If you look around the world through the annals of time, all people have worshipped something or someone. We commonly call this a person’s “religion.” Inclusions of religion in a book increases your world and story development with realistic and necessary depth. And, as Christ-followers, we have a unique, hopeful, and personal religion to portray.
More than rituals or daily-life practices, the Christian faith is in the Person of Jesus Christ. The portrayal of God (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) in our stories, whether through characters, plot, or spoken theme, ought to be centered on revealing the attributes of the Person who is worthy of our worship and faith.
I’d like to give you several simple ways to incorporate the One, True Living God into your story!
Basically, writing about God in our stories is all about building a relationship between God and our characters to inspire our readers to grow in a similar way. That’s what these tips focus on creating.
Whatever genre you’re writing in – fantasy, historical, allegory, sci-fi, dystopian, romance, fiction, western, fairy-tale retellings, contemporary, YA, MG, adult, children, family read-aloud, or Biblical – these elements are easily integrated to capture the essence of God and faith in Christ!
THE WORD
Include Scripture/Bible verses to emphasize your theme. You may pick a single verse to be the punch behind your over-arching premise. You can weave that verse into the story multiple times, so that your characters don’t forget. Then, neither will your readers.
In Trapped (Book Two of The Pure Line Series), I had Adrian memorizing the theme verse of the book. He repeated it several times as he grappled with the truth.
If your book takes place in a fantastical or created world, you could called the Bible by another name. For instance, the Miller Brothers in The Codebearers Series called it, “The Author’s Writ.” All of the quotes and references came straight from the Bible, however the name made it flow into their alternate world.
Another strategy is to include Bible verses at the beginning or end of each chapter, tying in the point you wanted to make through the characters and plot. This works well for books with their own worlds and culture that might not include the Bible for characters to read, yet gives readers the ability to perceive your faith in the way you’ve written things.
PRAYER
Prayer is a way we get to share life with God. What kind of things does your hero want to share?
Including prayers can be as simple as family around the table thanking God for a meal. Or a cry for help in distress. Maybe, the heroine needs to cast her burdens on the Lord and prays about what’s happening.
Prayer is dialogue and action. You may choose to have God answer with an impression of the Spirit’s voice, through the Word, by another character, or through the events of the book. Either way, when a character calls on the Lord, He answers. So, you can use prayer-dialogue/action to move character development, story plot, or emphasize the theme.
Remember to be reverent and match any words you would have God “say” to the infallible attributes of God found in the Bible.
There are many kinds of prayers, sort of like friends have conversations about many things. There are prayers of thanks, praise, confession; prayers for our needs, for others, for warfare, for deliverance or rescue; prayers in song or with direct words of Scripture, so on.
Portrayals of prayer may differ in the genres and stories. For instance, in Ed Dunlop’s The Terrestria Chronicles, people wrote their prayers on parchment that would fly from their hands to heaven’s throne. Often, they would receive a parchment in return from the King.
You can also use a variety of names when addressing God, to specify how the hero views God, or which book character represents God/Jesus in your story.
SONGS/PROPHECY
Every culture has music and song. Since the dawn of its time (Gen. 4:21), music has been a part of building joy and identity among citizens. As Christ-followers, in our culture, we sing “psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs” (Eph. 5:19).
Not every song in your book must have a tune. The Psalms are beautiful songs, filled with many prayers, pleas, and praises. They are easy to incorporate in the right setting.
Hymns are great for historical fictions, weaving a strand of musical and religious history into the story. For instance, “To God be the Glory” was a relatively new song during the time era in which LaKaysha Elizabeth’s Shadows of the Past is written. Her inclusion of it expressed how hymn-writers and congregations were growing in the knowledge of God during the controversies of settling the west.
Naturally, you can pen your own words to songs that your characters sing, too. For instance, Jarah’s song in Hope Auer’s A Stand at Sinai. Whether you have a tune in your head or not, songs directly tied to your character’s story and relationship with God are fun!
Prophecies may also be set to music in some cultures. What are the characters looking forward to or fighting toward? What (or Who) is their hope for gaining it founded on? A prophecy heralds the answer to these questions and praises the One who brings hope.
Some cultures may have songs that bind them together during war, hardship, peace, or daily life. For instance, citizens of Great Park and Bright City encouraged one another, young and old alike, by singing “The King’s Song” in David and Karen Mains’ Tales of the Kingdom Trilogy. The words bonded them as a people and expressed the joy they were all sharing that day.
I could go on, because song is widely used to portray God and express faith in Christ in stories, but you have the idea. Now, maybe it’s you turn to roll with it.
A MENTOR
In books, every hero has one person, wiser than himself, speaking into his life. Challenging him to grow. It’s a relationship that spurs the character arc of the hero through the pages.
Through the mentor, readers can hear plenty of spiritual things. He (or she) is often good at speaking truth into the hard places of the hero’s life in a way that’s inviting and simple. Sometimes, they speak in riddles or analogies to the world around them.
Letting the mentor speak about his faith further deepens him as a character in the story and imparts truth to hero and reader alike.
For instance, Professor Hamilton (mentor from Bryan Davis’ Raising Dragons) was relational, humorous, and completely serious about faith in God. Amidst helping fellow characters in their perilous battles, Prof’s challenges spurred Billy toward truth, faith, and God-honoring actions. These teachings led Billy to many victories.
Once again, the mentor’s messages don’t have to be long or complicated. Simple sentences of truth and faith that challenge or encourage the characters is the goal.
MEETINGS
Every religion has a form of fellowship. That is, a gathering together – either weekly or for special festivals. In historical and contemporary novels, we often follow the model of Acts 2 (church or prayer meetings). These take place either in homes or a designated building.
In The Pure Line Series, fellowship takes place in the Center, the training grounds. Sometimes, it was for the daily reading of the Word and battle instruction. Other times, it was for large Ezra Assemblies, to hear the Word preached and pray.
These are simple moments that build character-to-character and character-to-God relationships.
The idea behind meetings is that God’s people share life and faith with each other. Including a purposed meeting time mirrors present-day faith (no matter your genre) and emphasizes the reason for gathering: we come into the presence of God to encourage each other (Hebrews 10:25).
TESTIMONY
To testify is to give a truthful account of something that happened. Through your characters (allies are especially good for this!), you can include testimonies of God’s goodness or salvation or provision. It’s like having your book characters tell stories of what God has done in their lives. This is an engaging way to talk about God while enhancing our characters’ stories.
For instance, in Shadows of the Past (by LaKaysha Elizabeth), we learn about Josh’s life before coming to Grassy Flats as he tells what God has done to redeem and restore him. Not only is God on display, but character development is taking place – because God’s actions toward men change them, if they respond.
Essentially, writing with God in our stories is good story development. I hope these practical ideas help you create a culture in your book that captures the essence of God and faith in Christ through a compelling story. And I exhort you not to leave them out and miss the opportunity to be a witness.