Writing and the Valley of Dry Bones

Asking God to Breathe Life by Debbie Roome

The story of the valley of dry bones in Ezekiel 37 has always fascinated me. I think it’s the concept of taking something dry and dead and seeing God breathe life upon it. I don’t know about you, but I sometime produce a piece of writing that seems dry and void of life. There can be many reasons for this but an important one is a lack of fellowship with God.

4 Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones and say to them, 'Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.' "

The bones of our writing are the skeleton that supports it: the framework of introduction, body and conclusion. These give writing its structure and form and the other elements are built around them.

7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.

If I neglect to spend time with God, praying, reading His word and seeking His will, I find myself becoming dry and uninspired. Our motivation for writing and everything else we do should be to honor God and display our love for Him. As we give ourselves to Him, He breathes life into us and our work.

9 Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.' " 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.

I love this picture of life and ask God regularly to breathe life and inspiration into everything I do – including my writing. The results are amazing. If you’re feeling dry and uninspired this week, I encourage you to read through Ezekiel 37 and spend some time with God. Soak in His love and presence and then let it spill over into your writing and everything else you put your hand to.

Quotes from the New International Version of the Bible

Debbie Roome works as a freelance writer from her home in New Zealand. Visit her at Debbie Roome or read some of her work at Suite 101 , Take Root and Write and Faithwriters.