Thinking About A New Year

Hey, Sweet Things! I’ve been praying for you this very day. I’ve especially been praying for those of you who’ve commented about how much you want to do the Scripture memory but you’re scared of failing. First of all, I pray that God is going to give you a glimpse of what your brilliant little mind is capable of doing when doused in His Word. Second, if you spend the year meditating on 24 verses, I pray that you’ll realize that you cannot fail. It will produce a harvest whether or not you get each Scripture down word for word. The captivated mind that tears down strongholds is what we’re after. Keep that before you. Pray for a supernatural unction to internalize Scripture then thank God for it in advance. He makes a way for us to obey what He wills for us to do.

Now, on to something that I keep pondering this morning. Like many of you, I’m a thinker. Years don’t come to ends or beginnings without me getting caught up in what’s behind or in front of me. That’s good if it leads to change. That’s bad if it leads to dread. We’ve all heard this definition of insanity: doing the same thing the same way and expecting something different. Yet, for the most part,  we live life in that maddening loop. One of the things God has taught me along the way is to try to hear from Him about one area at a time that He’s pinpointing for change. Much more than that is too overwhelming. Anyway, He’s a God who’s into process with the lives of His children. We need look no further than Philippians 1:6 for proof of that. What He may begin in an instant He may complete over a lifetime. Instead of making a list of resolutions for 2011 that are broken by the time they’re spoken, is there simply one thing about us we really wish to change? I could think of a dozen things I’d like to change but this is the one I think God is pinpointing as our joint effort for the top of 2011: a mental loop I tend to get into when I get offended or hurt by someone I love. I have come to believe that my first minute’s reaction is what determines the cycle of the next (usually miserable) two days. So, here’s my specific prayer for the end of 2010 and the beginning of 2011.

My Dearest Abba Father,

I’ve lived long enough to know that any 12-month period of time on Planet Earth winds a pathway through thicket and thorns. It’s just too long a period of time not to get hurt or offended. I also know that You have tucked many joys in the oncoming year and I don’t want to miss them because I can’t quit obsessing over what’s hard. You’ve gone to measurable lengths in the last year to show me how the enemy of my soul operates in one specific area: he can’t block You from blessing Your children so he tries to block Your children from enjoying it. I do not want him to cheat me of reaping from anything rich You send my way this year. Even the treasures hidden in darkness. As this year ends and a new one begins, I am so thankful that I have Your Spirit without limit in my life and that, with You, change in a long pattern really is possible. You’ve done it before in my life. Come do it again. I am asking You in particular, Abba Father, to run to my aid in that first moment when an opportunity for offense happens and urge me by Your Holy Spirit to head into a thought-loop that spirals upward rather than downward. Simply put, help me to get over things fast. Honestly, Lord, sometimes I just make life harder than it has to be. Some things that wound me aren’t even about me. Help me to see where I’m jumping into somebody else’s loop and to quit getting hung by my own. I choose joy in resting this petition at Your feet, Lord, and I refuse self-condemnation or fruitless regret. You never would have brought this to the forefront and called for it in prayer if You didn’t have something good in mind. You began this work. Now come and take it to the next level. I’m excited about it, Lord, and see a glimpse of liberty on the horizon. Thank You, Father.

If you also want to post a prayer about ONE THING you’re asking God to do in you toward a more victorious 2011, feel free. There’s something about writing it down in a public place that makes it memorable. A record you can go back and read can be a beautiful thing. Try to resist wallowing and writhing in these  public requests. It’s Satan who tries to make prayer a dreaded exercise in self-loathing. In God’s economy, even when our prayers are mostly pleas of repentance, they lead us to relief.

Hey, Siestas, let’s not respond to each other’s comments this time. By all means, let’s pray for each other but let’s leave the response space to God.

I’m honored to walk with you into 2011, dear sisters. We’re getting closer to the 1st! Hold your head up or you might miss your new beginning!

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805 Responses to “Thinking About A New Year”

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Comments:

  1. 751
    Charity says:

    Oh Sweet Jesus,

    You have begun a revival in my family these past few months. Thank you for your faithful, tender mercies for us, your dear children. It is my prayer that in this new year you would continue to lead me into faithful relationship with You, and that my husband and children would see You in me. Help me to love them the way that they need. Teach me to show them Your sweet face every day! Revive my soul, O Lord! And may it be a wellspring that overflows!

  2. 752
    Sheila says:

    I know that You can do anything, and no one can stop you.

