Happy New Year 2019: Entering the New Year With Hope and Prayer!

Read: Jeremiah 29:11-13, Mark 11:17, James 4:2, Matthew 7:7, Hebrews 4:16, Romans 5:1-5, 1 Corinthians 3:16, and Numbers 6:24-26

Happy New Year 2019!

Can you believe it’s a new year already!? As we look forward to any new year, we often look forward with the hope of better things to come and if you’re in Christ, you have much to remain hopeful about!

If we’re honest, sometimes we can lose sight of the hope we have because of the circumstances we face, but, we need to be sure that our hope is grounded completely in The Lord or it’s not true hope at all! Why? Because if our hope is in Christ, this is not a temporal hope as hope in Him is an unshakable hope! This is the true hope that is built on the unshakable foundation of Jesus!

Let me encourage you to remember during every season of life, including all that’s ahead in this New Year, that nothing you face can shake the hope you have in Him!

Hold on to hope in Christ! Don’t allow anything to steal your hope and may you realize that your faith and hope should grow even stronger through the help of The Holy Spirit.

It’s been an especially challenging year for many of us for sure and for some it’s been a year of blessings upon blessing.

Regardless of what you’ve experienced, it’s still a perfect time to reflect on all the Lord has done in your life and to take a perspective, or “pulse” check to see where you are in your walk and life with the Lord.

He calls each of us to seek Him with all of our heart and promises that we will find Him and He will listen. Enter the New Year focusing on building and enhancing your prayer life. Based on His Holy Word we know that He wants our churches, the Body of Christ as whole, and ourselves to be “Houses of Prayer” or in sum, focus ourselves on prayer as He emphasizes that prayer should be a priority.

If the Lord wants us to pray, and it’s a true priority to Him, then why don’t we in turn really pray!? In fact, the Lord is the best role model of this for us as He constantly went to pray to the Father and He called His Disciples to pray many times. Each of us should be a house of prayer as we are His temples. (See 1 Corinthians 3:16) Not only this, but, He just plainly deserves our prayers and everything we are. Not to sound somewhat cliche but we should really become true “Prayer Warriors”, as this life is a real battlefield, spiritually and physically.

In Jim Cymbala’s book "Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire", he has this to say about the apostles’ priority of prayer,

“The apostles had this instinct: When in trouble, pray. When intimidated, pray. When challenged, pray. When persecuted, pray.”

What a great observation! What a truly awesome challenge for us- Can we like the apostles, make prayer our priority in every circumstance, even when we’re not facing troubling times? Just making prayer so much a part of us that we pray throughout the day or set a special portion of the day a side to, intercede, cry out, praise, thank, communicate, etc., with Him through prayer! He wants to hear from us. It pleases Him so much when we focus our attention on Him through prayer.

Why not forget the New Year resolutions this year and consider instead, seeking God’s will for your life and telling Him the desires of your heart? Why not pour yourself out to Him through your fervent prayers and serving Him and others?

May you renew your commitment or begin making prayer a vital part of your life- every day! This can begin with you and I then maybe, just maybe, our example of a prayerful and a “prayer full” life will spread to the Body of Christ as a whole, then on into every Christian Church locally where ever we live around the world?! We can then be the houses of prayer, as the Lord would desire us to be.

Why not make this year an even more special New Year, by entering it in prayer! Seek Him today with all of your heart and be encouraged that He desires this and is ready and waiting to hear from you.

Ring in the New Year filled with hope and prayer!

Questions To Get Started With:

-What or Who is the foundation of your hope?

-What are the barriers in your life to holding on to true hope in Christ?

-Do you remain hopeful no matter the circumstances you face?

-Will you help build others up with the hope you have in Christ?
-Will you make prayer a priority in your life this New Year?
-Will you “pray in” the New Year this New Year’s Eve?
-What kind of changes do you need to make in order for prayer to be a priority?
-If prayer is already a priority for you, what can you do to encourage others to pray?
-Do you know someone that can help you be accountable to your commitment to the Lord in your walk with Him?
-Consider keeping a prayer journal chronicling / highlighting your prayer times with Him, answers to prayer, the revealing of His will for you over time, etc. This is a great exercise for us to make a habit to see Him at work in our lives.

Again, Happy New Year! Keep Seeking, Serving, and Loving Him with all that is within you! 

Your Brother and Servant in Christ,

Randolph Koch

-Founder and Servant-Shepherd of A Shepherd’s Heart