How to Possess Your Promise Land

Do you know how to take control of your promise land? I’m taking possession of my promise land right now. God called me to be a writer, speaker, and an author. When He revealed this to me, almost twenty years ago, He also revealed that the gift of my calling would require assembly, putting together. Meaning, I needed to be equipped and prepared. I never expected the assembling to take so long, but Jesus always has His reasons, and He knows when we are ready. We have to trust both His timing and His way. And when He says “Advance!” We advance.

I’m writing my first book! However, the book I’m writing has been in the making for years. I’ve been living it. Now God has called me to write it.

Like God promised the Israelites the land of Canaan, I believe God promises each one of us a promise land too, right here, right now, while we are still alive in this world. He promised me I’d be a writer, speaker, and an author. I am a writer and a speaker. I will be an author of a published book. I will also be speaking a lot more for Jesus because Jesus is my cause.

Before we can claim our promise land, we have to get there first. This means a lot of traveling. It also means crossing our Jordan River, which God Himself clears the pathway through. When He tells us it’s time to cross, we have to step forward into the river before it parts.

Crossing the Jordan River

Mark Batterson, pastor and author, stirred up my zeal in his book, The Circle Maker. While both listening to and reading Batterson’s book in December 2019, I realized God was instructing me the time had truly come to advance, to take possession of my promise land of becoming an author. 

First things first, I needed to cross my Jordan River. The Holy Spirit set my heart ablaze in a fresh way. I needed some fellow circle makers, prayer warriors, to help me cross my Jordan River. God Himself provided ten circle makers.

They each agreed to pray for me every day for 40 days as I wrote my first draft of my book. I successfully crossed my Jordan River into my promise land on February 6, 2020, my birthday. I held my first draft of my book. (First, not final, being key.)

Circling Jericho

First the Israelites had to cross the Jordan River into their promise land (Joshua 3-4). Then they celebrated at Gilgal (Joshua 4-5). Then they had to fight their first battle to begin possessing the promise land:  the Battle of Jericho (Joshua 5:13-6).

God promised the Israelites, Canaan was theirs. But He also said, they would have to fight for it in order to possess the land. Just like the Israelites needed to fight for every part of their promised land, so do we.

The Lord told Joshua He delivered Jericho into their hands and then He instructed Joshua how to possess it. The Israelites were instructed to circle Jericho seven days (Joshua 5-6). As in ALL of them would walk together circling it. They each had different assignments, but they circled Jericho together. 

They marched around the city of Jericho once each day for six days and on the seventh day, they circled Jericho seven times. Sometimes we have to circle our Jericho many times too, before the walls come tumbling down. I believe the Lord will cause the walls to collapse in His perfect timing and sometimes He requires some crazy things from us.

The Israelites did exactly what God instructed, 

“The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the army, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city!… When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city.”

Joshua 6:16, 20, NIV

Fight to Win and Possess Your Promise Land

They had to fight for their promise land; every part of it. Possessing our promise land is also going to require us to fight for it. Possessing my promise land to become an author, means I have to fight for it too.

For me, writing is fighting. And that’s exactly what I’ve been doing.

For the last 14 weeks, I’ve been fighting my Battle of Jericho writing my first book proposal. And on Monday, January 25, 2021, it was complete, and I submitted it. In addition, I am a graduate of the Compel Author Academy “Book Proposal Bootcamp.”

YAY!!!

I’m so thrilled to be able to say I did it! I successfully completed my first book proposal and won my first battle in my promise land.

Next steps with my book proposal won’t be known for a few weeks, but I’ll keep you posted.

Pause to Play

For the last 18 days of fighting my Battle of Jericho, I’ve been on “pause” with all my blog writing and social media engagement. Now, that I’ve completed the Book Proposal Bootcamp and submitted my book proposal, I’m hitting play again. 

In the coming weeks, I will be sharing once again whatever Jesus puts on my heart. Today, He wanted me to share with you that I won my Battle of Jericho. Whoop! Whoop! 

Fighting this battle and winning took a lot of effort, time, money, energy, a lot of words and a whole lot of prayer. I didn’t do this alone. My circle makers prayed circles around me. They’ve been faithful to help me fight in this battle. I think they are just as excited as I am that I finished my book proposal. It’s a joyous celebration.

I also had a lot of support from my Proverbs 31 writing coach Tracie Miles, my small group of Book Proposal Bootcamp friends, my two accountability partners, an excellent freelance editor, and my family who basically did all the dishes, cooking, and cleaning while I was writing.

Possessing our promise land requires fighting, but we don’t ever fight alone. We always have to have our people with us, fighting alongside us in the ways God has equipped them. 

How do you possess your promise land? I can tell you one thing, no matter what your promise land is, you will have to fight for it and it won’t be easy. BUT never give up.

Whatever your promise land is, God intends to help you claim it. But you have to be willing to do your part even if it means getting up early when you are not a morning person, sacrificing time with family, or marching around a city every single day until God says, “Shout! I’ve given you the city. Now go take it!”