When the coffee pot is empty, we refill the water, the grinds, and the filter.
When this year ends, let us refill our mind, heart, and soul with the love of God!
As we approach the new year and are thinking about our New Year resolutions, we tend to think like this . . .
If I am stressed, I need to unstress.
If I am frustrated, I need to be less frustrated.
If I lust, I need to stop lusting.
If I am addicted, I need to not be addicted.
If I am proud, I need to be humble.
If I lie, I need to stop lying, and
If I am overweight, I need to stop eating.
This list could go on and on and on!
As believers, we encounter the same challenges as unbelievers. The difference is we have the power through the Holy Spirit to confront these ordeals not just in our strength, but in His.
As we face the New Year, let us commit to asking the Lord to continually show us our shortcomings and sins, then evaluate and confess them. Let us renew our relationship with Christ through daily prayer and Bible reading. Let us lay our souls bare before Him and talk to Him about EVERYTHING. He is here to hear our concerns, our weaknesses, our upcoming decisions, our plans, and our spiritual concerns. He already knows them, but by expressing ourselves to Him in either quiet meditation or loud wailing, we are connecting to the source who wants to guide up to a deeper walk with Him in holiness “. . . For He knows the secrets of our heart” (Psalm 44:21).
Below is an example of sharing one’s heart with God from Psalm 139. I challenge you to read this Hebrew prayer from King David aloud and make this prayer your prayer as we approach this upcoming year!
Lord, You have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I get up;
You understand my thought from far away.
You scrutinize my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before there is a word on my tongue,
Behold, Lord, You know it all.
You have encircled me behind and in front,
And placed Your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is too high, I cannot comprehend it.Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.
If I take up the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
Even there Your hand will lead me,
And Your right hand will take hold of me.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me,
And the light around me will be night,”
Even darkness is not dark to You,
And the night is as bright as the day.
Darkness and light are alike to You.For You created my innermost parts;
You wove me in my mother’s womb.
I will give thanks to You, because I am awesomely and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from You
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully formed in the depths of the earth;
Your eyes have seen my formless substance;
And in Your book were written
All the days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.How precious also are Your thoughts for me, God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them, they would outnumber the sand.
When I awake, I am still with You.If only You would put the wicked to death, God;
Leave me, you men of bloodshed.
For they speak against You wickedly,
And Your enemies take Your name in vain.Do I not hate those who hate You, Lord?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
I hate them with the utmost hatred;
They have become my enemies.Search me, God, and know my heart;
Put me to the test and know my anxious thoughts;And see if there be any hurtful way in me,
And see if there is any hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way.
Prayer:
Lord, let not anything interfere with my quiet times with You or my connection with Your church and community. Let me worship You with gratitude and live a life of perseverance in every direction You lead.
Bible Version: NASB