Over the last few years as I have moved from making New Year's Resolutions to writing New Year's Prayers, God has shown up SO BIG in my life. Last year I asked permission to publish my New Year's Prayer as an Encouragement for Today Devotion, unsure if the editors would say "yes," and unsure if it would mean anything at all to another woman.
Your responses caught me very much by surprise. Precious notes and stories flooded my in-box as you shared how the prayer touched your hearts and inspired you to do the same. Please know that your responses blessed me. I am so grateful. Why? Because the Lord used what He taught me to teach you. As a Bible teacher, that is the greatest joy in my life!!
Friends, God knows that the first day of each new year carries with it a myriad of emotions that often lead to promises and resolutions. Some commit to lose weight. Some commit to exercise more. Some desire a more disciplined walk with the Lord. And some want to be better wives and mothers. We all want God's highest and best for the new year.
But God knows too that these promises and resolutions are often grounded not in His Word but in our flesh. We focus on the end result and not on the process. There is nothing wrong with wanting to lose weight and exercise to feel better about yourself. It is a wonderful goal to be a "better" wife and mother. It is admirable to commit to daily Bible reading and quiet time with the Lord. But we must beware of making these things a daily duty we check off.
Committing to a New Year's Resolution will not bring profound lasting life change. Committing your heart to God...studying, learning, and praying God's Word...that is what will bring eternal, lasting life transformation.
I invite you join me this year in writing a New Year's Prayer. Below find my prayer for us.
Father in heaven, thank You that You are All Authority in heaven and on earth. Thank You that You led each woman here today. You know her every need, her deepest desires, and her hurting places. Lord, as she seeks to know You more, would You open the eyes of heart to see the wonderful things in Your law?
Father, we confess that so often we live lives that do not honor You. Our actions and our Words seem so far from You. But, we do want to live lives that please You, so we ask today for You to soften our hearts to receive what Your sweet Spirit has to speak to us. Give us a hunger and a thirst for Your Word. As You reveal it to us, help us through the power of Your Holy Spirit to listen and obey. You tell us Your Word is living and active, like a double-edged sword. Father, we invite You to use it now to penetrate the deepest recesses in our hearts.
Give us hearts that desire You and Your Truth above all else. Your Word tells us that if we lack Wisdom, we need only ask and You will give it liberally. So we ask today for a fresh filling of Your Wisdom. Give us the strength to walk in Your Truth, no matter the cost. Guard our hearts and keep our eyes fixed on You. Grow in us the fruit of Your Spirit…those things that will make us more like You. As we study Your Word, fill us and saturate us with more of You!!
Today, Father, we surrender our past and look to the future, thanking You that we are a new creation. No matter what we have done before today, we have Hope in You to take all things and use them for Your good and the good of Your Kingdom. Thank You that You are Faithful. Thank You that we can make our plans but You will direct our steps. We trust in You to do a mighty work in us and through us this year and carry it on to completion until the day we step into eternity with You.
Lord, we love You. Make our lives a living testimony of Your Love. We ask this in the powerful and mighty name of Your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord who will do immeasurably more than we could ever ask or imagine. AMEN.
To begin writing your prayer, examine your New Year's Resolution and prayerfully ask the Lord for to reveal the heart issue behind your resolution. Ask Him to lead you through His Word to verses that directly address what you hear.
Listen to God's promise in Hebrews 4:12:
For the Word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. it exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.
Perhaps you want to lose weight because you feel unworthy of love due to your past, your present, or choices you have made. Find verses on God's great love for you...His promises that He created you just the way you are because He has a great plan and purpose for your life that only you can accomplish.
Perhaps you want to spend more time in the Word but you are too busy...you just can't fit it into your day. Find Scriptures on God's wisdom and priorities. Proverbs is a great place to start.
Perhaps you want to be a better wife and mother, but you have a temper that flares or a tongue that cuts like a knife. Open God's Word and find verses addressing speech, self-control, and patience. Proverbs and James are great places to start.
Once you have found your verses, take each one and personalize it. Then, put them together, along with your own heart's cry, to make a prayer. Copy your prayer into a journal or notebook. Write your verses on pieces of paper and put them where you can see them throughout the day. Memorize them.
Listen to God's promise in Isaiah 55:10-11:
The rain and snow come down from the heavens
and stay on the ground to water the earth.
They cause the grain to grow,
producing seed for the farmer
and bread for the hungry.
It is the same with My Word.
I send it out, and it always produces fruit.
