John Watkins talks with international speaker and author, Roy Godwin
Grace Outpouring was published in 2008 and The Way of Blessing in 2016. What prompted you to release this interactive book now?
It’s beginning to look as though I present a new book every eight years, isn’t it?
What really happened was that David C Cook, my publisher, called me and invited me to develop a new book based on the ministry of spoken blessing.
I leaped at the opportunity, given that I had been teaching on that topic internationally for several years, mainly by Zoom.
I had self-published The Blessings Course, with Dave Roberts, several years ago. It wasn’t advertised but it was used in many nations around the world. It’s a seven-part video series with Participant’s Manuals and Leader’s Guide. The testimonies from those who used it were immensely encouraging, and Cooks asked whether I would be willing to fold it into the new book. After some discussion and prayer it now appears within And I Will Bless Them with the video access included.
How easy is the writing process?
Such an interesting question! Once the aim and objective is clear, I move on to the outline. Then comes the writing. The main difficulty at that stage is trying to reduce the material to the size of the book and the aims and objectives. I tend to be bursting with the desire to share more than is practical. That’s where editors come into play.
I am immensely grateful to Dave Roberts, and more recently to the editorial department of Cooks, who bring such focused skill to clarifying – and reducing – my words.
While I enjoy writing, it’s the editing that takes the time and seems like sheer hard work.
The ministry of blessing is linked to the kingdom of God. How much of kingdom blessing is for the present and how much for the new heaven and the new earth?
Yes, the ministry of spoken blessing is linked to the kingdom of God which is both now and not yet. It’s like the gospel of personal salvation. We receive full forgiveness, are redeemed, reconciled, adopted. The Spirit of Jesus is given now as a deposit, a contractual guarantee of all that is to come. We walk today in fellowship with the King in the daily experience of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Yet the fulness is not yet. We were saved, are saved and are being saved, until we see him face to face.
In the same way, as we speak blessings in the name of Jesus, we walk today in the life, power and authority of the kingdom that isn’t yet fully here.
In the whole of the Christian life we are forerunners; present, engaged, authentic; yet with one foot firmly planted in what is yet to come.
We can bless people, but should we also be calling to repentance? (Mark 1:15)
Of course we should be calling people to repentance. God commands all people everywhere to repent. The problem is that if we went outside into the streets amongst ignorant or disinterested people and called them to repent right now, they wouldn’t all rush to the nearest watercourse and ask to be baptised!
Repentance comes from revelation and obedience. We need to lay the groundwork and prepare the ground for revelation to come and be life-changing. We do that by our personal witness in the community, our fellowship and good deeds. We do it by praying earnestly for the kingdom of God to come into our communities with all power and authority, toppling the principalities and powers that bind and blind people to the truth. We need to understand the depth of God’s love for the lost, the least and the broken. That will liberate us to align our life with his.
Alongside the praying comes the blessing. We are each agents of the kingdom. As we bless people, communities and land there is alignment and agreement between heaven and earth. We are wrapped up in the kingdom already come, and longing for its fulness.
How do we avoid words of blessing becoming a mechanical ‘God bless you’?
This is an exciting and key part of the new book. It’s the difference between nice religious words or the ministry of… No, I won’t say more. You need to read the book!
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