takes work to be concise

“If you want me to speak for two minutes, it will take me three weeks of preparation. If you want me to speak for thirty minutes, it will take me a week to prepare. If you want me to speak for an hour, I am ready now.” 

Winston Churchill

pastors should always be writing

Pastor Peter Schemm published a recent article in the Themelios Journal that encourages pastors to practice writing as a private spiritual discipline. He lays out six benefits of consistent writing (specifically for pastors but they apply to Christians in general):

1. Writing helps to deepen the mind.
2. Writing helps to clarify and refine your thinking.
3. Writing helps us to find a suitable pace of life.
4. Writing well requires quiet and solitude, both necessary in developing a healthy soul.
5. Writing (i.e. copying) Scripture helps us to meditate on Scripture.
6. Writing our prayers helps to make our prayer lives more meaningful.

I love writing as a way of communing with God. Unfortunately, it requires a discipline and quietness that I struggle to maintain.

Your inadequacy is one of God's favorite tools in accomplishing His purposes (Exodus 3; Jeremiah 1; 2 Cor. 12).