bennylin0724 via photopin (cc)A Prayer Before Writing for Academia
Post Author: McKinna Daugherty
God Above All Things,
In these moments while the document loads and my fingers rest on the keyboard grant me first an emptiness.
Remove the to-do list that waits impatiently in the corner of my mind.
Quiet the voice saying, “You’re not ready, you’re not good enough, you don’t have anything to say.”
Shield me from the imagined judgmental gaze of my advisor.
Grant me first an emptiness, an openness, a mind unchained by anxiety.
Grant me then a fullness. Where insecurity lurks, pour out confidence and curiosity.
Where there is fatigue, fill me with generosity and energy. Where there is fear, fill me with courage.
Shelter me in your strength and quiet the world around me.
For these few hours grant me peace and solitude in my thoughts.
Bless this mind you’ve given and help me use it fully. Help me seek and push the limits of my abilities.
Remind me that I have read enough, I have enough, I am enough,
and with time this paper will come to a place where it, too, is enough (at least for now).
In Your name I pray,
Amen.
McKinna Daugherty is a commissioned minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and will be ordained this August. She will graduate in June with an M. Div from the University of Chicago Divinity School where she has studied as a Disciples Divinity House Scholar. Her thesis is an ethical constructive of sexuality education curriculums in Protestant contexts. In her current ministry she serves as the Chapel Coordinator for the Divinity School’s multi-faith prayer service, and is actively seeking her next ministry context.
Image by: bennylin0724 via photopin (cc)
Used with permission
Ashley Updegraff
May I post the prayer, with author credit. Linamlambert@gmail.com
Hi Lina! Yes, you may post this prayer with proper attribution! All of the articles submitted to Fidelia are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License, meaning you must attribute it to the author and indicate if changes were made. We’d also love it if you link back to us!
Thank you for this prayer, I needed it, brought me to tears as I ask the Lord to grant me emptiness.
Thank you McKinna for your Prayer Before Writing for Academia.
I am four months away from submitting my doctoral thesis. All through the time of writing each academic paper, I have been building a structured methodology that helps me soak my writing in prayer. Over the last few months, you prayer has found a special place in that flow. I am working on a difficult journal paper at the moment, needing clarity and vision that my supervisor cannot give me – actually, it is not his job to do that anyway.
The line in your prayer “Shield me from the imagined judgmental gaze of my advisor” rings so true for me; my supervisor is my strongest supporter but I have this dread of him and his feedback which is unreasonable. When my writing fails to live up to the standards demanded of it, I kind of feel like I have somehow failed God, failed to follow his advice somehow. However, I know writing is a journey. Your wise words have helped so much to put this work in a much better perspective. Thank you so much.
regards,
Badger
I absolutely needed this prayer. I have been writing my final project and have had so many moments when I thought this is getting no where. But reading this prayer has given me new hope and belief that I will get to the finish line.
Thank you so much for sharing this post! Just what I needed early in the morning… Prayers well received.
May we use your prayer with credit in a lesson on educational research on our website at ps78teachers.org. ?
Absolutely!
Thank you for this prayer as I have been feeling defeated by my Masters research been trying to complete since 2015 with much personal and academic difficulties. Thank you once again.
Just what I needed as I face an assignment (as a very mature student).
Thank you SO much for taking the time to write and post this prayer. It is just what I needed, and this is exactly how I feel inside. Again, thank you so much. God bless you and may He show you His goodness today.
Thank you, McKinna. Beautifully and necessarily worded–and a balm for my soul as I burn the midnight oil to meet a deadline for an article for publication.
A very energizing and soothing prayer at the same time.
May I use your prayer with credit in a blog post?
Yes!
Good morning and Thank you for sharing a wonderful and much needed prayer for me. I am taking a course that requires more reading and papers to write than I expected. I cry when I have to write and submit my papers. Now it’s midterm and i need to write papers on what I learned and also make comments on the others that are in the group!! I know God lead me here to read your prayer and read the others comments. Paper is due Wednesday morning, pray for me
Thanks
Thanks so much for this, really blessed me this morning! The imagined judgement gaze of my supervisor really got me.
Oh my gosh, thank you so much for this prayer. I almost started crying when I read this. What you said in your prayer was exactly what happens to me. I am so afraid when writing a paper…and the realness of it, while waiting for the document to load, made it so much more personal than anything else I have read. My anxiety about papers keeps me from doing them, and then get poor grades. Thank you.
I feel exactly the same way, Kateri! I came across this in a desperate google search for some source of encouragement. Thank you so much for writing and sharing this McKinna!!!! Praying for all who need inspiration from the Holy Spirit right now in their writing!
I needed this prayer so badly. I have been so sad, and I have felt so insecure and nervous. Thanks!
Got an assignment due in 12 hours… This is just what I needed to still my beating heart. Thank you and God bless!
McKinna Daugherty, did you write this prayer for writers? It is beautiful. Thank you for sharing.
I may have found this a little late, but this is JUST what I needed! Thank you!
This is just what I need. Thank you so much for this beautiful prayer.
Beautiful, McKinna! Thank you for posting this!