30th December 2024 - 5th January 2025
And just like that Christmas is over, or maybe you are a bit like me and cannot quite bring yourself to be done with Christmas just yet. In this constantly moving world that we live in, there appears to be an ever-increasing appetite for the next big thing, the next experience to plan and enjoy. The seeming rush to what’s next in life.
I’ve been challenged with those words from Psalm 46:10, ‘Be still and know that I am God’. To be honest, one of the things I longed for over the Christmas period was ‘stillness’. I managed to get some but it was a busy time. This phrase is both an invitation and a command that calls us to pause, reflect and rest in the reality of who God really is.
We have just taken time to celebrate the most incredible event in the history of mankind, the coming of Jesus as a baby into the world, Emmanuel, God with us. Rather than rush into a new year and start to think about resolutions and plans, can I encourage you to stop, take a breath, relax and ponder again the incredible blessing that Jesus, God’s only Son, willingly came to this earth as a vulnerable baby, experienced growing up as a child, developed into an adult, revealed himself as the Son of God, performed many signs and wonders, was crucified, died, was buried and then incredibly rose from the dead to show the world that he was who he said he was, the Saviour of the world – it’s just too incredible to allow the pressure of life to keep us from pondering in awe and wonder at how God demonstrated his love for us.
In the book of Psalms, we see the use of the word ‘Selah’ 71 times. The Amplified Bible adds these words, ‘pause and calmly think about that’ to each verse where ‘selah’ appears. ‘Selah’ is also thought to be from two Hebrew words which mean ‘to praise’ and ‘to lift up’ and, if we combine both of these thoughts, we could say that when we read the word ‘selah’ we should pause and think about what we have just read or heard and lift up our hearts in praise to God for who he is.
I like this because taking time to reflect, to ponder, to consider who God is and what he says to us is such an important part of our walk with him. If we are not intentional about our faith we can easily start to drift and, if we are not careful, a distance between God and ourselves will start to develop. Our rhythm of life and our routines will change, we will start to seek other things first rather than spending time with God. It’s a real challenge to consider as we approach another year. Have we been still enough to know God and hear from him in the midst of all the festivities?
I feel like saying ‘Selah’. (Give yourself some time to know him, to remind yourself of who he is and then praise and lift up his name.)
As we move from 2024 to 2025, I am so thankful for all those who have agreed to contribute to our prayer diary for the next few months. It is so encouraging to hear from other people, to consider how God is speaking to them and through them as they share a short devotional and prayers to help lead and guide us all.
May this New Year 2025 lead us all to a place where we can see God continue to teach us what it means to be Building Together (through prayer), Building Up (through our maturity) and Building Gospel Bridges (through our witness) and may we all ask God to do abundantly more than any of us can think or ask!
Written by David Mairs
MONDAY
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Psalm 139:23
Heavenly Father, as this year comes to a close, help me to pause and reflect on your goodness and faithfulness to me. Search my heart, Father, and show me anything that is in my life that would cause me to wander away from you. Help me to turn away from it and to allow you to lead me and guide me. You know my heart, Father. I cannot fool you so speak to me and help me stay close to you. Thank you for being with me in this past year and for sustaining me, especially when times were difficult. As I pause and reflect, will you enable me to deepen my awareness and understanding of your love for me which is unchanging and unconditional. I love you, Father. Amen.
TUESDAY
Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Isaiah 43:18-19
Heavenly Father, the one who is making all things new and who is the God of new beginnings. As I look out on the threshold of another new year, help me to let go of the burdens and struggles of the year that has past and look forward with anticipation to the hope of your promises to me which are unfailing and your mercies that are new every morning. As I mark the end of the old year (some of us will celebrate and some of us will mourn), let me see your light in the darkness, let me experience your healing and restoration, help me to add to my faith and take the opportunities that you set before me to grow into the person you want me to be. May this new year be a time where I see you working out your purposes in my life and I find ways to serve you and to serve your people where you have placed me. Amen.
WEDNESDAY
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 2 Corinthians 5:17
Heavenly Father, I welcome this new year with a sense of expectation that you are going to be with me no matter what lies ahead of me. I take so much comfort in the truth that not only are you with me, but you also go before me. Will you help me to stand firm in my faith and to walk in step with the Holy Spirit, knowing he will lead and guide me each day. Thank you for the new identity I have in you, thank you that I am your child, adopted into your family, loved and valued. May this year be one that is full of joy, peace and purpose as I seek to follow you. May I live a life worthy of being called your child. Amen.
THURSDAY
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. James 1:5
Heavenly Father, as I step into this new year, I look to you to give me the wisdom I need to navigate life and all the challenges it presents to me. Help me to make wise choices by following your word and acknowledging you in all that I strive to do. Give me the courage to follow you wherever you call me and remind myself that you have given me everything I need to live a godly life. Thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit who empowers me, leads me and protects me. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for being my ever-present guide and companion. Help me to be bold and to seek out and do the good work that has already been prepared for me to do. Amen.
FRIDAY
But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:31
Heavenly Father, I place my hope in you and ask that you would strengthen me for the challenges and the joys that this year will bring. So often in the busyness of life I grow weary. Remind me that you are the one who renews my strength, who lifts me up when I feel discouraged by bringing encouragements into my circumstances and doing things through me that I did not feel were possible. Thank you for not just saving me, but for giving me a role to play in your body. Help me to live out my faith with perseverance and to not faint from your call on my life to be your representative to those who I rub shoulders with every day. Help me to soar in my faith and to have an impact for you. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
SATURDAY
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27
Heavenly Father, thank you for your Son, Jesus, and for the peace that only he can give, that peace that passes my understanding and reminds me of his presence in my life. With all the uncertainties in life, help me to lean into you, recognising you are my refuge and my fortress and the one who I can truly feel safe and secure with. Teach me to trust you fully and to share with others the reality of the peace you give me. Help me not to be afraid but to always remind myself of your presence and your promise to be with me even in the darkest of valleys. Thank you for always being there for me. Amen.
SUNDAY
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10
Heavenly Father, Creator of the universe, thank you for forming me in my mother’s womb and making me uniquely for your glory. As this year unfolds, reveal the good works you have prepared for me and weave me into the tapestry of the masterpiece you are making. Help me to know and understand my purpose as your child and to pursue it with all of the energy and passion you provide. May I be a faithful steward of the gifts and opportunities you provide for me to bring honour and glory to your name by doing what you have already prepared for me to do. Amen.