First, let me start by wishing all of you a Happy New Year! I’ve never had much success with making resolutions based on the time of the year. I’ve found it much easier to examine my priorities and then make adjustments based on what’s working and what isn’t. For me, 2023 was more stressful than it needed to be.
Why? Because there were times when I let projects, deadlines, and work-oriented activities dominate my thinking.
What you think about affects your peace.
(Philippians 4:8) Finally, my brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honest, whatever things are right, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there is any virtue and if there is any praise, think on these things.
Here’s the thing, you already know that. So do I. The problem is, you can go through a time or season in life when you’re not doing the things you know you should be doing. It seems that much of the New Testament involves people like Paul, Peter, John, and others – reminding us to do the things we already know we should be doing.
Maybe your 2023 was more stressful than it needed to be – simply because you spent too much time thinking about the wrong things.
That can be changed in 2024, starting today.
What to Do More of in 2024
Let’s talk about the prayer habit. When Jesus’ disciples asked Him to teach them how to pray, he taught them what’s now known as “The Lord’s Prayer.”
Here it is –
Matthew 6:9-13 KJV
(9) After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
(10) Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
(11) Give us this day our daily bread.
(12) And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
(13) And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
Notice it begins with the focus on God the Father. In verse 10, Jesus mentions God’s will being done here on the earth as it is in heaven. People blame God for the evil happening in the world. Or they blame him for allowing it. Yes, it’s true that we’re living in a fallen world. It’s true that he’s given mankind free will and the choice to reject God and reject forgiveness.
But it’s also true that we can overcome the tests, trials, and challenges of life through Him.
For example, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, John said –
(3Jn 1:2 KJV) Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.
Health and financial well-being are connected to your soul prospering. Your soul is the part of you comprised of your mind, will, emotions, personality, etc.
You know as well as I do that your mind has to be renewed regularly if you want to live the best life God has for you. It’s easy to get caught up with personal drama when you’re around others or have to work with others. Maybe it’s your work environment or family issues that caused most of the stress you experienced in 2023.
Maybe you’re being attacked on several fronts as many have been over the past few years. In the business world, I’ve experienced stress while working on certain projects. I know what it’s like to have people talk badly about you or try to blame you for issues you have nothing to do with.
This is the world we live in.
We can fight others, or we can turn to God and let the battle be His.
Practical Steps You Can Take Immediately
Earlier I mentioned the Lord’s prayer that Jesus taught His disciples. It’s a model prayer, really, when you examine it closely. It starts with the most important focus and then works down from there. The word “give us this day…” encourages us to live in today. Asking for forgiveness and forgiving others is also a part of regular, daily life.
And, of course, God’s will concerning evil – “lead us NOT into temptation, but deliver us from evil” shows that God isn’t the one sending the problems. He’s the one delivering us from them.
As I was saying, it’s a model prayer that teaches us important lessons. And, there’s nothing wrong if you want to pray it word for word, but do yourself a favor and look closely at how Jesus prayed in John’s Gospel before going to the cross.
John 17:1-26 KJV
(1) These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
(2) As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
(3) And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
(4) I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
(5) And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
(6) I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
(7) Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
(8) For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
(9) I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
(10) And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
(11) And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
(12) While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
(13) And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
(14) I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
(15) I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
(16) They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
(17) Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
(18) As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
(19) And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
(20) Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
(21) That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
(22) And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
(23) I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
(24) Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
(25) O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.
(26) And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.
This prayer sounds more like a conversation than a formal prayer when you get right down to it. Doesn’t it? It comes from the heart and it puts everything out there. If you want to experience peace in your heart and in your mind, in the midst of life’s adversities, this is the kind of praying you’ll need to do more of.
Reading the Bible is great because it contains the words of truth. Reading the direct words of Jesus answered most of the questions I’ve ever had about God and why bad things happen. But it wasn’t until I learned to turn to God and talk to Him the way I’d talk to my earthly Father that my life began improving both inwardly and outwardly.
Yes, God loves you – but we’re not here to hide from adversity. We’re here to overcome it. We’re here, as Jesus said, to bear “fruit,” be productive, and to overcome the darkness that is in the world.
The pro fighter doesn’t turn to the trainer at the end of the round and complain that he was punched repeatedly by his opponent. He doesn’t question his trainer’s care or love for him! He’s in the ring to win the fight.
Today, you and I are called to fight the “Good fight of Faith.”
Fight the Good Fight in 2024
The only good fights are winnable ones. Isn’t that right? A good trainer makes sure their fighters aren’t overmatched. When a fighter is properly managed, they’re matched against opponents they’re capable of beating. It’s true, some opponents can stretch a fighter to their limits, but afterward, the experience enables them to fight at a higher level.
(1Co 10:13 ESV) No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
Call it whatever you like – endurance, perseverance, patience – it all involves walking by faith and not by sight. God promises say one thing, but your experience says another. You prayed last week, or last month (or last year), and still – your situation remains visibly unchanged.
What should you do?
Talk to God about your situation like Jesus did in John 17. Talk it out until, at the very least, you have peace in your heart. That may happen in a single session or after several “talks.”
Take advantage of Bible software for your desktop or mobile devices. Especially the kind that allows you to look up a certain word and find all the places where it appears throughout the bible. I use the King James Version for this because it makes the process much easier.
Faith grows when you persevere and keep on believing even though it appears that God is ignoring you. That may even feel true. Especially when you look at your own inconsistencies, issues, and your thought life. The evil forces that try to destroy our lives would love us to forget that we’re saved by Grace through Faith – and that it’s not of ourselves but a gift from God.
Ephesians 2:8-10 KJV
(8) For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
(9) Not of works, lest any man should boast.
(10) For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
We don’t earn answers to prayer. Faith or belief is focused on what He did. The focus isn’t just on the promise you find in the Bible, but on the one who made it. The belief isn’t in your ability to “have faith” and believe, either. It’s in His ability to make good things come to pass.
I get tempted to worry just like you do. Especially when I measure myself against the challenge. When I measure God against the challenge and focus on the promises, it changes everything. Sometimes the longer drawn-out battles in life can be blessings in disguise. I’m talking about situations that require faith and perseverance. Why? Because as great as it is to see immediate answers and immediate results, the first time we don’t, we start asking ourselves “What went wrong?”
Doubt and unbelief can set in quickly when we start focusing on ourselves and what we’re doing or not doing. Isn’t that true? Remember, faith is based on what you can’t see. You don’t have to believe it when you see it. Unbelief, on the other hand, is based on what you can see. Or, in some cases, it’s expressed with thoughts like, “Why is the answer taking so long to manifest?”
When faith is focused on manifestations, it’s not really faith any longer. It’s walking by “sight.”
When Peter was walking on the water, fear set in when he began looking at the waves around him. Even though Jesus was physically there with him, he still took his eyes off Him and started focusing on the threats instead.
So, the point I’m trying to make is this – we have 2024 ahead of us. It can be one of the best years of our lives if we start focusing on the right things. I’m ready to do exactly that! Are you?