It will accomplish all I want it to,
and it will prosper everywhere I send it.
Friends, Isaiah 55 is God's PROMISE to you. If you pray His Word over your life...over your heart...over your home...He will be FAITHFUL to prosper it and make it bear fruit.
I would love to hear your heart, your prayers, and your verses. Please take time to leave me a comment. As thanks for taking time to stop by today, I will choose from the comments and send a Starbucks Gift Card to one lucky winner.
Praying you have a blessed and joyous New Year,
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39 comments:
A hearty amen to that prayer! This is such wise advice, Wendy, and keeps the focus on the Lord and what He can do in and through us rather than what we can accomplish in our own strength.
By the way, God woke me up in the wee hours of the morning to pray and He brought you and your daughter to mind. As you start this new year, know that he loves you both so very much that He wanted to make sure that you were covered in prayer in the first few hours of 2010!
No need to enter me for the Starbucks card. I'm making some dietary changes for Jan and Feb and won't be needing it.
Thank you for that heart warming prayer in my inbox first thing this morning. It is going to start my day and New Year out just right. It really touched my heart Wendy, and I needed that. God bless you sweetheart.
Jodi
Thank you for that prayer! This is really the first year I decided to make New Year Resolutions. I have thought about and prayed about these resolutions for the past couple of weeks because I knew without God's guidance and will I would probably end up unsuccessful at accomplishing any of them. I like your idea of a New Year's prayer even better though. I love the idea of taking a look at the reasons behind my resolutions and finding scripture on what God says about these issues. I am definitely going to take this advice and "rework" my resolutions into a prayer. I am eager to see what God does in my life this year!!
I read your post of your daughter's surgery and that she is now home. YOu are so blessed to have so many friends, nurses, blogger friends praying for your beautiful daughter ( she truly is a beautiful girl...I love her dark gorgeous hair).
Just remember it takes a LONG time to recover from surgery so when you are feeling overwhelmed just remember that and everyone praying for her and you too. I don't know if I would have over 3 people in the room waiting for me to have an operation so like I said you are truly blessed.
I loved your post for today also. I am working on a prayer. I started getting up early every morning almost 2 years ago and some days I can feel the Lord's presence so much more than other days. I want to work on feeling His presence everyday of my life.
Wendy - beautiful devotion and post. Beautiful haert prayer. I am asking Him for courage to make it my own as well. :) I am going to print it out and put it in my new Prayer Journal for 2010.
I have been praying the words as I sing the worship song "Beautiful" by Kari Jobe
"Here in Your presence, I am not afraid of brokenness....Here before Your altar, I am letting go of all I've held...of every motive, every burden, everything that's of myself." - Kari Jobe
My heart desperately needs the perfect love and covering of our Savior.
Love you! Thank you!
Sharon :)
Thank you for this New Year prayer. It said what my heart has desired and gave me the nudge I needed.
In the last few months, God has been directing my steps through His word and drawing me to spend more time with Him. I've been busy about my Father's business but I haven't been listening to His instructions.
Your ideas was very helpful.
Many blessings in 2010,
Tammy
Happy New Year. Your New Year Prayer has been received with much thanks. Your comments are so true, I have stopped making New Year resolutions long ago - I never follow through.
With the insights you have given me I will start reading and creating my prayer. Again thanks and pray for blessing and prosperity for you and your family for 2010.
Dahn
I was just thinking last night that I don't do resolutions because I end up feeling bad when I give up on them. I get the P31 devotional in my email every morning and I am sure that is one way God chooses to continue to speak to me! That prayer you wrote spoke directly to my heart! It was almost exactly what my heart was feeling, except you said it so much better than I would have...HA! Thanks for sharing! Blessings!
Happy New Years, Wendy!
Your devo was like a breath of fresh air this morning. I love the thought of presenting a prayer to God and letting Him transform my Heart. Thank you for being faithful to what God has laid on your heart and sharing it with the rest of us. Proverbs 31 really is daily encouragement for my soul.
Thanks so much for sharing this devotion today. I saw part of it on "Encouragement for today" and wanted to check out your blog.
Blessings for your new year.
Absolutley beautiful, Wendy! I love this idea so much. It really takes the pressure off of achieving my resolutions and puts the focus where it needs to be.
Thank you so much! Please know that you and Lauren and the family have been in my prayers and will continue to be for the upcoming weeks and month.
Have a very blessed New Years!
