New Year’s Resolutions
I love New Year’s Resolutions. For me, they are a blank slate, a chance to dream about all life could be and to leave behind any failures or disappointments of the previous year. For many years the same two resolutions topped my list: Pray more and read my Bible more. I was sincere and, really, what better goals could I have? Yet every December, when reflecting on the year, I had to recognize that I really hadn’t lived up to my good intentions as much as I had hoped. So back those two items went on the top of the list of resolutions for the coming year—along with eating better, exercising more and spending less!
A year or so ago I finally realized that hazy good intentions each new year will get me nowhere. Of course I already knew that from countless project management seminars at work and I am sure you know it too. But life is not the same as a project at work. There aren’t the same clearly-stated deliverables and deadlines. There is no visible boss appearing in your doorway to monitor progress. And there aren’t 8 hours a day scheduled for accomplishing the necessary tasks. Life—and what we do with it in a spiritual sense—is so much less structured.
That’s why I think we need to take a different approach to our spiritual development—something between project management and hazy good intentions. Here it is: develop simple routines and start very small. Throw away any expectations of spending hours weeping on your knees or studying the original Greek. Pick really small, simple things you can do a couple times a day and then stick with your little routines. Soon they will develop into habits. Your prayer life and love for the Bible will blossom and then it will begin feeding on itself. You’ll find your routines and the amount of time you want to devote to prayer and study expanding. By next New Year’s Day you won’t need to draft big resolutions about more prayer and Bible reading. They will be a natural and welcome part of every day.
So give some thought to some simple, sustainable things you could do to work prayer and Bible reading into each day of 2006. How about something like this:
--When the alarm goes off, lie in bed and pray for two minutes about concerns for the day.
--Start reading through New Testament, 5 minutes per day while on train or exercise machine.
--While falling asleep at night thank God for answers to prayer that day and ask for safety through the night.
When these three things have become habits—probably in about a month—add three more. Don’t dismiss these things as too small. Just really do them every day and see what happens.
posted by Catherine Reid @ 11:52 AM
1 Comments:
I loved reading this blog post.
On this thing with prayer... for years I have loved the opportunity to spend the last few minutes of the day with God, and the first few minutes before I dive into my morning.
Often I'll start with the Lord's Prayer and use it as an outline. You know, it covers nearly everything. Praise to God and acknowledging His holiness, acknowledging His perfect will and providence, remembering His Kingdom is "on its way" and the importance of taking the Good News to the far ends of the earth, praying for my needs, praying for forgiveness and asking help to say no to temptation, asking for protection from the evil one, and ending again in praise.
At night I thank Him for all the blessings of the day, for the people in my life, for family, for health, for opportunities He brought my way, for His protection. In the morning I ask Him to bless my list of to-do's, showing me what priority to put each thing in, and I thank Him for another day to live for Him on this earth.
Sometimes I'll use the little "finger formula" for prayer. Starting with the thumb, I pray for the most important people in my life, my family, my friends. The "pointer finger" reminds me to pray for those who "point" sometimes, such as teachers, preachers, anyone in a position to instruct and guide. The tall finger reminds me to pray for leaders, those in governments in the US and around the world. The "ring finger" - sometimes considered the weakest finger - reminds me to pray for those in need, those who are hurting, those who are persecuted. And last, the tiny little pinky is when I finally pray for me.
One last thought I'll mention... many times I'll fall asleep during my prayer time. Then I'll wake in the night and somehow remember where I am in the prayer, and continue 'till I fall asleep again. Sometimes this goes on all night long, as I'm not a sound sleeper. But my favorite thing is to fall asleep talking to the Lord, and waking up thinking of Him, as if no time at all had passed. - Carol
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