Someone asked me the best way to write a letter of encouragement for a Christian retreat. My answer: “Ask the Lord.”
Many kinds of retreats invite letter writing, whether it’s a prison ministry, mission trip, youth event, or spiritual retreat. The purpose of the letter is to give encouragement. The recipient will often be a person you’ve never met. How do you write that letter?
You can take various approaches:
- Modeling the opening after an epistle of Paul.
- Quoting a scripture verse along with a word of encouragement.
- A note of thankfulness for all God is doing in their life.
- Quoting the blessing from Numbers 6:24-26.
- Sharing a brief prayer for them as they draw closer to God and grow deeper in their relationship with Him.
- Encouraging them that God has amazing plans for them (Jeremiah 29:11) and will be right by their side (Psalms 46 and 91).
No matter which approach you want to take, it all begins with asking the Lord. He already knows who will receive your letter of encouragement. He already has words of encouragement to share with that individual.
Start with a blank notecard or piece of paper, and then pray. Ask the Lord to show you the one main thing He wants to say to encourage that person. No need to complicate it. We often want to say as much as possible, but the recipient can’t take it all in. Ask God for the one thing.
Don’t worry that you won’t hear Him. He will convey the encouragement in a way that speaks to your heart. He wants to share that encouragement even more than you do.
You might sense a word, or a topic, or a Bible verse. A song might come to mind. You might get a visual image you keep coming back to. It might be a feeling of His overwhelming love. Whatever it is, that will be your prompt for what to share.
Keep it simple and encouraging. Point the letter recipient to God. If you remind them of God’s deep and unending love for them, you’ve written the most encouraging letter in the world.
If you’re in a season of letter writing, thank you. I’ve been the recipient of letters like yours, and they made a huge difference for me. Some of them, I remember to this day. I don’t remember the details. I remember the one thing.
Enjoy your time letter-writing with God. You are a blessing.
Adventures with God 