    Job 42:2 – NLT

  3. 753

    Wow! This really is a single of the most effective blogs I’ve actually arrive throughout on this subject. Basically Amazing

  4. 754
    IDM Crack says:

    Wow whered you go to college Harvard, lol, newayz your a great writer, any tips?

  5. 755
    Celia says:

    I’m new here…..My prayer for 2011 is for God to take the stronghold that my childhood abuse has on me and heal my mind and heart. I have struggled my entire life….from the age of 8 years old with anger toward God and confusion about why it happened to me….and why it happens to so many innocent children. I pray that God will take away this struggle and replace it with Trust and Belief that He is there and able to heal me. I have been in and out of church all of these years….and I pray that this year that cycle will be broken and that this year I will find my church home and church family….and that Satan will stay far away from me. Lord, please please please come into my heart and heal me.

    In Jesus name I pray….Amen

    • 755.1
      KMac says:

      Welcome Celia! Our prayers join yours that Christ will be your Freedom! Beth’s story in Breaking Free could be a great help to you. Blessings Siesta!

  6. 756
    Tammy, Assumption, IL says:

    (my 2nd verse, I just joined the group) So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand., Isaiah, 41:10, NIV

  7. 757
    Pam Lewko says:

    God is teaching me humility, over and over again. To see the joy in Him through the trials. I run the midweek youth program at our church, we are studying joy for 5 weeks. Tonight we had more tears and more heartache than ever. Lots of broken kids, lots of broken parents…all with a story. A story that only the love of Jesus can heal. So I am learning not to fix it, but to just walk with them on this part of their journey.

  8. 758
    lorraine says:

    You said…It’s weird to realize that sometimes our desperation for Him is an answer to our very own prayers to love Him like nothing else. He is so faithful. I shake my head at the wonder of Him again today.
    Thank you for that word. I cry out to Him every day with the words………I am DESPERATE for You. I DESPERATELY need You Father God. I brings me to tears because it is the cry of my heart and seems to come up from my toes.
    Now after i finish this cry, i say to Him……….not sure what i am really desperate about but i AM desperate for more of You! There doesn’t seem to be any real great need that drives me to utter this cry and yet i do…..day after day!
    I pray for a hunger and thirst and more of Him so i think this cry that i DESPERATELY need Him is an answer to my prayers. He is so good isn’t He! That is what i am
    learning…….to cry out and declare my DESPERATE need for more of Him! blessings,lorraine

  9. 759
    Veronica Lee says:

    you asked what he’s teaching me….oh Mama its a tough one…TIMING its all in HIs timing….Im ready to do the work but have to wait on him to tell me GO!! :.)

  10. 760
    Deb B says:

    Father God,

    I was encouraged to reread this entry today. I was encouraged by the fact that it is OK to work on one issue at a time and not try to have to fix everything at once. I was also reminded that it is my cooperation with You in my sanctification not some effort on my part that will help me overcome the strongholds in my life. I have to cooperate with You but I am not on my own and without your power.

    Help me to control my tongue, especially when I am offended, angered, or hurt. Teach me to pray when I want to lash out. Help me to overcome what I have learned since childhood. Teach me your holy ways O Lord, so I can walk in Your truth. Teach me your holy ways O Lord, and make me wholly devoted to You.

  11. 761
    Andrea says:

    Ok, i have decided to take this challenge of learning 2 scriptures a month.

  12. 762
    Courtney Beth says:

    Dearest Siestas, This pondering and prayer contains such key and fabulously significant insights, I pray we can all understand the wisdom and discernment God has for us, to have ever increasing abilities to apply such wisdom and understanding to every step we take from this moment on, pondering this with Beth brought many tears of joy and relief, the shear joy of a kindred spirit with such a gift for sharing, such insight is a wonderful gift of encouragement to our hearts !!!! God Bless you Beth!!! we love you, we like you, we miss you !!! xoxox cb

  13. 763
    Andrea says:

    I can do everything through him who gives me strength…Philippians 4:13

    Lord, please be with me as I try to walk the path that you would have me walk. Help me to understand and to inspire those around me to know that You are the only way. You are the bright light that shines upon us bringing peace to our hearts. In Your name we pray..Amen

  14. 764
    Leanna from Waynesville says:

    The Lord defends those who suffer; He defends them in times of trouble. Psalm 9:9 NCV

  15. 765
    mamaligadoc says:

    With respect !!!

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