Thanks, Wendy, for the beautiful reminder that we continually need to seek God's guidance for our lives and not rely on our own instincts, what we think we should do. Thank you for the encouragement to pray the Scriptures, which is something I've been trying to do, not just for myself but for my children and husband. We can claim the promises He has already given us! I'm waiting to see what God has planned for this year and how I can be used by Him to encourage and strengthen others. Happy New Year!
My heart is filled with your prayer today, Wendy. Thank you! I've never been one for resolutions, but at this time in my life, I'm praying for 2010 to be filled with God's revelations about the character of Danielle. I hate searching my own heart because I fear what I'll find, but at the same time, I know that God sees it all... and amazingly, He loves it all. I do have thoughts of losing weight this year because I'm tired of being stuck in this rut, but mostly, I'm tired of being stuck where I am with God.
My prayer is that I will be wholly healthy. Spiritually, first, and emoationally, mentally, and physically. I truly desire to be all that God would have. I've waffled for years with too many things to claim that I truly trust God... but He is so constant and faithful. I want those attributes to be mine.
Thank you, again, for always being a willing vessel to share what God knows His children need to hear!
Love you, sister.
Thank you for a beautiful prayer to start my day. After a very challenging year I have seen God as so extraordinary and taking the ordinary to make a point in my journey with Him. This prayer just seemed to be a new beginning on this journey.
God is always on time. In Him, with Him, through Him I am learning about a love that I am consistently in new awe of. This is my first time to your blog; I came here by way of the P31 Devotion this morning. I'm so grateful to God for so very many things and today that includes being led here to find another piece to a puzzle I've been working on for awhile now. Thank you for your obedience. For being a willing vessel that helps our searching hearts find our way to the safe harbor of our Savior. God bless you Wendy. Thank you again.
This prayer blessed me this morning. I personalized it, printed a copy to put in my Bible and put it on my blog this morning. I want to carry this prayer with me throughout this new year as I believe that God wants to do more then I can possibly think or imagine in and through me this year.
As I was mulling over a new option for school this morning and then looking for scriptures to put into my own prayer, the Lord led me to Psalm 32:8-9:
The Lord says, "I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. Do not be like a senseless horse or mule that needs a bit and bridle to keep in under control."
My prayer would be:
Thank You Lord that I can trust You and that the path You lead me on will be the best pathway for my life. Lord, I don't want to be a senseless horse or a stubborn mule that needs to be kept under control by a bit or bridle. Lord, I want to just take Your hand and trust You every step of the way. Help me to not let go of Your hand and may I follow where You lead... without argument or complaint... without refusing or digging my heels in... without fear. I place my trust in You. AMEN!
Since I was a child I always made New Year's resolutions but I find it quite refreshing to change them into a New Year's prayer. I actually stopped making New Year resolutions last year because they seemed so hard to attain. As I reflect on this past year I'd have to say that my prayer for this next year would include being content to live one day at a time, finding joy during the hard times, and being able to become vulnerable with others.
Wonderful words of wisdom and a powerful prayer. Thank you, Wendy. I pray for you and your family to have a happy and heathly New Year. Love you!
Huh, at times it is hard to remember that the rain and snow in my life has a purpose...it causes the grain to grow, which is necessary for the farmer's next crop and for the desperately hungry people. Oh that I will come to the place where I automatically think of where God is taking me (and others through me) rather than railing against the wet, soggy experiences that fall my way.
I just read my email. THANK YOU! I gave up resolutions for the new year about 20 years ago. While everyone was saying what they vowed to do, I would just be there. I often felt empty. I tried writing down hopes and dreams for the new year, but that seemed empty after a while too. In all this time, I never thought of writing a prayer! I will be writing one today :)
And, your prayer was so inspiring. I have been allowing life to become a burden to me lately and your prayer woke me up and allowed me to find some of the peace that was missing.
May the Lord bless you richly and fill your life with blessings each and every day!
I don't make 'resolutions' as much as I ask God to show me the way he would have me live. I want to start each year this way and I ask God to keep my passion going. I used to make resolutions-to lose weight, eat healthfully, etc but I NEVER stuck to it!! However, once I stopped doing that but asked God to help me get healthy I lost 35 lbs and have kept it off for 4 yrs!
God bless you and your readers!
-Amy V.
