A New Year

It's a new year! For many, this is an opportunity to renew old resolutions gone by the wayside or start fresh and anew. I'm excited about 2011 personally. Isaiah 43:19 says, "Behold, I am doing a new thing." Even God likes a new year!

Today I've started on a fast. I have several decisions I need to make in the upcoming months and other areas where I really need to hear God's voice and direction. For me, the best way to do that is to do a fast.

These are my prayers for 2011:

1) Search me: I have a tendency to be judgemental at times. I really try not to be, but when I see people around me make decisions that I deem as crazy, foolish or nonspiritual, the judge in me comes out. Why can't they see right where this will lead them? I'll think to myself. David felt like this in Psalm 139 but he immediately asked God to examine his own heart. In that same way, I cannot forget to ask God to point out the rebelliousness in my own spirit.

2) Break me: Regardless of how spiritually mature I think I am, there will always be areas in my life in which God needs to work. Maybe its my need to be everything to everybody, my belief that if something is going to get done, I have to do it myself, or maybe its my strong will. But I cannot grow as a Christian until I learn to ask for brokenness.

3) Stretch me: Do you know someone who has a humbling love for others, who has inspiring perseverance, or who has spiritual strength like none you've ever seen before? Chances are, that person has probably asked God to stretch them through life's challenges. This is the kind of prayer you pray when you want to grow.

4) Lead me: Asking God to take my life and do whatever He wants to do with it is risky, to say the least. I'm comfortable with my family, my house, my job and its scary to let God take control, but that's what faith is all about. I've got to believe His plans for me are better than my own.

5) Use me: This is an adventurous prayer because you never know where it will lead. It's exciting to make ourselves available to God so that He can touch someone else through us.

I recently saw an interview Billy Graham did in late December with Fox News. When asked what his biggest regret he answered, "If I had it to do over again, I'd spend more time in meditation and prayer and just telling the Lord how much I love Him and adore Him and [am] looking forward the time we're going to spend together for eternity." If Billy Graham wishes he would've spent more time with the Lord, then I have a long way to go.

I look forward to it, don't you?