My Prayer for 2014

Has 2013 already come and gone? I can't believe how fast time has flown! 

2013 was definitely a full year! So many wonderful life-learning lessons, answered prayers, opportunities for growth and for serving the Lord, struggles, joys, and encouraging times from the Lord. I truly am so grateful for all the challenges, blessings, and seasons of growth that the Lord brought my way in 2013. 

If I had to sum up the year of 2013 in a theme, I would say it centered around “Letting Go” – learning to be willing to let go of my dreams and desires in order to accept my Father’s perfect will for my life, learning to let go of (and not trying to hold on to) those I dearly love but to realize that people come and go and that I must be willing to let them move on in order to fulfill God’s plan for their life, and learning to let go of my inner “idols.”

2013 had it's full share of change and challenges, but God has been teaching me to {amazingly} accept the changes. For without changes, we never get to experience new blessings:

"If nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies." - Author Unknown

Through every struggle, every blessing, every pain, and every joy God was there. He always knew how to use His Word and songs of Truth to encourage my heart in just the right ways.

And, now that I look back on this year, I am so grateful for Him and for the many ways that He was at work in my heart and life. This verse really is true:

“You crown the year with Your goodness….” (Psalms 65:11)

Now I face 2014—a new year with

new challenges,

new opportunities for growth and service,

and new blessings waiting to be discovered.

I anticipate all that God has in store for this year.

My ultimate prayer for 2014 is to know Christ more and to be found in Him.

“This year, let us ask God to dissolve all our hopes into a single hope to know Christ and to be found in Him. May this be a year to desire a radically transformed, deeper, truer, knowing of Christ as our All-Sufficient One.” – Elizabeth Elliot

 I have many hopes and desires for this coming year, but my ultimate prayer is that I would—as Elizabeth Elliot puts it—dissolve all my hopes in to a single hope of knowing Christ and being found in Him. I think this has been something that God has been laying on my heart lately, and it is my prayer that I would use this new year to grow closer to Him and to know Him more. The more I can know His desires, Who He is, what He wants, the better I can obey and serve Him and honor Him with my life.
This desire and prayer may mean more hardships and challenges, but I know it will be worth it all for the sake of knowing my Lord and Savior even better through it.

So, I choose to willingly accept God’s perfect will for my life and to continue to seek Him continually.

“Seek the Lord and His strength; seek His presence continually.” – Psalms 105:4

“Commit your way to the LORD; trust Him, and He will act.” – Psalms 37:5

I commit my heart’s prayer for 2014 to my Lord and anticipate all the He will do, how He will teach and grow me, and how He will show me more of Himself in this coming year.

“Oh Father, I commit these desires and hopes to You, and ask that You would show me how to seek You continually. May You continue molding me, and may You make me into a woman after Your own heart.”