Wendy,
Happy New Year! I am soo Thankful for your encouragement for today as it was truly what was needed, I prayed to the Lord to equip me with a heart and spirit that draws closer to the lord in the new year and the diligence to spend more time in his word.. as a motivator to do this I purchased the chronological one year bible and purchased a new prayer journal that I intend to use the whole year...I saw your Encouragement and found your New Year's prayer will be the first entry into the journal. Thank you Wendy for using your God-given gift to continue to touch women like myself each and every day new year and old years past! Take care God Bless
Notoriouscutie22@yahoo.com
Thanks for visiting my blog, Wendy. What a sweet and encouraging note you left for me. I'll always be a Texan in my heart, too, no matter where I live, (or how long it takes me to get back there, ha, ha!). Happy New Year! -karen
What a beautiful prayer! Thanks so much for that. I really enjoyed reading your post and I pray that you enjoy a healthy and happy New Year!
I'm hoping to really adhere to the following verse for 2010 and years to come:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5,6 (NIV)
dreamzz12{at}aol{dot}com
Thank you so much for sharing your prayer. I was reminded of a similar task that I started in May 2008 and had been searching for my "list" for several weeks when I read this. My husband and I have decided to do this annually. On New Year's Eve 2010, we will look at our 2010 Prayer commitment to our wants and desires and our commitment to turn them over to God. I am sure that we are going to be blessed beyond measure by how God responds to our prayer. As Ephesians 3:20 says "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us".
Carrie (ccrews2003@sbcglobal.net)
I kid you not...I was just thinking about needing to begin losing weight since the new year was upon me. Then I read your devotion and realized that I needed a much deeper intimate prayer rather than a resolution that doesn't mean much nor stands the test of time.
I'm going to give this some thought and I will get back with you on my prayer and verses. Suffice it to say though, I love this idea and I know it will bless me, others and my Savior.
Thanks for such a wonderful New Year's gift. It is truly something that I believe will keep on giving throughout the year!
Prayers and blessings,
Rebecca
Thanks so much for the prayer!! I have been wanting to lose weight but I really see what you mean about God making us the way He wanted to. I am taking Isaiah 26:3 for my verse this year. With all the stuff going on in our country I think the Lord really wants us to stay intent on Him. Thanks again!!
esterried[at]yahoo[dot]com
Wendy, how i'd love to have coffee with you and pray together in person!! thank you so much for being a part of my 2009 and I look forward to 2010! lisa
Happy New Year :)thanks for your prayers and for wonderful encouragement
Thanks for this wonderful post! It blessed me so much that I linked it on my Facebook page this morning (well, yesterday morning, since it's now after midnight!). Praying for full recovery for your beautiful daughter, and for increasing awareness of His grace & "furious longing" for us as we enter this new year! God bless you!
Thank you so much for this prayer. It brought tears to my eyes. 2010 has begun a little shaky with Satan bringing to mind some old hurts and struggles. This morning I spent time with a friend who encouraged me to move forward and this prayer validated her advice and support. I love to pray scripture and look forward to spending more time doing so. Your suggestion encouraged me to spend more time studying scripture and praying it over my own heart which at times feels very broken and wounded. Thanks again and God Bless!
Liz
Thank you for the beautiful prayer. I copied them on 5 different cards and our family each take turns praying during our family devotion. Starting the New Year with prayer as a family had allowed us to see how great our Lord is, how He is doing a mighty work in big and small ways through the year!
I think resolutions are good if they will help you or drive you to achieve a worthy goal. I don't think they should take over your life of course. Here's to a Happy New Year. I hope it's great for myself but for all of you as well.
-Lauren
lauren51990 AT aol DOT com
Thankyou for writing this encouraging blog...it's just what I need to be praying as I start this new year..and a new start is what I so need.
Thank you for your devotional. My heart has been heavy the past few days and I prayed today that the Lord would show me what He wanted me to work on this year. Getting on my knees and praying was the first thing that I felt He spoke to me. Through your blog was the rest of my answer. I look forward to spending some quiet time personalizing the prayer you wrote and finding my own scriptures. I look forward to visiting your blog more in the future and praise God for your daughter's safe surgery. God Bless!
Wendy,
Thank you so much for this prayer! You and Lauren have been on my heart for weeks! So happy to hear the good news. I will continue to pray...I miss you sweet friend. Hope you made it to Dave Crowder Band...God Bless and Keep You!
Hugs,
Carol
Hey Lady! Just wondering how everyone is doing? How is Lauren feeling?
Thank you for sharing what God is teaching you.
davidson_ke@yahoo.com
I am praying for perspective to see my circumstances through God's eyes this year, so that I will be content and confident about where I am, what He gives me, and where He is taking me. Praying for His guidance in my family's life to be clear and for the wisdom to know it.
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