| My Prayer for This YearThis is my prayer for the year that lies ahead of us. I pray that we would love Jesus Christ ONLY with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength. That we would love Jesus more than our popularity, religion, money, sports, church, friends, spouses, and anything else that attempts to steal our love and affection.
I pray that from our love for Christ that we would genuinely love all of the people around us in our homes, schools, churches, and community. People that are poor, rich, pretty, not pretty, smart, not so smart, athletic, not so athletic, dressed right or wrong, smell good or not, jerks, or compassionate. I pray that we would love even those people that we call sinners or “those kind of people” so that they might see You and Your salvation. Jesus I pray that we would love even our enemies.
I pray that our love for Christ would cause us to fall in love with the Bible. I pray that we would cherish and study it as if we really believe it to be the very words of God not just a book in print that is really old. I pray that we would read it with the same excitement as we do a love note from our life long crush, or the sports column on the Sooners or Cowboys. I pray that we would work to memorize the Bible so that THE TRUTH would be hidden in our hearts and minds as we attempt to follow Christ with our lives.
I pray that our love for Christ would drive us to pray without ceasing! Help us pray for our friends, families, enemies, strangers, pastors, community, and the world. Teach us to pray for more than ourselves and our wants. I pray that we would not treat You like Santa Clause or our Fairy God-Mother in our prayers, but that we would seek to connect with The living Christ who sits on the throne of Heaven as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Let our prayers be more than they have ever been as we realize more and more that we NEED You in all things.
I pray that our love for Christ would compel us to worship with our whole life , and not just when we are singing . I pray that our character and who we are would be the same at school, work, sports, home, and at church. In every action, thought, and word let it be like we are doing it for Christ Himself. So God make our worship more, much more than just singing songs, but let us worship with our Complete and whole lifestyle as a life of worshipping Jesus Christ.
I pray our love for Christ would cause us to WANT to be a part of the church. Let us be more than just a person that sits in a chair and stares into nothing, but a person that comes to stair into the face Christ. Let us come EXPECTING to be blown away by the sound of Christ’s voice through the preaching of The BIBLE, through the singing and praising of our brothers and sisters in Christ, and even in silence. I pray that when people come to Refuge they find a place where some people come to explore what they believe about God and others come to pour out their heart to God with all that they have, and this Includes the youth pastor guy. I pray that when people see us in Big Church that they would see people who do more than talk, sleep, or pass notes. BUT, that they would see people who want More, and are starving to get anything and everything they can of CHRIST. That church would not be a burden but a celebration of the fact that we have eternal life, a celebration that our savior TRULY LIVES, and a celebration that none of us are perfect but we are saved by the AMAZING GRACE of JESUS.
I pray that our love for Christ would cause to SHARE our faith with someone other than church people. I pray that we would hear stories about us getting to lead our friends to Christ, neighbors to Christ, and even strangers to Christ. Father when is the last time one of us actually talked to a friend about how they could have a relationship with Jesus Christ? Jesus when is the last time the Youth Pastor talked to one of his neighbors about there relationship with Christ? I pray that our hearts would be broken and frustrated with not seeing people come to know the CROSS of CHRIST.
I pray that we GO ALL OUT this year. I pray that we would have a passion to follow after Christ with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. I pray that we would daily remember the Passion of the Christ which is the Cross and His blood being poured out to pay for our sins. I pray that we would really believe God is real and present with us at all times, not just at church. Jesus I pray that we get what it means to take up our cross and follow YOU daily.
And Lastly, I pray, that this prayer is truly in the Will of God. Jesus, I pray that if any part of this prayer is not what You want during this year that You would reveal that to us, and lead us on the path that You want us to go.
Jesus Christ, you are the savior and creator of the world. You truly are the breath that we breathe, and I pray that YOU would be our New Year Resolution!
AMEN. |
