I am happy to report that some readers have already contacted me with prayer requests. If you have a specific request, please use the “Get in Touch” page (click here or on the button in top navigation menu) to send me your request.
Thank you for reading. Thank you for praying.
Blessings,
Robyn
