The David Lee Martin Show - Daily Encouragement For Christian Creatives

Pray is so serious we need to know the value of play and experimentation to learn it well.

Is there a place for "play" in prayer? I think so...

Sonship is a whole realm of deep revelation. As with each of the ‘upgrades' we're covering every one of them would take a lifetime of study to comprehend and an eternity to experience. Knowing the Father is revolutionary. Consider the prayer path Jesus laid out to His early disciples. What profoundly simple words do we begin with? “Our Father…”

Your Heaven-born citizenship gives you bold entrance to the halls of Heaven in the same way that my British passport allows me to freely come and go in my natural-born homeland here on planet earth. The rights and privileges this new conversation afford you are infinite in scope.

What eyes do you see the world through?

Never underestimate the part that curiosity plays in prayer. Prayer and relationship will become a continual feast of surprises if you keep your heart hungry and expectant.

Despite the devil's best efforts to make prayer a convoluted mystery, Jesus kicks him to the curb with some wisdom we'd all be well advised to remember. It's a secret so simple only a child can understand it! #becurious

Have you ever wondered my so many people struggle to discover deep satisfaction in prayer? Here's why...

Several years ago, I set aside some time to pray, very much in the manner I was used to, and the Holy Ghost stopped me in my tracks. He said, “Prayer is a spiritual technology, and you need an upgrade.” Immediately, I was curious.

During the course of life we write many words but not all of them carry the same weight. The shopping list hastily scribbled on a scrap of paper doesn't measure up- to yesterday's diary entry for example. But what are the most important words you will ever write?

“Every wise hearted among you shall come, and make all that the LORD hath commanded” (Exodus 35:10) An array of artists and artisans harnessed their gifts and in worshipful synchrony bringing God's invisible plans into plain sight. I believe you can do the same. That God is still today calling gifts and skills into the sanctuary and sending them forth with marching orders to deliver life-changing creations to the world.

A while ago I wrote a short manifesto for creative Christian marketplace. Ministry. You can download a copy at https://www.davidleemartin.net/manifesto. The manifesto was originally titled ‘Made To be A Maker'. You are created in God's image with creative DNA infused with Christ's anointing to serve the world. I felt impressed to share a few more thoughts to encourage your creative, entrepreneurial journey.

Our journey in God is gloriously never-ending, and there is always more to explore. Every step has a lesson to learn, and opportunities to express our love for the One who brought us safe thus far.

God's purposes are fluid, always moving, like a wheel within a wheel they always reveal new colours and facets of His person and glory. There is never an end to the wonder of walking with Jesus...

As faithful stewards of the gifts God has given you, your business and creative output becomes an outshining of His indwelling.

Culture wants us to come crawling from the valley with our trophies and set them up in our own honour. Covenant calls us upward from here to something more enduring.

Dear creative, if you stay with the journey, through resistance, discouragement, valleys, and changes, God will eventually bring you a broad place of influence.

In a fixed-pie-thinking world God wants us instead to live with a mindset that lives with an awareness of His ever expanding limitless world of infinite possibility.

Sometimes the pathway to your promised land takes you down into the valley. You may even need to pitch your tent there sometimes until its precious lessons are learned...

What better way to celebrate Jesus' victory but to pray.

A key component of the creative life is willingness to change direction. I'm not talking about flip-flopping and running in indecisive circles, rather the readiness to assess the situation and make changes as required. 

Praise and criticism come wrapped in the same package. You rarely experience one without the other, and being overly concerned what people will think or say about you if you step out creatively is crippling.

Cultivating creative habits that harness every technological blessing, whilst cultivating a respectful love for reading, silent contemplation, and prayer is all part of digging deep wells from which you can continually draw.

Christian creative Faithful-preneurism is not for the faint-hearted. And it must indeed be of the heart, for only the heart will sustain you through the ups and downs you will face.

Every creative contribution you make to the body of faithful creative work you will ultimately leave behind contains the potential to sprout and flourish – now and for generations to come. You may not know which seed will find its footing, but the odds increase with every bold move you make.

Go forward! Keep going forward. Even one tiny stubbornly believing step at a time is progress. Don't look back or crumble under pressure. Fix your eyes on the prize and serve God through your creative contribution to the world with enthusiasm.

It's a scary thing to step out; write a book, create a product, share a story, produce a course, start a podcast. Whatever means you employ to share your worth, with it comes the opportunity for others to judge and criticise you. Fears of what others will think or say stops way too many gifted people before they even begin. Don't be that person who nurtures innumerable ideas but never brings them out in the open. Be bold enough to step out even when you don't feel ready.

Being with God and His being with us is the fundamental blessing from which all others flow. At every stage of the entrepreneurial journey from the first penny to growing great, God's presence is the one essential.

Entrepreneurial and creative life comes with challenges. They change from season to season, and every level has its own devils. Some taunt us to give up, others push us to work harder, want more, and never rest content. As Jesus said, the road leading to life, real life here and in eternity, is narrow. Staying true to your faithful convictions in all seasons is the challenge every faithful-preneur will face.

In the words of Jim Elliott: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. All else will fade but His words will never pass away. To know Him is eternal life.

Here are some soundbite lessons from the last 365. What are yours?

Legacy is not something that happens by accident, it is the accumulated value you consistently lay on the table through your intentional obedience to Christ's direction today.

If you want to send me a Christmas card it would take only five data points to single me out from the billions of others who live on this vast planet. COUNTRY TOWN/CITY STREET HOUSE NUMBER NAME Scripture provides over 300 data points that point to Jesus as the unique and only begotten Son of God, Messiah. He alone is the only candidate for the Christ.

Bold, naked prayers are invited in Heaven. No-hiding, no-excuse, no-worry requests are welcomed. In Christ, we have boldness, because when we request we do so as if He Himself were standing in our place.

Your family line is one of risk-takers, eternal hopers, and endless dreamers. It's a line of no regrets and boundless belief in a better world

When the Holy Ghost wrote the Bible, He must have used wet ink. His fingerprints are on every page! Even the boring bits He hides treasures...

God has given each one of us a gift that keeps giving. It is an endless well of wisdom. A light that shines brightly on our path to freedom and fullness. An anchor that holds us steady in any and all storms.

You were once far off. Alien to the covenants of God. But Father ran to meet you. He broke you free from every tie that kept you from His courts and flung the doors wide open

The world trades in fear. Stock options are open for all and most are in a buying frenzy right now. It is costly on so many levels. God, on the other hand, is giving his stocks away for free to anyone who'll believe Him; power, love, a sound mind.

In Christ, we step into liberty. Sickness and disease have no place in the life of a believer. In the same way we resist sin and temptation, we resist symptoms that speak of the fall. The old world was subjected to futility and fear. The new creation steps into a new Eden.

No longer an outsider, an alien from the covenants, your place of authority and seat in the heavenlies is set. Your garment of praise is prepared. Beautifully arrayed you stride without shame or fear into the presence of a holy God, and call Him Father.