New Year’s Prayer

On New Year’s Day I opened my Bible and journal and spent some time thinking about the year ahead of me. In the past, the transition to a New Year has been difficult for me. I haven’t always gone into it with an open mind.

As I said goodbye to 2014, my heart resembled a grey cloud on the verge of spilling tears. Stormy days. Unstable emotions. The storm clouds had been building since Christmas. The heaviness. The rumbling in my spirit. Waiting, just waiting, for release. Fresh rain to wash away the darkness.

I was trapped beneath the weight of the storm.

Heavy. Suffocating.

Depleted of joy.

The daily mundane had sucked it dry.

Ann Voskamp’s words described me that year: All my eyes can seem to fixate on are the splatters of disappointment across here and me.

That’s how I welcomed 2015.

But this year is different.

I am hopeful!

Expectant!

And as I reflected on all that I want 2016 to be, I realized there was one thing my heart desired more than anything else – Jesus.

I want God’s word and knowing Him to be the most important thing this year.

I want prayer to be a priority.

I want to walk through the doors of church and believe I belong there.

I want to find the community that my heart has longed for for so long.

In a world that can be scary and so uncertain, I want to be like Enoch – I want to walk with God even when culture says it’s not the cool thing to do. (Genesis 5:22,24)

I want God to show me how to walk with Him even when the world is turning the opposite way.

And there are two ways I can accomplish these things:

1. By being intentional in my relationship with Him.

2. By being intentionally grateful; because gratitude lifts the storm clouds away.

 

***Today I’m linking up for Three Word Wednesday. You can read more great posts here.