This is the time of year when I become reflective. Another year has nearly passed and a new, unknown one is inked upon the calendar sitting upon my desk. Looking back on some things I wrote to Father in 2013 I realize how many prayers of mine (which I forgot) He has answered in some definitive ways (proving that He did not forget). Somewhere in 2013 I requested of God the things written below. He has tested me in all of these areas and, to His glory, He has grown me in each of them. Some of them will continue on as prayers for the upcoming year. Some will drop off the list. Many more will be added. Before this year ends, write down some prayers of your own and then, should we have another full year before us, read them in twelve months to mark the good work of Father in your own life.
My 2013 ‘Dear Father’ list was:
Please let me never be hesitant or fearful and tell myself that it is humility.
Please never permit me to be miserly with my money and misrepresent it as being responsible for my personal future.
Please do not allow me to harden my heart to the plight of the destitute, victimized, hurting and lonely because I have permitted myself to believe that the need is too great and that I cannot make a difference.
Please empower me to say all that You would have me to say without a hint of fear about being misunderstood or misquoted. When I am deliberate and calculating I become ineffective. Please empower me to be obedient to You and free in my expression of that obedience.
Please muzzle me if I am ever tempted to tone-down someone else in whose heart You have put radical vision and commitment. Squash me if I try to talk sense into someone whom You are leading into an illogical endeavor. Help me learn from those possessing hearts of revolutionaries.
Please give me favor with generations coming behind me as I know that I am no longer among those who are the youngest. Let me inspire my children and their peers to hunger for You and to be convinced of their need for You.
Please anoint for me all that You appoint for me. I cannot bear the thought of life and ministry being accomplished in my own power with my own resources. Impart to my life the element of the regularly inexplicable.
Please fill me. Please fill me. Please fill me. Most of us do not fully comprehend what this means or how to cooperate with the process. All I know is that I want you more than my words can articulate and that today’s fullness will not suffice for tomorrow’s assignments.
Please keep from me the small life. Never let me live for gain or success or notoriety. Please let me be a man of substance to Amy and Alicia and Landon. Please increase my love for the flock I tend to – if they cannot see that You are great through my life then I am not serving them well.
Please bring to the ground all that seeks to rise up and challenge my love for You. Win me, at all costs, until nothing is left contested.
That was beautiful. It is also an idea I want to implement.