Intentions or prayer
Again, a new year has begun. Many people have made good intentions for the new year. Often it is about personal health - especially after the many food and drink during the holidays. People all over the world are committed to doing more sports, eating less sweets and generally want to do a lot better. Although there is nothing wrong with taking such decisions, we Christians lack something in this approach.
These resolutions all have something to do with our human willpower, which is why they often fizzle out. In fact, experts have tracked the success of New Year's resolutions. The results are not encouraging: 80% of them fail before the second week of February! As believers, we are especially aware of how fallible we humans are. We know the feeling that the Apostle Paul described in Römer 7,15 describes as follows: I don't know what I'm doing. Because I don't do what I want; but what I hate, I do. One can hear Paul's frustration at his own lack of willpower as he apparently knows what God wants from him.
Fortunately, as Christians, we are not dependent on our own resolve. We can turn to something far more effective than a willingness to change ourselves: prayer. Through Jesus Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we can confidently approach God our Father in prayer. We are able to bring our fears and anxieties, our joys and our deepest sorrows before Him. It is human nature to look to the future and have hopes for the coming year. Instead of making good resolutions that soon fade, I encourage you to join me in committing to making 2018 the year of prayer.
Nothing is too insignificant to bring it to our loving Father. But unlike the intentions at the beginning of the year, prayer is not only important to us. We can also use prayer as an opportunity to bring other people's concerns before the Lord.
The privilege of praying for the new year greatly encourages me. You see, I can have my own goals and expectations for 2018. However, I know I am quite powerless to achieve them. But I do know that we worship a loving and almighty God. In chapter eight of his letter to the Romans, just one chapter after his lament about his own weak will, Paul encourages us: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." (Römer 8,28)God is active in the world, and his almighty, loving will is directed towards the well-being of his children, regardless of the circumstances under which they live.
Some of you may have had a very good 2017 and are looking to the future with optimism. For others, it was a difficult year, full of struggles and setbacks. You fear that 2018 may bring even more burdens. No matter what this new year brings for us, God is present, ready to hear our prayers and requests. We have a God of infinite love, and no concern we may bring before Him is too insignificant. God rejoices in our requests, our gratitude, and our worries in close conversation with Him.
In prayer and in gratitude,
Joseph Tkach
President
GRACE COMMUNION INTERNATIONAL
