G4C Publications is excited to collect submissions for our next book. In this book of daily prayers, teens and young adults will have the opportunity to pray about subjects that are important and relatable to them. Would you prayerfully consider writing for this book?
We accept authors of all ages from all over the world. It doesn’t matter if you’re a professional writer or if this is the first time you’ve ever submitted anything for publication; we want YOU. Since there will be many writers contributing to this book, it’s important that we have some consistency between each prayer, so please read these guidelines to know what to submit:
Step One: Pick a topic. Prayer topics need to be both broad and specific at the same time. Is that possible? Sure it is! In other words, imagine a teen reading it. (Think of several teens you know- you can even ask them to read your prayer before submitting it.) Can they totally relate to what you wrote? Do you think that will be true of every teen who reads it? Below are a few topics that today’s teens relate to, but you can choose another topic if you truly believe it will have a personal connection to teen readers.
Friendship
Backstabbing
Family
Death
Illness
Environmental Issues and Being Green
Work
School
Money
The Opposite Sex
Church
Who God Is
Learning New Things
Celebrations
Sin
Siblings
Parents
The Future
Fear
Worry
Global Issues (Orphans, Trafficking, Hunger, etc.)
Local Issues
Volunteering
Classmates
Peer Pressure
How Others View Christians
Goals
Politics
Purity
Personal Time with God
Evangelism
Loneliness
Media
Health
Disabilities
Belonging
Cliques and Clubs
Role Models
Chores
Rules
Temptations
Mental Health
Step Two: Write a verse. We don’t want to publish anything that is not biblically sound. That means the prayer you write should be based on scripture. At the top of your submission, write the verse that you’ll base your prayer off of. Yes, we will be publishing these verses along with the prayers, so prayers cannot be accepted if they don’t have a theme verse!
Step Three: Write 150-250 words of prayer. Here are three of those words: always start with “Dear God” and end with “Amen”. The middle part is up to you. This might go without saying since you’re writing a prayer, but please prayerfully write. Think over the words you put down, and ask someone to read it over or even actually pray it if you’re not sure. We’ll only be publishing the top quality submissions, so consider writing more than one draft.
Step Four: Draw readers to Christ. These are just a few details to consider in your writing, but the heart of every prayer is to draw closer to God. That means don’t write things that will be divisive, offensive, boring, inappropriate (for YA readers), over-spiritualized, unachievable, or otherwise unrealistic.
Step Five: At the bottom, add your name and a 25-50 word bio. The bio should start with your name and be written in third person. If you do not include this, we will assume that you are wishing to submit anonymously.
Step Six: Send it in to Girlz4Christ@yahoo.com!
Example
“Pray continually.” 1 Thessalonians 5:7
Dear God,
It’s kind of a miracle in itself that I’m trying to communicate with you right now. I can talk with my friends easily enough. I can even talk with my family. (Although I’ll admit that talking with them sometimes means fighting.) Why is it so hard to talk with you? Is it because I can’t see you? Is it because talking with you requires this formal procedure called prayer? Is it because I’m intimidated to approach the God of all creation, or because I’ve heard others praying who are so much better at talking to you than I am?
Help me to break down any walls and overcome any barriers that keep me from talking to you. I should be willing to pray to you since you’re so willing to listen to me. In fact, from what I’ve read in the Bible and heard at church, it seems like you enjoy our conversations! You care about me as an individual and want to have a personal relationship with me, and communication is key to any good relationship, so it only makes sense that I keep in touch with you as much as possible.
Amen
Jessica Lippe is a writer and editor who has authored six books, including Uncommon Adventures and The Ultimate Survival Guide for Working at Camp. Visit her website at JessicaLippe.com
Girlz 4 Christ 