Prayer For A New Year
With the strike of the clock, a new year is upon us. The first day of the new year always carries fresh hope, at least it can, because it feels like a clean slate. A new start. Where the old is wiped away and we have an uncharted path before us.
In my time with God this morning, I was praying and thanking Him for His faithfulness in 2020. For me, I finished a lot in 2020. I graduated seminary and I started a new job. But 2020 also held many places of regret. I made mistakes. And so with all of this swirling in my mind, I looked to the new year. And the words of James 4 rang in my ears:
“You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”
-James 4:2-3
Prayer Changes Things
What struck me most was, how many of my failures would have been dodged had I prayed more fervently on January 1, 2020? Would I had been more prepared for the crazy year that was to come? How could my prayers have shaped my faithfulness? And how did my lack of prayers shape my unfaithfulness? These are humbling questions for me.
Now, standing on the edge of the 2021 journey, and with James 4:2-3 as my instruction for my prayer, here is what I ask:
God, I thank you for your faithfulness in 2020. We did not see the many difficulties coming. I am reminded this earth is not our home. That safety is not promised, and that you are always in control. If I could ask anything of you for the coming year, I ask this. That you help me love you more. That I would delight in your law. That I would consider your Word beautiful. That I would become a man of prayer. That I would love The Book. That you would continue to shape me into a man of integrity. A faithful pastor. That I would be more kind, more joyful, and more self-sacrificing for Your Kingdom.
And I pray that these seeds of prayer that I am planting, you would water with your faithfulness. That come December 2021, I could say with thankfulness “you heard my cry and acted.”
What will you ask God for in 2021, knowing that He will hear, He will act? Your prayers today will shape the next 364 days.
Thankful for God’s faithfulness in 2020,
Josh.
